Ties that Blind Chapter 21 – New Lead
Dean sat in the overstuffed chair in the hotel. His visit to the house had resulted in him confirming that Sam had been there, but he had been too late. He found Sam's symbol in the alley, but unfortunately it didn't tell him anything but that Sam had been there.
A soft moan came from Sammy's bed. Dean moved out of habit to the figure that was tossing on the bed. "Shhh, it's ok Clinton. It's just a bad dream. You're safe here." He rubbed small circles in the middle of Clinton's back like he used to do for Sammy. He smiled as the technique worked on Clinton. The boy's breathing evened out as he fell back into a more peaceful sleep.
Dean returned to the chair and ran a hand through his hair. Clinton hadn't been able to give them much information to help find Sam. None of the street names seemed to mean anything to him. He had been upset when Dean returned without Sam, but Dean assured him that it wasn't his fault. He wondered if all the 'special children' suffered from nightmares. Of course, Clinton had endured plenty to give him nightmares…being locked in a trunk for one thing.
Dean turned as the connecting door opened quietly. "I saw the light on…couldn't sleep?" Ellen asked quietly.
"There's too many placed to search Ellen…we have to figure out some way to filter the list. Of course, that's assuming that he is using a place that has his name on it." Dean looked at the list of properties that Virgil had acquired. The number was over 20 in the general area alone.
"Dean, Ash is working on it. He's really good. Just give him some time and he will come through. You really need to get some rest. I can watch things while you sleep Dean." Ellen held up her hand as she saw Dean start to protest. "You will be no good to Sam if you get yourself killed because you are sloppy…tired hunters are sloppy hunters."
Dean shook his head. He really was tired, but he wasn't sure that he could rest knowing that Sam was out there, probably in pain. "Fine, but you wake me the minute Ash comes up with something."
"I will Dean, now get some rest." Ellen watched as Dean lay down on his bed. After a few moments of tossing and turning, his exhausted body finally won out.
Ellen stood and turned the light down in the room as she prepared to stand guard the rest of the night.
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Sam opened his eyes and sighed as darkness still seemed to greet him. He had no idea how long he had been held captive. He tried to rise up from the cold floor but he couldn't, he had become too weak to move. The demon would only allow him brief moments of rest before he would return and start working on Sam.
His back and chest were covered with marks from the whip that the demon seemed to favor. His favorite game was to crack the whip and then hit Sam when he was unable to prepare for the blow. Not being able to see, to anticipate made the pain much worse. Sam was finding that without his eyes, he felt what the demon was doing more intensely. The last time the demon had used some type of electrical device that delivered a painful electrical charge to wherever it touched.
Sam's throat was raw from the hours of screams that had been torn from him. He no longer talked; the effort was just too much. All he could do was endure the pain and the constant taunts of the demon. Just as Sam was beginning to fall back into a fitful sleep, he heard the sound of Virgil's return.
"Hello Sam, did you have a nice rest? I bet you are pretty thirsty aren't you? I can see the fever burning in you…a few more days of this and you'll be begging me to let you serve us. This is your last chance Sam…all you have to do is agree and you can have whatever you want."
Virgil held a water bottle to Sam's lips, letting a few drops enter his parched mouth. Sam swallowed greedily, his body crying for more. But the demon stopped and let the water pour out on the floor in front of Sam. Sam could hear the water falling and hitting the ground. "You can have all the water you want if you give in Sam…you know that we will win in the end."
Sam turned his head and closed his eyes. The words of the demon began to fade as his consciousness left him.
Virgil smiled. "It won't be long now Sammy…you're body is beginning to shut down. Soon you'll be ready for one of my brothers to take you over. You won't be able to fight us much longer."
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
It had been four days since Sam had disappeared. Dean had searched all of the sites that Ash had found, but there was no sign of Sam. As Dean returned once more to the hotel, he wondered how much longer Sam would be able to hold on.
"Dean!" Clinton yelled as Dean opened the door and entered. Dean smiled tiredly at the young boy. At least he seemed to be blossoming under Ellen and Jo's care. But he still could see a sadness lingering behind the boy's eyes.
"Hey buddy…have you been doing what Jo and Ellen told you to do?"
"Sure…I beat Jo at poker three times in a row!" Dean smiled as he ruffled the young boy's hair.
"Are you ready to meet your new foster parents Clinton? Ellen says they should be here any time now." Dean saw the boy's lower lip begin to tremble.
"Do I have to go with them Dean…I want to stay here with you. I can help…"
"That's tempting Clinton, but you need to have a permanent home where you can finish school. Plus Morgan said he's going to teach you how to defend yourself. I move around too much."
"But Dean, what if they don't like me…I mean, what if they don't understand my powers? Mom was always afraid to show anyone her powers; she said that people wouldn't understand, they'd be scared of her and try to hurt her." Clinton's eyes filled with tears.
"Now we talked about this Clinton. Morgan and Sarah understand your powers and will help you with them. They can also protect you in case some other demon comes looking for you. I know it's scary, but you know that bad things are out there that can hurt you. We need to make sure you are safe."
"Will you come see me?" Clinton sat next to Dean and placed his hand on his arm.
"Sure, whenever I'm in the area. Besides, you'll have my phone number, if you ever need me or just want to talk, you can use that number. I'll always return your call as soon as I can. Now you need to finish packing and be ready to go. Jo will go with you to make sure that everything is ok."
"Ok Dean…but I'm going to miss you." Clinton wrapped his small arms around Dean's neck. Dean pulled the young boy to him and hugged him back. "You be a good boy Clinton." Dean watched as Clinton ran into the other room to finish packing his things.
"No luck huh?" Ellen said as she entered the room.
"No…I don't know what I'm going to do Ellen…it's worse than finding a needle in a haystack. Are you sure that Jo is ok with going with Morgan and Clinton?"
"She's fine with it…she and Clinton have become good friends. She'll stay with him long enough to make sure that he's ok. Morgan and Sarah are good people Dean, Clinton will be fine."
Ash burst into the room, a paper in his hand and an excited gleam in his eyes. "Dean, I might have something!"
"Well spill it Dude…what have you got?" Dean turned to look at Ash, hope showing in his eyes as he waited for Ash to fill him in.
"I was checking the DMV for traffic tickets issued on the Lexus. It seems that our demon doesn't pay much attention to the parking laws. He has a number of tickets…most of them for illegally parking near a warehouse not far from here. And get this; the warehouse is not in his name. But a shell corporation that eventually leads to him."
"When was the last ticket issued?" Dean asked excitedly.
"Last night Dean…the guy was there last night."
"Man, the next month of beer is on me!" Dean said as he grabbed his coat and started for the door.
"Hold on Dean…what are you going to do?" Ellen called after him.
"Improvise…and bring Sammy home. Ellen, can you find us a safe place to stay? Also, did you mention that you knew of a doctor in the area that might be willing to help? I'd like to keep Sam away from the hospital if we can…hospitals are too exposed. Until we can figure out how many of these bastards are around here, I want to make sure that Sam is safe."
"I'll have everything ready for you Dean…but you be careful. If I don't hear from you in one hour, I'm calling in some favors and sending you some help."
"Fine, but you better make it 2 hours…I'm going to need time to scope it out and come up with a way to trap the bastard before I exorcise his ass back to hell."
Dean didn't wait to hear Ellen's response as he headed for his car. "Hold on Sammy…helps on the way!"
TBC
Raven524: Ok so we have Clinton safe, Jo out of the way and Dean on his way to rescue Sam…sounds easy right? Guess you'll just have to read on to find out. Thanks again for those who are reviewing!