Twilight – chpt 14
by: sifi
--
"No."
"Listen..."
"NO! NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO!" she yelled frantically clawing at the back of the seat, "...don't do this... don't... please..." she gasped back a small sob as the swollen and agonized fingers of her left hand lost their grip, snapping back to drop her onto the floor between the back seat and the front of the vehicle. "Tommy please..." she breathed through the tears that simply wouldn't stop coming.
"Please... don't make me go away..." she breathed, don't take me away from them... I can help them... I know I can... "... I can do something... I can help... I can save them. I can! There's pain and I can make it go away! I PROMISE! PLEASE...!" No you can't. God forbid you tell him a truth... you can't do shit... why don't you tell him THAT truth? Huh? ... there's not a single thing you can do to change what's happening, you can't stop it, you don't know what it is ... why don't you just sit back here with me? Sit back... take a taste of this... yeah...there you go...
"What is it?"
Remember Twin Peaks?
"Yeah..."
It's pain... and suffering...
"What?"
Ooooh yeah... his agony, his anguish... if you think about it... if you close your eyes and let yourself taste it...ooooauuuahh please... let yourself... there you go... open up now... taste, breathe... drink... relish... thick and heady. Salty and heavy... it's...
"Dean?! No..."
Yes... breathe him in...
"No!"
Yes... breathe... taste... feel... thick and warm, salty and heavy on the back of our tongue... he was delicious... he's a fount... all the things...
"NO!... DON'T YOU TOUCH HIM!"
Laughter, light, laden and heavy in her ears rang out.
I have touched him in ways and places you would never want to know Emissary... I have tasted his pain, drunk myself to bliss on the fear of his agonies... I have sailed over the ages on the wings of his despair... I know him in ways you never will.
And he will forever remember ME as the one who brought him to extremes even when the sound of your name brings him naught more than a passing shrug.
Tom's eyes moved again to the rear view mirror as she struggled to push herself up onto the back seat from the floor where she'd fallen. He frowned deeply as she stopped her argument with him in mid protest and seemed to fall into delirium, or at worst, go a little mad as she alternately appeared to listen to something inside, then to argue against it.
He jumped when she yelled, "No! Don't you touch him!" and wondered if a hospital for the body would be her last stop or if she'd wind up somewhere else in the end.
His cornflower blue eyes darkened to sapphire as water layered over them when he thought about what he'd seen. You boys've been fighting things like THAT for the last two years and we haven't known? Why didn't you tell us? We would've helped... his cheeks burned with shame at the thought of how easy he and Shep had it, especially in light of what Sam and Dean had divulged earlier this evening.
In the back seat their friend was now wedged between the backrest and the door, her eyes closed, her expression pinched with one brand of pain or another, and her chest heaving with rough drawn breaths.
"We're gonna get you taken care of lil'miss, don't you worry... and the boys'll take good care of each other... I promise..." he sighed into the rear view mirror and pulled to a halt behind a surprisingly long line of glaring red tail lights. "Wonder what's goin' on up there..." he muttered as the back door flew open and his passenger stumbled out into the night disappearing into the trees that flanked the roadside, leaving behind a blood stained towel and nothing else.
"What the hell! Laura!" Tom shouted throwing the car into park and pinning the place he watched a faint flicker of white disappear, to the forefront of his memory.
"Son of a bitch! Freakin' stupid crazy ass woman... what the hell's the matter with you!" he grunted angrily then pulled the car to the shoulder of the road, cut the engine, locked the doors and rummaged in the trunk, "Dean's gonna kill me..." he groaned as he slipped a gun into the waistband of his pants, a flask of holy water into a pocket, and a small flashlight into another then took off into the woods.
--
"Just toss some stitches into it and be done with it..." Victor looked from the EMT to Shep McGregor.
"Dude, you need a hospital..." Shep grunted then looked at the EMT, "Take a walk kid..." he motioned toward the parking lot, his manner and tone making an argument an impossibility as the EMT took several steps back then walked around toward the front of the ambulance.
"You listen to me..." Shep started as did Hendrickson.
"Whatever the hell's going on here..."
"NO! You LISTEN! You're done! Period! S.A. Victor Hendrickson's OUT OF THIS as of NOW..." Shep leaned in, his anger almost as tangible as the marauder's, especially to Hendrickson's recently heightened perceptions.
"You been some evil ho-bag's lap dog for at least two days... y'almost got your own bullet in your head 'cause of it... now you listen here... a man like you's got ONE mission here... ONE job in the war that's going on, and you better make no mistake buddy boy, we can NOT afford to lose this war..." he stopped and looked into the agent's eyes, "Do you believe what I'm sayin' here man?" he asked.
As the Federal Agent filled his lungs, his eyes spoke loud and clear even before he nodded, "Yeah... I get it...so what's my job as you see it?" he asked suspiciously, part of him certain of what was coming.
"Your job little man, is to let those boys and even that girl do THEIR job... do you understand me?"
