21
"So far so good," Sam dared to say, immediately receiving a punch in the arm from his brother.
"You know, Sam, whenever someone says that, everything goes wrong," Dean grumbled. "So when the walls try and eat us, I'm blaming you."
Sam nodded. "A lot of good that will do you if the killer walls get you first."
"What, are you two in first grade?" Kya demanded, looking slightly amused and perturbed at the same time.
"No, I graduated to second," Dean said proudly. "With a cookie and everything!"
Kya rolled her eyes and continued walking down the hallway, passing doors on either side that she didn't dare open for fear of letting something out. Her hand was gripped tightly by Heather's as the younger girl kept pace beside her. They had left Elizabeth and Colton in the gardens, after a final farewell, figuring that either they would succeed or die trying.
They had made it through the second kitchen, much smaller than the first, without incident, and then moved on to the hallway that led to the right of the house. Kya couldn't tell how long they had been walking, but her sore legs were already beginning to ache. She knew that when this was over she wouldn't be getting out of bed for awhile. And a hot shower was somewhere in that equation.
"Are they always like this?" Heather asked quietly.
"I'd by lying if I said no," she responded.
Ahead of them the boys walked, each with a gun gripped in one hand and a flashlight in the other. Despite their bickering, they were moving like professionals, each step carefully measured, sweeping the hallway with both gun and flashlight. Their flashlight arms were crossed over the gun arm, to keep the shot steady if one needed to be fired, and keep the beam steady as well.
Kya kept an ear tuned behind her and Heather, alert for attacks from behind. Despite the air of amusement that the brothers were providing, each and every one of them were on high alert from the tension of being in a confined space for too long and from experience the house had already dealt them. The air was stale here and the darkness seemed to press in from all sides, seeking to smother the bright beams of light that dared to violate its territory.
Kya opened her mouth to speak, wondering how far they had left to go and if possibly they had missed their turn, when she felt something tug against her hand. At the same time a shout from the boys warned her that they had spotted something up ahead. She turned around quickly, finding Heather being attacked not by the walls, but by the floor.
"Shit!" she yelled, grabbing the girl's other hand with her own, gripping her forearm tightly. The floor had caved in, becoming nothing more than a pit of carpeted quicksand. The carpet seemed to take on a liquid sand appearance as it caved it on itself, pulling Heather down with it. She was already stuck up to knees in the goo and sinking fast. Kya stumbled back from the edge where the carpet had become a living thing, and pulled with all her might, trying to keep the house from taking Heather too.
"Oh god!" Heather screamed. "Get me out of here!"
The sound of a gunshot rang in Kya's ears as she struggled to keep her balance while holding onto Heather.
Dean heard Kya's shout at the same time that four shadows separated themselves from the walls and stalked towards the brothers eagerly. Eight sets of glaring yellow eyes beamed back at them from the darkness as Sam released a round from his gun, hitting one directly in the chest. The shadow demon stumbled back, but kept coming after a momentary lapse.
Dean risked a glance behind him to see that the carpet had come alive as well, trying to swallow Heather whole and steadily advancing on Kya as she struggled to keep the new girl from going under. His attention was pulled away again as one of the shadows rushed him. He kicked straight out, connecting with its lower abdomen while firing his gun point blank into its face.
"Didn't we already kill you guys too?" he demanded. "This is getting old."
He swung sharply as the demon he had just shot dissolved into smoke and another one took its place, diving in to rake claws down the side of Dean's face. His jaw clenched in pain but he didn't allow himself to lose focus as he swung the flashlight beam directly at the shadow demon, forcing it to back away from the hated source of light.
Sam ducked the rush of another one, spinning around in a turn that left him behind the demon facing its back, and stuck his gun up to its neck, firing off another shot. His satisfaction was short lived as he was pushed up against the wall, fire erupting in his chest as claws shredded through his gray shirt and into his flesh. He grunted and brought his hands up, shoving the demon back until it hit the wall instead. He used the butt of his gun to bash the demon's face, receiving another vicious swipe of claws on his shoulder for his efforts. Sam stumbled back, mouth twitching in a grimace of pain before the demon rushed him again, this time taking him to the floor.
Kya had managed to free Heather's knees but the carpet quicksand sludge was persistent and kept inching toward her as she kept backpedaling to avoid it. Heather was screaming and crying, kicking her feet to try and help Kya free her, but it was only making things harder. Kya figured it was useless to tell the girl to calm down; if their positions had been switched she would probably be just as upset.
"Dammit!" Kya yelled, nearly losing her balance as the floor at the edges of her boots turned to sludge. She moved back farther, now stretching just to keep hold of Heather.
A desperate idea hit her and she looked into Heather's eyes, begging the girl to trust her. She released one of her hands and fumbled at her waist for the Zippo. When it was in her hand she flicked it open, her other arm strained horribly trying to hold onto Heather's body weight all by itself. She thought her arm would slip from its socket but she pushed through the pain, thumbing down on the wheel. Her trusty lighter flickered to life and she wasted no time in sending a ball of flame hurtling from the lighter to the sand pit. Using her mental powers she heated the ball up until it was hot enough to melt glass, and to melt sand. As the fireball hit the sand pit turned into even looser sand and she was able to pull Heather free a few precious more inches.
Encouraged by her plan, and the turn of events, Kya kept one arm around the girl's wrist, and kept firing off the flaming balls of heat.
