Haha here is the next chapter. Stupid conclusion to the Demon storyline, I know, and I'm sorry, but I couldn't come up with anything better. I don't spend much time thinking about killing demons, you know. ;)

Chapter 25

The pressure holding Dean against the wall increased tenfold and he fought to suppress a groan of pain. He tried to look down at his brother and felt his heart skip a beat. Sammy, are you awake?

"Sam," he started, managing to pull his head from the wall for a moment before it snapped back.

"Sam can't hear you," the Demon spat. "Like I said, Dean, it's over."

Dean's memory of his possessed father torturing him, in that cabin, two years ago, supplied the pain for him, even though it hadn't even started yet. Come on, guys, hurry up.

As if on cue, the Demon froze, its yellow eyes wide with fury. Dean listened hard, but through the walls, he could hear nothing.

"What did you do?" it choked out. "Who's out there?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," Dean said, glaring at it.

The Demon reached down for something on the floor. Dean felt apprehension and fear flood through his satisfaction that everything was going according to plan. Oh, God. What is it reaching for?

A knife, he saw, and felt his heart skip a beat. No! he thought. He saw the Demon raise it above Sam's body, and just as he was about to scream, "NO!" he felt pain rack his entire body. He cried out, this time not imagining it. He squeezed his eyes shut and felt hot, burning tears well up inside them.

Whether it lasted a moment or an hour, he didn't know, but suddenly the torture stopped and he felt the pressure holding him to the wall simply vanish. His legs crumpled beneath him as he hit the ground.

The Demon dropped the knife, and the weapon lay near Sam's head, who thankfully seemed to be still alive as well. Dean tried to crawl forward, ignoring the torturous pain coursing through every inch of his body. I need the knife. It can't hurt Sam if it doesn't have the knife. Not quite true, but now was not the time for thinking of all the ways the Demon could kill Sam in an instant.

The Demon was shaking spastically, screaming, "What did you do?"

Dean kept crawling. Go, just go…God, please let this work.

Suddenly the Demon stopped and glared at Dean, its eyes a brighter yellow than Dean had ever seen them. "You're going to die for this," it hissed, and Dean was abruptly thrown against the wall as a burst of energy seemed to come out of nowhere. Sam was thrown, too, and Dean cried out in horror as he watched his brother hit the ground hard. He, too, slammed against the ground, this time hearing a crack as something snapped.

It's working, he thought with relief through the pain. The man possessed by the Demon had fallen to his knees. "Go to hell, you evil son of a bitch," Dean whispered. He covered his face as the Demon exited the man's body. There was a flash of light, and it was gone.

Dean looked around. There was no sign of the Demon. It's gone, he thought. It's really gone.

He tried to stand up, unsuccessfully and ended up crawling across the floor. "Sammy," he called out. He winced when he saw Sam crumpled in a heap on the floor. The gash on his forehead had reopened, and blood was once again pouring down the side of his face. "Sammy," he called again. Sam didn't respond. "Please, Sammy, let me know you can hear me." But Sam didn't move.

He pulled himself onto his knees and scanned his brother for any extra injuries. "Sam," he murmured, finally finishing untying his hands, which he'd started…how long ago? He didn't know. Time seemed to have lost its meaning.

Sam has been here for three months.

He brushed Sam's hair out of his closed eyes and gently cradled his head. "Please wake up, Sammy," he whispered. His eyes filled with tears as he felt the heat radiating from his brother's face. Sick. Hurt.

Dying.

"Dean? Dean? Are you in there? Dean? Is everything okay?"

Dean blinked at the sound of voices from outside the room. Jo. Cecilia. Ellen. Ash. He'd forgotten that they had been the ones reading the exorcism – the most powerful he could find – outside the room. He didn't answer, though, simply remained still, holding his brother, barely even able to think.

"Dean! Say something if you're all right!"

Dean tried to calm himself. "I'm fine," he said. Too quietly, he knew, but he didn't care.

"I think I heard him," Jo's voice.

"I didn't," said Ash's.

"He's alive," said Cecilia's quiet, slightly ominous one. There was silence from everyone else.

Dean couldn't bring himself to leave Sam's side. "I think the door's open," he called, a little louder this time.

Sam shifted slightly in his sleep, and Dean felt his heart ships a beat. Come on, Sammy. Wake up. Please wake up. But nothing else happened.

The door opened and Dean looked up. Ellen and Jo had identical expressions on their faces – mixed ones of horror and shock. Ash looked disgusted.

Cecilia, though, didn't look surprised. She was the first of the four to step into the room, her eyes huge, her lips trembling. "Oh my God," she whispered. She knelt next to Sam. "Oh my God."

Ellen watched them for a moment before taking charge. "Dean. Pull yourself together. Sam needs a hospital. Jo, your cell's on, call 911."

Dean wiped his eyes and tried to stand up before collapsing next to Sam. He heard Cecilia shriek.

"Dean? Dean? Oh my God!" She sounded like she was crying. "Dean. It hurt you, too, didn't it?"

Somewhere, in the background, Jo's voice, on her cell phone, rose higher with distress. Dean opened his eyes. "I'm all right," he said. But he couldn't move. Everything hurt so bad…

He heard a phone snap shut and then Jo rushed into his line of sight. "You're bleeding everywhere," she whispered.

"It's not as bad as last time," he mumbled. The last thing he saw before he closed his eyes again was Jo's already blanched face turn to a horrified and scared whiter shade of pale.

muahaha...another cliffhanger!

-Caitlyn