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The Cavern of Death
Chapter six
The entire group stood watching in horror as the thing oozed its way into their cave. Sam and Dean stayed together but the other five men scattered in different directions each trying not to be the creature's next victim.
"How do you think it chooses who will be next?" Sam glanced nervously at Dean as they took a few steps back.
"I don't know Sam." Dean swallowed the lump in his throat praying it couldn't sense who was the weakest, because right now he knew his brother was. He had lost a lot of blood and Dean could clearly see it was slowly taking a toll on him. He instinctively stepped in front of Sam, his heart started pounding as he tried to think of a way to protect Sam if the thing chose him.
They watched as the creature began moving closer to them then stopped just a few yards away. Dean moved back slightly pushing Sam with him. He could hear his brother's breath coming in short little gasps behind him and could sense his fear. He too was scared, they had never faced something like this before and neither of them knew how to destroy it, and even if they did they had no weapons with them. Dean could feel Sam reach out behind him and take his arm trying to hold on to him in case the creature choose him instead of Sam. He knew Sam was too weak to pull him back if the thing choose him but the gesture made him even more protective of his little brother.
The thing began to move closer but suddenly a slimy section of it shot across the cave and grabbed one of the men so quickly that he hadn't had time to try and get away. The man screamed in terror as it slowly pulled him toward it. Both Dean and Sam grabbed for the man trying their hardest to pull him free but it was useless. The thing was strong and had him firmly in its grasp and there was no way they could help him. The man reached out grabbing at the wall of the cave trying to keep from being sucked into the thing. But within a few seconds the creature's body had completely surrounded him. They watched in horror as the man continued struggling to free himself from inside the thing. The creature then began to ooze its way back into the cave it had come from taking the man with him.
Dean and Sam looked at each other sickened by the sight they had just witnessed. They both felt horrible but there was nothing they could do. They had always protected people from strange creatures and spirits but now they could only stand by helpless as the thing disappeared back into its cavern.
"Why didn't it choose one of us? Why him?" Sam asked.
"I don't know Sam. Probably we'll never know."
"Dean we got to do something…. We can't just let it…..consume him."
"What do you want to do Sammy?" Dean threw up his hands in frustration. "You tell me…We have no weapons….we don't even know what that thing is made of."
Dean looked at Sam and felt guilty for jumping on him but right now his main concern was figuring a way of getting Sam and himself out of there. If he could help the others he would try to, but Sam looked pale and weak and his first priority was protecting his baby brother.
"We can't just stand here and do nothing." Sam was about to follow the creature into its cave but Dean quickly grabbed his arm.
"Sam how do you expect to help him? What are we going to fight it with?...The only thing we can do is get out of here and bring some weapons back and hope one of them will kill it."
Sam knew Dean was right, if they tried to help the man they would probably just end up getting themselves killed and that wouldn't help anyone. Sam shook his head sadly and looked away as Dean patted him on the back in sympathy. He knew Sam was more emotional then he was, at least outwardly. The truth was he felt just as bad as Sam did that they couldn't help the man but he didn't dwell on things that couldn't be changed like his brother did. Knowing there was nothing they could do they walked back over to the men who had regrouped. When they got back to them they notice the men were standing in a group glaring at them.
"What's your problem?" Dean asked seeing the look they were getting.
"Why didn't that thing take one of you? Why did it pass by both of you and grab Bill?"
"I don't know….Is it taking the victims in the order they arrived here?" He asked.
"No Bill was the last to arrive before you two."
"Then I have no idea how it chooses, all I know is that we have to find a way out of here, and soon."
"Did you guys check out the rest of the cave thoroughly? Maybe there's another way out." Sam asked.
"A few of us looked around, but we couldn't find any other way out."
Sam looked over at Dean.
"Then I guess we'll have to go with your plan."
"Which is what?" One of the men asked.
Dean explained how he would climb up to the ledge near the hole the next time it was open. Then after they lowered someone else into the cave he would jump on the rope and climb out and hopefully take care of the three men, then drop the rope into the cave and pull everyone up.
"What if it doesn't work?"
"Well then we got a big problem." Sam said glancing toward the crevice where the creature had oozed its way back into.
"Well now is as good a time as any to see if I can get up there." Dean said as he carefully began climbing up the steep rocks that lead to the ledge right below the rock covered opening.
"Be careful." Sam yelled up to him as he watched nervously from below, he knew the rocks were damp and slippery making it a difficult climb. He watched as Dean reached for a crack in the rock with his foot but slipped and began sliding down the face of the rock.
"Dean!" Sam shouted as he watched his brother slide toward the sharp rocks below.
TBC
