Chapter Twenty

"Liz." The voice became more insistent the longer it talked. "Liz!"

Liz didn't recognize the face in front of her when she cracked open her eyes. She closed them, and when she reopened them, Tom was in front of her.

"Hey, sis. I thought you might-" She tuned him out and tried to focus on her thoughts. She knew she had dreamed about Sam again but couldn't remember the specifics of the dream. She also knew she had forgotten something-no, someone. She struggled to remember and was inexplicably heartbroken when she couldn't. She chased the feeling and eventually remembered. Dean. It was getting harder and harder to remember what he was to her.

The gun going off got her attention. The body hitting the floor made her jerk. She stared, transfixed, as the blood of the woman she didn't recognize spread across the floor toward her. The woman had been bound and gagged. Her glassy eyes seemed to Liz to be full of accusation.

Now that Liz looked around, she saw that women filled the room. They were obviously drugged or spelled because they showed no panic or concern that one of them had been killed and they might be next.

"I trust I have your attention now," Tom said. "If you'll look around you, you'll see that this room is filled with women and girls. One of them dies every minute until you tell me what I want to hear. You've been injected with a truth serum, so don't think you can lie. Tell me, Liz, where the chosen one is. What have you done with him? You were prophesized to have Sam's son. I know you did. Where is he?"

"You were in the courtroom. You know what I-"

"I know what you said in the courtroom. It was quite a performance. Now I want the truth."

Liz looked panicked. "I don't know what to tell you; I didn't-" Liz screamed as Tom shot another woman between the eyes. She could feel the sobs coming but didn't care.

"I have all night and a town full of women just a few miles away," Tom threatened.

"Okay. Okay, okay, okay."

"Okay, what?"

Liz sounded very small and broken as she answered. "I need to talk to Bobby."

Tom rolled his eyes. "Wrong answer," he said and shot another of the women.

"You're not listening!" Liz yelled. "I have to talk to Bobby before I can tell you what you want to hear."

Tom was intrigued. "Why?"

"He's the only one who can take the spell off of me."

Tom's face lit up. "Of course. A memory inhibiting spell. I forget sometimes how brilliant you can be." He glanced at his watch and shot another woman.

Liz flinched and forced herself not to watch the body hitting the floor. "Do you think you could stop doing that?" she asked. She was barely keeping herself from losing it. "I'm doing what you want."

Tom shrugged. "I don't have an answer yet, though, and I promised you that a girl would die every minute until I do. It would make me seem like a liar if I stopped now."

"Then get me a phone!"

Ginger chose that moment to enter the room. She stopped short as she took in the carnage around her. She covered her mouth, unable to tear her eyes away from the bodies littering the floor. After a moment, she came to herself and looked at Tom." Jason told me that you wanted me to stop by later." She looked across the room to where Jason stood, his face a mask that gave away nothing.

"I did," Tom agreed. "I thought you might benefit from seeing how answers are obtained from someone who doesn't want to give you what you want." He shot again, this time killing a girl who couldn't have been more than sixteen.

"Make him stop, Ginger," Liz sobbed. "Make him stop!"

Ginger glared at Liz. "How do you propose I do that?" she asked furiously. "You're the one he wants information from. You make him stop!"

"I'm trying, but no one will give me a phone."

Ginger jerked her head to Jason. "Give her your stupid phone, Jason. It's not like they can track it."

Jason looked at Tom for his approval. Tom nodded, so Jason tossed the phone to Liz. Liz's hands were shaking as she dialed the number. She prayed that Bobby would answer even though he didn't recognize the number. He did. On the fifth ring, Bobby's grumpy-sounding voice filled the line, "Yeah?"

Liz blew out a relieved breath. "Bobby. Thank God. I need you to do something."

"Liz? Are you okay? Where are you? Any information you can give me will help."

"I'm not hurt, but I don't have time to talk. I need you to take the spell off of me. Tom is killing a lot of innocent people. I need you to take the spell off of me so I can end this."

For a moment the line was silent. "You said you would rather die than have me remove it. I'm gonna need more than that, Liz."

"It's not my life on the line," Liz countered.

"Sam?" Bobby guessed.

"Sam's...well, not fine, but alive and in one piece."

"Liz..." He trailed off at the sound of a gunshot in the background. "Liz! Are you okay? Liz!"

Tom took the phone away from Liz. "Mr. Singer, the longer you stall, the more people who are going to die. I'm giving you back to Liz now with the warning that you have 45 seconds before your inaction kills someone else."

