Chapter 17
A rasping breath sighed through the air and Dean acted quickly by pulling his hand away from the beam to illuminate the short corridor. Two familiar, green punctured eyes squinted at the flood of light and Dean felt the shaft of the flashlight being torn from his hand to clatter against the ground before going out completely and flooding the area with darkness.
The sound of movement advanced on Dean quickly, and before he had the chance to respond, something knocked him flat to the ground. He cursed aloud and the darkness momentarily spun around him. He struggled to get back to his feet. A rather colourful curse came from John's lips, but Dean couldn't see where his father was. He groped his way back to his feet, but before getting very far, he was knocked back to the ground by something pressing on top of him. He yelled out as the air was temporarily forced from his lungs.
"Are you okay?" John called out, his voice laced with concerned anxiety.
The weight on top of Dean's chest vanished and he called out a breathy affirmative into the darkness. Dean pawed his way back to his feet and leaned against the cold wall. A surprised shout of 'no' drifted through to greet Dean's ears, and he perked at the sound. The shout was soon followed by another sharp cry, easily detected as pained. Dean recognized the voice.
"Sammy?" He called into the wall. He searched desperately for a way in; looking for a door that he knew had to be present so he could get to his little brother.
There was a piercing yell from behind him and Dean's ears rang with the echo that it sent crashing through the corridor. He spun harshly to face the noise and in stunned silence listened for anything further. There was some rustling, but nothing more before the sound of the trap door closing again slammed through the dark.
"Dad?" Dean called.
There was a gasp that came from nearby and Dean rushed toward it. His toe struck something soft and solid on the ground and he dropped, feeling the form for any sign of familiarity. It was hard to identify in the dark and Dean's hand brushed across a wet sticky substance that he knew almost instantly was blood.
"Dad?" Dean asked.
"I'm fine. The demon's not. I managed to give it a pretty good stab with the iron pipe, but that's not gonna take care of it. The only way to get rid of it is to banish it. To do that, I have to be in close enough proximity so it'll take effect." The form under Dean's hands shifted and sat up.
"So that scream, that was…" Dean asked.
"The demon." John finalized.
"Oh." Dean said softly, thankful that it hadn't been his father who had yelled.
Then he remembered the shout that he'd heard from his brother and immediately went back to the wall. His head spun sickeningly and he leaned into the stone for support while he searched for the way in.
"Sammy? You in there?" Dean called.
"Dean! Are you okay?" Sam's shout came reverberating through the wall.
"More or less. Are you?"
"Been better, but I'll be fine." Sam called back.
"Hey, Sammy, you know how I can get in there by any chance?" Dean called.
The oldest brother's words were beginning to weaken, and John didn't miss that factor. He staggered to his feet and moved toward his son's voice. He could hear the younger man panting in the dark and reached for him. His hand grasped his boy's upper back and he felt the heat from the fever burning within Dean, radiating through the layers that the man had on.
"I don't know, I was out cold when the thing brought me here." Sam called back in frustration.
"We'll find a way in, Sam. What kind of condition are you in?" John called to his youngest son. He pressed closer against the wall to hear the answer.
"Dad? What are you doing here?" Sam asked. He had known that his father was in the area helping Dean, but he wanted to know why. What had made John come after leaving them on their own for so long?
"I'm helping my boys, now what kind of condition are you in? What did that bastard do to you?" John called through the wall.
"I'm tied, got some cuts and bruises and one hell of a headache, but that's about it." Sam called back.
"We're getting you out of there." John replied simply.
There was silence from Sam's position, but there was a distinct feeling of relief hovering in the air. John's hands rapidly searched the wall for a latch, or anything that would allow them to get in with the youngest Winchester. He felt a crack in the wall and forced his fingers into it to pull back the door with all the strength that he had in him. It moved with a grinding sound and opened into another room. A soft gasp was heard from within the room and John made his way toward it, with Dean following not so far behind.
"Sam?" Dean called, hoping the other would answer and give him a direction to go in.
"Over here." Came the reply.
Dean moved toward it, but John got there first. The Winchester father laid gentle hands on the youngest man and felt for the ties that had him bound. He pricked his finger on barbed wire and cursed when he realized that that was what Sam was tied with. He worked frantically to free his son from the wires and although it was difficult in the dark, Sam's tall form was released and thudded to the ground with a notable yelp of surprise. Soon however, the young man was on his feet and immediately searching for his brother.
"Dean?" Sam asked.
"Right here, Sammy." Came the winded reply and Sam moved toward it. The young man saw his brother's shadow in the dark and grabbed onto it. He felt an intense heat radiating from Dean's skin and pulled back in alarm.
"What's wrong with you? You're burning up!" Sam exclaimed.
"Demon antidote. Damn stuff messes with your body." Dean cursed.
"You'd be dead by now if I hadn't given it to you." John snapped suddenly.
Dean was silent and his breath could be heard coming in sharp pants in the black that was surrounding the family of three. John sighed.
"Let's get back to the surface, I have a demon to banish." The father replied.
There was no argument from either son as they groped their way back to the trap door and climbed up into the main crypt. A dark night greeted them, lit only by a few scattered stars and a cloud covered moon. All three men could sense the demon nearby.
