Chapter Eight

Nicki felt her eyes drooping, her head lolling forward. She was so tired, the events of the night beginning to take their toll.

There had been no sign of the Vampires since they'd brought Dean in about two hours before.

Vampires.

The word made her laugh.

Just when she thought that bad ex's and grief were her only worries, along comes a pack of kidnapping vampires.

Great.

A key in the lock made both prisoners come alert at the same time. It was too good to be true, them being left alone this long.

Nicki watched, attempting to mask her fear but failing, as blondie and Xena strode into the room, another three vampires stood by the door. Apparently a show was about to start and Nicki just hoped they weren't the stars.

She grimaced as blondie flashed her another one of his killer smiles. Man you'd think the undead would get their teeth fixed.

Xena walked over to Dean, who sat looking up at her with his head cocked to the side. Kneeling slowly she traced her finger along the right side of his face, collecting the blood from his head wound. She placed the finger in her mouth and seductively tasted him.

"Remember me?"

"There's been a few ladies in my life sweetheart, you'll have to give me a hint"

Xena smiled and licked her finger again, laying it back on Dean's cheek like he was the dip of the day.

"I can taste the fear in your blood"

"I think you'll find that's the beer from last night. Or possibly the chocolate that a friend of mine spread across my face"

Nicki watched the exchange, routed in place not only by her bounds but by the fear of what was about to happen. Up until now it had all seemed so unreal. A thing to joke about, but now, with Dean seemingly taunting the very thing that could kill them both, the reality of her situation was hitting her hard in the chest, squeezing her heart and constricting her lungs until she was sure she would have to either scream or pass out to release the pressure.

Yet Dean didn't flinch.

Not once.

"Mmmm fear and chocolate mixed with blood. Three of my favourite things."

"Tell you what, you let us go and I'll run to the store for you and pick up some chocolate."

"Ha, let you go? Oh I think not, do you remember me?"

She asked again, leaning forward until her face was but a few inches from Dean's. Her breath ran across his skin causing him to shudder involuntarily ,eliciting a smile from his captor.

"I seem to remember someone peeing their pants as their daddy went up in smoke. Was that you?"

She didn't bat an eyelid, barely even moved, but the force of the punch to Dean's abdomen was enough to knock the wind clear from him and his need to double over, his lack of ability to do so, caused unwanted tears to form in his eyes.

"My name's Steph"

"Wish I could say it's pretty" Dean growled out through gritted teeth. Show no fear. Show no fear Dean. Come on.

"You and yours killed mine. Killed Bo, killed Hank. Killed Luther."

"I'd do it all again in a heart beat"

"I bet you'd love to try wouldn't you little boy, love to prove to your Daddy that you're the big man in town, take on a few vampires, clear out a nest and drive off into the sunset. We know your partner is here to"

To his credit Dean kept each flinch from each word spoken hidden deep down within the recess's of his heart. But his eyes blazed with an anger he hadn't felt in months.

They had Sam's scent.

Not good.

"Remember last time? Out of how many of you? Only two left, and one was so sick she could barely stand"

"Kate's due back soon"

Dean froze. The situation was determined to get worse. Couldn't a guy ever catch a break?

"She's not dead? Again, I mean"

"Almost, that little arrow you shot into her almost killed her. Guess revenge is stronger than death when you take away someone's soul mate"

"Wait, you animals have souls?"

Steph backhanded Dean hard enough to cause his face to redden almost instantly. He shook his head, attempting to stay awake, to keep his wits about him enough to see an escape. So far there was none.

"What are you gonna do with us? It's me you want so let her go"

Dean gestured toward Nicki who was sat bolt upright and stock still. Hoping to be forgotten by the beasts in the room. Thanks Dean. Way to go making them take notice.

"She's a gift, Kate will probably turn her. Our family is almost complete. You though, you're like a Christmas and birthday present all in one. She'll probably torture you for weeks before she decides what to do with you"

"Sounds lovely"

"Oh it will be, but just in case you're thinking of escaping, thinking of killing any more of my family, just bear this in mind"

Dean was about to retort when a burning sensation coupled with intense pain erupted in his right thigh, he looked down as Steph twisted the knife. He couldn't keep from crying out, couldn't keep from showing his distress. He attempted to buck away from her as the pain crept up his muscle to imbed itself within every fibre of his being. Every movement he made jarred his already fragile ribs and he found himself panting to stay awake, head down, fighting from crying out again.

Steph smiled at her prisoner, her prey, her toy. She wiped her finger along the gash in his leg and again tasted the fear that flowed through his blood. Turning, she winked at Nicki who turned away in disgust, and the vampires left the room, leaving the two captives alone in their terror, alone in their pain.

Dean gave into the nausea and managed to pull himself to the side to spare his clothes of his dinner. The angle at which he was forced to throw up not only managed to aggravate his ribs, his aching muscles and the new gash in his leg, but also managed to rip a few more shreds of skin from his wrists.

This day sucked.

Gentle sobbing from across the room brought him back to the present, he coughed a few times, spat onto the floor and looked across at Nicki with what he hoped was a reassuring smile.

"We're gonna be ok" He just wished his voice had sounded a little stronger. Hard to be reassuring when you're having to whisper.

"Yeah! How?"

"Just, just because"

"Because what?"

"Because someone as good looking as me always lives to charm the girl"

Nicki allowed her fear, frustration and hopelessness to flow from her in the form of laughter, she heard Dean join in and together they masked their pain. Although by the end both were trying to look away to shield the tears.

"Are you ok?"

"I've been through worse, I'll be fine"

"You don't look fine"

"It's nothing, honestly"

"Oh, I see, you're one of those"

"What? One of those what?"

"One of those tough guys who can never admit when they're hurt."

"Am not"

"Are too, god forbid you show a weakness of any kind"

"You can talk"

"What?"

"Head hurt does it?"

"No it doesn't"

"Uh huh"

"Shut up"

"You shut up"

"Great comeback champ"

Dean's quick fire wit failed him and he had to make do with pouting at Nicki. But at least it made her smile, a tired, drained, scared smile. But a smile nonetheless.

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Thankyou to every one of you for your reviews and support with this story. Hope you're not dissapointed with how it's going.

Who wants Dean out of the chains? (not me i can tell ya!)