Liz took the phone. "Bobby?" She was trying to swallow back her tears.

"Liz, are you okay?"

"I'm far from okay. I need you to take the spell off of me now. Tom's not joking about killing more people."

"No."

"Bobby, I mean it."

"I do, too. A lot more people might die if I do what you're asking."

"Might, Bobby. They might. These people definitely will. Take it off me now!"

Bobby sighed unhappily. "I hope you know what you're doing, Liz," he said, giving in. He took another deep breath. "Elizabeth Rosemary Barrister Winchester, I release you from the bonds that hold you. From this moment onward, you may do as you wish, untethered by the limitations you have placed upon yourself. It is your wish and it is my wish that you be free and that your will be your own."

Tears rolled down Liz's cheeks. When she spoke, her voice was barely a whisper. "I'm sorry I can't be stronger, Bobby," she whispered hoarsely. "I know I just made everything harder."

She was grateful that Bobby's voice was understanding as he answered, "The truth had to come out some time, Liz. You'll do what needs to be done; I know you will. You'll do what you need to keep everyone as safe as they can be."

"Thanks, Bobby. Would you tell Dean that I love him and I'm-"

Tom jerked the phone out of her hand. "This is not social hour. Lest you forget: I hate your sorry excuse for a husband. I wish to actively cause him pain, not lessen it. Now, you have ten seconds to tell me the truth or all these ladies are going to die. And trust me, they can easily be replaced by a fresh batch."

Liz was tired of being threatened. "You want the truth, Tom? Well, the truth is that I can't tell you where my and Sam's son is because I had his daughter. His daughter. And I can't tell you where she is because I don't know."

The silence in the room was deafening. "You had his what?" Tom was livid. Fury filled his eyes. "His daughter? His daughter! You had his daughter!" He turned and shot the remaining women in the room.

Liz slid to the floor in a boneless heap. "Why did you do that? I told you the truth. It's what you asked. You said you'd stop if I did as you asked."

Tom jerked her to her feet. "I lied. I'm evil; it's what I do. What am I supposed to do with a little bitch, Liz? You're completely useless. It's a joke that you were even born. You had one purpose, just one, and you screwed it up. Completely useless." He shoved her to the ground and turned to Jason. "I guess if at first you don't succeed, try and try again. Get Sam ready. We'll begin tonight after the ceremony." He spun around to Ginger. "And you. Get Liz to the ceremony room. By the time I join you, you better have Dean on the phone."

Tom stalked out of the room, slamming the door behind him. Liz looked around her at the bodies of the women and girls she had been unable to save. "Get me out of here," she pleaded. "Please, get me out of here."

Ginger nodded and moved to unchain her. Jason stopped her. "We have a more pressing issue. How are we going to get a hold of Dean? I doubt Liz is going to just offer up that information."

Ginger glanced away guiltily. "I know how to contact Dean," she admitted.

Jason looked confused. "How and, more importantly, why do you know this?"

Instead of answering, Ginger started once again to unlock Liz, and once again, Jason stopped her. "Answer me, Ginger."

Ginger sighed. "It's a long story."

"She's been switching our memories," Liz supplied.

Ginger glared at Liz. "Apparently not that long of a story."

Liz shrugged. "I thought I would speed up this part of the drama."

Ginger started to reply, but Jason spun her to face him. "What the hell, Ginger?"

Ginger tried to break his grip, but he held on. "We don't have time for this, Jay."

"We're going to discuss it now, damn it!"

"We can do it later. Now is not a good time!"

"We'll make now a good time."

Ginger huffed a sigh and shoved Jason until he let her go. "Says the man who has the once and future rapist to prep."

Jason glared. "You know that's not fair."

Ginger's anger deflated. "You're right; it's not. It still sucks for Liz."

"It sucks for both of them."

Liz cleared her throat. "Uh, guys? In case you forgot this, I'm still chained to the floor. Blood is starting to soak into my clothes from the roomful of people who just died horribly because they had the misfortune of meeting my brother when he wanted information from me and needed some insurance. If it's not too much trouble, could you get me the hell out of here? You can remind one another how much my life sucks while we're on the way to whatever fresh hell my brother has concocted for me."

Ginger and Jason stood gaping for a few moments before Ginger started unchaining her. "You're right. I still have to get you cleaned up and to the ceremony room. Then I have to get Dean on the phone and somehow convince him not to hang up on me."

