24
Sam shoved another couple of animated corpses off of him, searching for a way to see past the endless supply that the blood lake kept dredging up. The good thing was, they weren't that smart. They didn't overtly attack but just kept coming, as if to drive him down by sheer numbers. Sam began kicking and punching, limbs flailing in any direction that there was a body to hit, or half a body, until his fist came up and was stopped short by a solid hand.
"Sam!" Kya cried. "Your fist doesn't go with my face."
She released her hold on his fist and pulled Heather into their huddle.
"The staircase is clear," he said quickly, elbowing a corpse that had ambled up behind them. "You guys have to get to it."
"And you're gonna do what? Go down like the Titanic?" Kya demanded. "No way."
Sam arched an eyebrow. "The Titanic? Are you implying something?"
"Sam!" Heather screeched. "This isn't the time to wonder whether or not your ass is too big!"
"Has anybody seen Dean?" Kya demanded, sudden panic gripping her throat.
Sam's eyes widened. "I figured he was heading towards the stairs."
"Well, I don't see him."
"Shit!" Sam cried. "We have to get out of here."
Kya's eyes hardened. They had made it this far, they weren't going to fail now. She pushed Heather into Sam's arms and shoved them both forward. "Go! Get to the stairs now!"
Sam turned back, punching another corpse that reached out for them. "I'm not leaving you or my brother."
"If me or your brother don't get out of this, you're everyone's last chance. Get her out of here Sam!" Kya yelled, her tone commanding and angry.
For a moment Sam looked torn and Kya knew that it was hard for him to walk away, or more accurately run, but she was telling the truth. Sam was by far the better choice to escape here and get to the tower than the two girls were. She couldn't let both brothers go down and if she had anything to say about it, she wouldn't let Dean die either. He had saved her life, risking his own, and she would do her best to repay the favor.
Finally Sam turned, shoving his way through the growing ranks of undead with Heather in tow. His face was locked in anger and guilt as his fists pummeled them back, each hit an extension of his rage within.
Dean struggled wildly, disrupting the surface of the liquid that held him under, but he couldn't break free of the hands pinning him to the tile floor below. Copper filled his mouth and burned his eyes as he tried to push for air that was mere feet above him. He felt like a two year old drowning in the shallow end of the swimming pool.
He thought back to everything they had fought before, much of it replicated in this house that had claimed so many lives. He had always been a fighter, a warrior, and now he was finally going to join his mother. The thought made him angry.
His anger was useless, however. He was outmatched and the strength of the corpses holding him under outdid his own. As he thrashed his lungs began to burn painfully, begging for air. He could hear his heartbeat pounding in his ears as it struggled to keep his body alive. Even as it pushed for his survival his limbs began to tingle, to slow in their movement, as strength ebbed from his body.
Kya gritted her teeth and swung the bone she had stolen from the first corpse with all her strength, shattering the skull of one corpse that stepped to close. She fought like a wild thing, pushing through the ranks of undead with abandon. She was covered in blood from the liquid she sloshed through and the weight of the blood, so much thicker than water, was slowing her down, making her feel as if she were moving through a time warp.
There were at least ten in front of her and she could barely see past them to catch a glimpse of Sam and Heather reaching the bottom of the stairs. Momentary relief flooded through her; they were going to make it.
She moved forward again, shoving another corpse away with rage as she nearly stumbled and fell from the weight of the blood dragging her down. She thought about Dean, somewhere in this mess, and her heart raged. She watched Heather and Sam ascend the staircase, Sam turning back one last time at the top of the landing before Heather dragged him forward out of sight.
Kya took a hit on her back for her distraction and stumbled, falling to her hands and knees in the blood. This place had taken so much already, so many lives and so much potential for the world gone. Now it had Dean, somewhere near her but so far beyond her reach.
Anger washed through her, purging her of anything but raw emotion. She raised her head through a curtain of blood-soaked hair, eyes narrowing at the sight in front of her. She could feel the rage boiling through her, fire spreading in her veins as her heart pumped more pure anger than blood through her veins. She could feel the hatred building until at last it exploded free.
A wave of flame ignited over the water, rushing forward on the waves the churning bodies created. As her anger grew the flames grew with her, covering the surface of the blood and catching hold of any corpses in its path. Kya pushed herself to her feet, stepping through the blood and flames with her hands clenched at her sides. She walked forward and the flames rushed ahead, hungrily devouring the corpses in its path as it ate the surface of the red liquid boiling beneath it. As the flames spread the blood began to boil, churning up roiling bubbles beneath the flickering fire that melted the bones touching the liquid into ash.
Kya spotted a huddled mass of corpses about fifteen feet off, hands submerged in the water as though holding something down. She rushed forward, through the fire and blood, toward the gaggle of undead. The fire rushed ahead of her, eager to please and be satiated, leaping from the water to smother the undead before she could reach them and tear them apart with her bare hands. She reached the spot just as they were reduced to ash and plunged her hands into the roiling mass of liquid to find something soft beneath. She planted her feet and tugged upward, pulling Dean's body up.
"Dean!" she screamed.
She put her hands under his arms and began pulling, trusting the fire that she had trusted all her life to keep them safe. She felt as though time had slowed down to a crawl before her foot hit the bottom of the stairs. She kept pulling, arms aching from the strain, and dragged Dean's lifeless body to the top of the landing.
Below them the lake of blood was covered in flames. She kept dragging him further onto the landing before dropping to her knees in exhaustion. Dean's eyes were closed and his limbs completely limp. As she leaned down, putting her ear next to his mouth she knew that she would hear no sign of breathing. His chest didn't rise and fall and there was no sign of the cocky smile appearing on his face signifying that this was all some horrible joke. Dean was gone.
As she wiped the blood from his face and tears poured down her own to drop onto his pale skin, she let loose a scream that she was sure the entire mansion heard. Pain, rage, guilt, and fury tore through her vocal cords and she unleashed it with abandon on the sound waves of the world.