"...thought it might be something like that..." he groaned but smiled loosely, he couldn't help but like this man beside him. He'd always been drawn to the light inside people, and because of that he'd always been able to spot the darkness inside them too. Which is one of the reasons those Winchesters have been so fascinating... why the numbers just didn't add up.
"What're you all gonna do now? That thing got away..." he asked.
"Yeah it did..." Shep nodded but smiled, "...but it ain't goin too far..."
"How're you gonna stop it?" he asked.
Shep shook his head, "I don't know... but I'm sure as hell not gonna let it hurt those boys," he dropped a hand onto the agents shoulder, "How about you? You got your story fixed in your head?"
"I will by the time I need it... chasing a perp, wrestling with the gun... accidental discharge... it happens..."
"Can your record handle that?" Shep asked.
"Does it matter?" he asked with a spocked eyebrow.
"Not really," Shep smiled openly, he had to admit to himself, even though this man before him had given those boys nothing but trouble over the last two years, he really did like him.
Victor chuckled easily, "Yeah I didn't think so... but yeah..." he turned meeting those green-gold eyes again, "You're going to meet up with 'em aren't you?" he asked.
"Eventually," Shep nodded.
Victor dropped his chin to his chest, letting his head nod a couple times before looking back up at this man he wanted to see as an ally. Aunt Lettie always said there were bigger evils than man could know out there...is there more that I can do? he wondered hating the idea of sitting on the sidelines. What Shep had said was true, since that abomination's first grasping of his psyche he'd sensed that the time had come. That the world these past couple days was different than it had been in all the millennia before, and he knew his belly told him that disaster was only a heartbeat away.
"If..." he started then sighed, "... when the time comes... and the lines are face to face..." he gulped wondering if he sounded as crazy as he felt. His hand dashed into his jacket pocket then held out a card.
Shep nodded with a grin and took the piece of paper, sliding it into his wallet with a silent nod of commiseration.
Special Agent Victor Hendrickson smiled easily back, his offering accepted as he motioned outward toward the dark night, "You better get going, catch up with those kids, see what you can do..."
"Ayup," Shep nodded, "We square?" he asked knowing they were.
"Yep. See ya 'round Mr. McGregor."
"Shep," he corrected extending his hand to the Fed.
"Vic," Hendrickson offered taking and shaking the warm strong hand then nodded as the man strode out into the dark outer halo of the parking lot.
--
"...but you're okay right? You're not hurt right? It didn't..." he slurred through exhaustion.
"I'm fine Dean really..." Sam insisted softly, his eyes flicking from the road to his big brother in the passenger seat. He was leaning between the seat and the door, his eyes closed, his face the color of wet chalk while sweat continued to drip through his hair down his skin.
Sam reached out his hand startling the man, though not even enough to get him to crack his eyes open; with the back of his hand on his forehead first then his cheek, "Dude you're like ice..." he hissed pulling to the shoulder of the road, "...and you need another bag of antibiotics..."
Sam reached over Dean, his hand slapping the locks on both passenger side doors down before he did the same for the rear drivers' side door, then opened his own slowly with a frown pulling at the corners of his mouth as Dean tossed his head to the side and muttered,
"Nnuh...nohn't..."
He patted the older man on the shoulder, "S'alright Dean... I'll be right back," half out of the car he stopped, cut the engine and pocketed the keys before locking the driver door and finally moving to the trunk to find what he needed.
Dean spun in a circle, his heart in his throat. Wet pavement shined like satin in the moonlight, a branch reaching off in each of four directions. He stood in the center, nocturnal life bringing sound to the night, "Sam?" he lurched in one direction, then another, 'they all look the same... Where are you Sam? Which way did you go?' "SamMY!" he called and froze, feeling ice along his spine while he waited for the night sounds to mock him, to mimic the fear in his voice.
'oh God I lost him...Dad's gonna kill me... it's my fault... had to ride a freakin' pony and he's gone... damn stupid Dean!' he thought frowning hard. 'that was so long ago though, I found him since then didn't I?'
"SAMMY ANSWER ME!... please..." his breath burned in his chest, his heart beating against its bony prison, reaching tendrils of throbbing fear up his throat, 'someone's got him... someone's gonna hurt him... I just KNOW it... please don't let Sam be hurt... please. I promise I'll be a good boy... I'll do EVERYthing JUST right... I promise, just so long as Sammy's safe...I'll be the best big brother anyone could need I SWEAR... just let Sammy be safe please God... Please?'
Wind flicked his ear, warmth touched his face and he spun around, his legs pumping, carrying him down the ribbon of black, "SAMMY! Sam Winchester! Where are you!? C'mon Sammy talk to me!" he called drawing to a halt as he reached the center of a four way intersection. 'I didn't run that long...' he turned and looked behind him at the long featureless tarmac strand that seemed to go on forever without a break or bend.
"He's mine,"
"He's ours,"
"You lose,"
"He's gone,"
"Delicious,"
"Wanting,"
"Crying,"
"Tears,"
"So sweet,"
"Ours,"
"Mine!"