Jason helped Liz stand after she had been unchained. "I'll take care of Dean. You tell me how to reach him, and I'll assure that he'll be on the line when we need him."

Ginger was obviously skeptical. "I think he would be less likely to hang up on me. He doesn't hate me."

Jason smiled broadly. "That's precisely why he won't hang up on me. I can piss him off enough that he won't be able to resist the urge to stay on the line and yell obscenities. All I have to do then is explain."

"Why do you need Dean?" Liz wanted to know. She still remembered Dean enought that the thought of him playing into their hands ran chills down her spine.

Jason and Ginger exchanged a look. "Well, we need Dean's help to remove the adultery curse so that Sam can impregnate you without you dying," Jason explained. Ginger elbowed him and gave him a scolding look. He shrugged. "What? She wanted to know."

Liz shook her head in disbelief. "We looked for the past five years for a cure. There's no way to remove the curse."

Jason shook his head. "You're wrong. There's just no record of it in anything you would have looked at. In fact, there's only one record of the removal spell anywhere, and your brother has it. It's passed down from leader to leader. As far as I know, it's never been used. Tom insists it will work, and for your sake, I hope he's right."

"So I can be impregnated by my brother-in-law," Liz reminded him.

"At least you will be alive."

Liz became visibly upset. "I think I'd rather die. There's a catch. There always is. Nothing in our godforsaken cult is done without some kind of a price attached to it. I'd rather die than have something happen to Dean."

Jason looked sad as he answered, "Like so many things in your life, Liz, this is not your decision. It's Dean's. And he's going to pay the price. I think he's predictable enough that we all know that."

Ginger tugged against Liz's manacles. "Stop talking and start walking. You have to shower and get changed. Time's a-wasting. Let's go." She turned to Jason. "You, too. Sam's not going to become halfway crazy all by his lonesome. I'll see you at the ceremony room." She took his phone and saved Dean's number. "And get him on the phone while you're at it."

XXX

"Elizabeth, so lovely to see you."

Liz turned toward the voice. "Maggie?"

The woman in question smiled. She looked like she had aged much more than five years. "Of course. Who else but me would be able to remove a spell of the magnitude of the one you have on you? Now, if you would, please step to the altar and lie face down. Before you do, remove your blouse. You can leave your bra on. I need uninterrupted access to your marks, but you should be able to pull one strap down and it work just fine."

Liz didn't fight Maggie. She didn't see the point in it. She removed her shirt and climbed on the altar, following Maggie's instructions completely. A couple of Tom's goons gagged her before binding her hands underneath the table. She didn't fight them either. Maggie watched this all dispassionately before stepping up to Liz. She placed her hands on Liz and immediately took a step away from her. She looked perplexed for a moment but recovered her calm quite nicely and started the ritual. She nodded at Jason when it was time for Dean to say his piece.

For his part, Jason had taken the time to check and see if Sam had come in with a phone. He had. It didn't have the number Ginger had given him on it, but he was fairly certain that Dean would recognize Sam's number.

He was proved correct when Dean answered the phone. "Sam? Oh, thank God. I thought you-"

"Not Sam," Jason interrupted.

Dean sucked in a breath. "Jason," he spat out. "Why do you have Sam's phone?"

Jason couldn't help the condescension in his tone. "Because I have Sam, you idiot."

"Where's Liz?"

"She's here, too."

"With Sam?" Despite himself, Jason felt for Dean and the emotion he couldn't quite keep out of his voice.

"Something like that," he answered cryptically. "Listen, I didn't call to chat about Sam. I called about Liz."

"What about her? If you've hurt one hair on her head, I'll-"

"Threaten me ineffectually from far away? Easy, killer. I think we both know that she's had more than her hair hurt in the last two weeks. Now shut up and listen to me."

"Go fu-"

"We can take off the adultery curse," Jason interrupted, tired of the back and forth that wasn't getting them anywhere.

Dean snorted in disbelief. "You're lying."

"But what if I'm not?"

The line was silent for several moments. Jason waited, giving Dean some time to process what he was saying. Dean finally sucked in a breath and said, "I'm listening."

"What would you do to save her? Would you die for her?"

Dean didn't hesitate. "Yes."

Jason's answering smile was a little bittersweet. "Good. Then listen up and do exactly as I say. If you can manage that, Liz might just die an old woman."