"Hey Sammy?" Wade asked gently, looking straight into his eyes. "Did you know that sometimes Dean wants to just drive away from you and not look back?"
Sam stared the bastard down, knowing that Wade was playing a game. He was going to make Dean say things that Dean didn't mean.
It was no big deal. Sam knew the truth. He stared steadily back at Wade, giving him not a hint of emotion.
Wade grinned, turning toward Dean. "Well? Did you say it or didn't you?"
Dean glared, remained silent, and Wade nodded to Grady who slipped the belt out of its notch and advanced it another space. Sam gritted his teeth and swallowed. The belt was … uncomfortable, but not so tight that he couldn't breathe.
"You sonofabitch. I'm gonna kill you." Dean seethed.
But Wade just grinned wider. He leaned into Dean and whispered conspiratorially, "You gotta catch me first, asshole."
Wade shifted back toward Sam. "Hey Sammy, did you know that Dean once pointed you out to us, and we all made fun of those flood pants and little-boy jacket you wear? Dean laughed the loudest."
Dean snorted. "Yeah, like that ever happened."
Sam ignored Wade's words and focused on Dean, drawing his strength from the older boy. Dean stared him straight in the eye, offering him as much comfort as he could from feet away. Dean smiled that smile that Sam knew was reserved especially for him, and in his heart, Sam knew his brother would never do or say the cruel things that Wade was implying.
"Yeah, you got me on that one, Deano. Never happened." He winked at Grady. "At least not when Dean was around, right Grady?"
Grady snorted, and Sam felt his face flush pink.
"Sammy …" Dean said gently, "don't let …"
"Shut up!" Wade barked. "Now where was I? Oh yeah, I know." The boy moved to stand behind Sam and looked directly at Dean. "Hey Sammy, did you know that Dean sometimes dreams about dropping you off at Bobby's house and leaving you there forever?"
Sam's eyes shot wide at that because there was no way Wade could know about Bobby unless Dean had told him. His eyes shot to his brother, and he could tell … Sam COULD TELL … that what Wade said was true. He swallowed back tears.
Dean's eyes met his guiltily, "Sammy … listen to me. It … it wasn't like that, okay? It …"
"Wrong answer!" Wade crowed, and he yanked viciously on the belt.
Sam felt his windpipe constricting, he could barely take a breath, and he felt himself beginning to panic. His eyes searched for Dean as he struggled to calm himself down.
"Sammy! Sam! Calm down. You hear me?" Dean begged. Sam's face was blood red and tears streamed from his eyes. He panted, trying to catch a breath that wasn't there, and Dean feared the kid would hyperventilate and pass out against the confines of the belt. If his head tipped forward …
"Stop this!" Dean begged. "You've made your freakin' point, okay? Whatever it is you're trying to prove. You've proved it. Now let him go!"
But Wade just stepped back to admire his handy work. "Damn! That's a nice shade of red, hoss!" He celebrated.
"Hey Sammy," He knelt at Sam's feet, stared into his face.
"Stop this!" Dean shouted.
"Shut the fuck up!" Wade replied.
"Sammy, did you know that sometimes Dean wishes that he was the one who died in the fire? Him instead of Mommy? Mostly that's because of you, you know. You ruined his life, kid."
Sam's eyes closed, unable to look at his brother. It was true. Dean had … had said these things. He'd really said them. In the distance, Sam could hear his brother calling his name, pleading with him that he hadn't meant it, but consciousness was fast eluding him. He felt the belt tug tighter, and then Sam could hardly get any air at all. His neck hurt - felt like it was caving in - when Wade dealt his final blow.
"Hey Sam-my," He said in a song-song voice. "Did you know that Dean wishes you'd died during that last wendigo hunt? Hunh? He does! He wishes you were dead, Sammy. How's that feel?"
"Sam! I swear to God, I never said that! I would never say that!" Dean exploded. "I … I might have … I must have talked about the wendigo, but I don't remember it, Sammy! And I never, ever would have wished that Sam. You have to believe me!"
But Sam was too busy trying to collect all the pieces of his shattered heart to hear his brother. He was going to die here, surrounded by mold and flies and dead vetala. He was going to die knowing how much Dean hated him, how he no longer wanted him around, how Dean had … had wished himself dead because of the stress of having Sam around all the time .. how he'd wished Sam dead.
It was okay. Sam thought he probably wanted to die now anyway - die and go on to someplace better where pain like this didn't exist. He choked once as the belt jerked impossibly tighter, and the last sound he heard as he let go was his older brother - the biggest and brightest light in his life until today - sobbing his apologies.