"So tender,"
"Young,"
"OURS!"
"Power,"
"Strength,"
"Mine!"
"OURS!"
"MINE!"
Voices he didn't know slid and sailed over and through one another. 'Like hell he's yours... he's MINE... MY BOY...MY Sam!' he wanted to tell them. He wanted to shout it, he wanted to SCREAM it...
In the dark heart of one of the shadows a tiny pale figure seemed suspended, hands of smoky black pulled and yanked, turning, twisting and tearing while a once happy chubbily cherubic face he loved more than life frowned, the head of brown moppish waves shaking back and forth while bright blue-green eyes shined with layers of tears they shed.
"No! Please... stop it! You're hurting me...DEEAAANNNN! Daddy!... help me!" he cried.
"No! Don't!" Dean lurched toward the figure, his legs racing, "Don't you touch him!"
"Dean! HELP ME!" Sam's toddler voice stabbed at his heart as he ran, every ounce of power he could muster channeled to his legs, his arms pumping to close some of the distance between them.
In front of him, a puff of darkness turned. Penetrating eyes in porcelain and surrounded by blonde Shirley Temple curls smiled with blood red lips and yellow/brown nicotine stained teeth. It turned raising its red taloned hand, motioning to the little boy suspended in black air, his chest and tummy smeared with red-orange lipstick, heaving with cries and calls for help.
"No! DONT YOU TOUCH HIM!" he screamed pushing harder, racing faster and further than he ever thought he could, 'don't you touch him... not my Sammy please! Don't hurt him! Don't DO that to him!... so help me God! Please God help me...'
Panic tore through him, searing his lungs and muscles as the sinister visage grinned once more at him, waggled a finger, and turned its back on him, obscuring his baby brother from his sight.
"NO!" he cried again, as the horror began to blacken, winding around his screaming baby brother, the baby that was screaming for him to come and save him, the one he knew he was going to fail even as all around him the air went dark again and he stood in the center of a crossroads once more, each road leading down an identical path of pitch with no Sam in sight.
"No..." he gasped falling to his knees, "Sam... Oh God Sam... I'm sorry, I'm so sorry... SAMMY!" he roared to the night sky.
"Dean!...Ow..." Sam grunted feeling the trunk latch dig a gouge into his head as he bolted upright with the sound of his brother's chilling cry.
With a blanket and a bag of I.V. antibiotics in hand he dashed to the passenger door and opened it slowly to keep Dean from falling out.
"Hey... hey Dean, it's okay..." he leaned his big brother forward against his chest, securing the blanket tightly against the shivering that racked him, "Oh jeez dude... c'mon Dean..."
"Sam?" his eyes fluttered open and his hand grasped his little brother by the face, "Sammy?"
"Yeah Dean, its okay..." he swallowed hard as Dean blinked water from his eyes, trying to reorient himself.
"Where're we?" he asked pushing against Sam's solid support to straighten himself out.
Sam shook his head with a worried smile, "Road to nowhere..."
He dug Dean's hand out from beneath the blanket, "Gimme your hand man..." and secured the end of the I.V. line into the hub of the catheter. "How are you? You're cold as ice man, we gotta get you some help Dean..."
The elder hunter shook his head, "Mmm'okay... had a dream Sammy... I think it was a dream..." he squinted at his little brother, "...did you ever...? No..." he gasped, his eyes growing wide and fearful as he grasped Sam by the jacket, "You can tell me Sam... you can tell me the truth okay? Really... it's okay man, I understand..."
"What Dean?" Sam shook his head, confused and unnerved.
"Mmma'freak..." Dean shook his head, his eyes sliding closed as his breathing grew shallow and faster, "D'he ever get you Sam? Momma psychofreak... I saw you on the wall y'know..."
"Dean what're you talking about?" Sam's brows furrowed and his heart started to race.
"On the wall Sam... I should've burned them with mine... I'm so sorry little brother..." he sniffed clasping the youngest Winchester at the neck and shoulder.
"There's nothing to be sorry about Dean... Look you're scaring the crap outta me here okay, we're gonna get to a motel and you're gonna get some rest okay? I'll keep watch, there won't be anything to worry about... and if you're not better in the morning I'm hauling your ass to a hospital do you understand me?" he asked sternly.
Dean's hand, as cold as if he'd been holding an ice pack ran down Sam's face, "You can tell me... I should'a burned em... shoulda never let anyone see you like that... God I'm sorry..." he sniffed no longer able to hold himself up.
Sam eased him back into the seat and strapped him in then locked the door shutting him safely inside the car. Dean please just keep fighting...maybe I should take him to a hospital right away... I can't protect him in a hospital though. He nodded to himself and sighed, I'll give him till morning, jeez dude what kind of a nightmare are you drowning in? And how can I help you? He wondered feeling the weight of despair heavy on his heart as he shut the trunk and headed toward the driver door, the sound of something crunching on the gravel at the side of the road.
--
tbc.
Please R&R.
Thanks.
sifi