Chapter 10

Consciousness came slowly to Sam, and he lifted his head enough to see his arms were wrapped backwards around a tree and tied tightly. He could barely move, as he tested the strength of his bonds. His arms were growing numb from the tightness and strain of the ropes holding him. Plus, his shoulders were aching from all his weight being put on them. There was no way he was breaking free of the bindings and drew in some slow breaths to try and calm the panic that was building inside of him. He let his eyes roam the area but didn't see Meg anywhere and hoped she was still alive.

"I know you're awake over there, I can hear your heartbeat quicken," Luther spoke in a sarcastic voice. "Glad you can join us for the fun."

Someone jerked Sam's head up by his hair, making him grit his teeth and clench his jaw so he wouldn't cry out. He wasn't giving them the satisfaction of hearing him complain. He quickly looked around and saw four vampires, including Luther scattered around a small clearing, all leering at him and some brandishing weapons.

Luther ambled over to Sam, sneering at him as he brought his clawed fingers up and ran it down Sam's cheek leaving a beaded bloodline.

"Too bad we don't have the craving here. It'd be hard to hold the nest off, having fresh blood here." He punched Sam in the stomach, straining his shoulders and making him gasp for air when his breath was taken away. "You know, I'm trying to decide what to do with you," he contemplated as he walked back and forth in from of Sam. "I could trade you to another nest or try to make an alliance with one of the wolf packs. Or we could enjoy a nice warm dinner…"

Sam couldn't help himself as he cried out when Luther bit him on the neck sucking out his blood. He let go and stood up wiping his mouth as blood trickled from the corner.

"Whoo-wee! Now, that was amazing!" Luther crowed as he smacked his lips and laughed harshly.

"Go to hell…" Sam growled out as he sucked in a hard breath and fought the pain that raced through his body.

"My, my aren't we the sassy one. If I were you, I'd be nice to me since I hold your life in my hands. You're going to pay for your Daddy shooting and killing me. He condemned me to this hellhole."

"I'm going to kill you, you freaking bastard," Sam spat at him. He was rewarded with several more punches and slaps, bearing them all without making a sound. He was bend over almost dislocating his shoulders as he glared daggers at Luther, hoping he got the chance to kill him.

There you guys are," Luther greeted two other vampires that walked into camp.

"Lenora," Sam whispered when he got a good look at the female. He remembered her from when they were looking for Eve, the Mother of All. When they made eye contact, it was like she didn't know him.

"What's he doing here?" she sneered nodding toward Sam.

"Found him by the river. He was easy pickings, and I wanted my pound of flesh. His old man is the reason I'm getting this lovely vacation."

"Can I have a sample?" she purred, sliding up to Luther, kissing his cheek, and licking the blood from his chin.

"Sure, go ahead, just control yourself. I don't want him to die that quickly."

Lenora grinned and strolled over to Sam and looked him over.

"Lenora, do you remember me? It's Sam Winchester, we saved you from Gordon Walker and let you get away with your nest."

"You led him to me. He killed part of my nest because of you, and you call us the monsters." She pulled a handmade knife from her waistband and slit his jacket and shirt sleeve, leaving a thin trail of blood down his arm. She was too short to reach his neck with ease and settled for the arm.

"No, Lenora, you're better than this. Don't do it," Sam begged trying to get through to her. He saw the insane look in her eyes and figured this place changed her and she wasn't the vampire that he remembered. He grunted in pain when Lenora latched onto his arm and broke the skin to suck out his blood. She slurped greedily until Luther smacked her away, telling her that was enough.

Sam was feeling lightheaded now, and knew he needed to stay conscious. He shook his head to clear it and tried to control his breathing that was coming out hard and fast. He prayed to Castiel for help, hoping he had found Meg and they were looking for him. He didn't know how long Luther would keep him around to torment before he grew tired of him and killed him or drained him dry. He tried to push his body upward and pull his arms downward to relieve some of the pressure on his shoulders. He didn't know how long he had been tied to the tree but if felt like days.

The vampires gathered in a group and whispered among themselves, with Luther center stage. One would look at Sam and then another like they were voting on his demise. Sam strained to hear but they were too quiet and all he could do was watch their body language.

It wasn't long before the group broke up and two moved toward him, glaring at him as they licked their lips. One went around behind the tree and untied the ropes making Sam fall to his knees and groan in relief and pain as he tried to get the circulation going in his arms. He tried to roll his shoulder but couldn't move them.

The vampires grabbed each of Sam's arms and pushed them together in front of him and retied the rope very tightly. One jerked on the rope making Sam stumble before he could get his feet under him.

"Let's move out," Luther told the others as they half drug, half led Sam with them as they headed out at a fast pace. Sam was at the back and had to hustle to keep up with them. His shoulders still ached from hanging on the tree and his body hurt from the beating. He tried to drag his feet to leave a trail for hopefully anyone trying to find him. He was jerked relentlessly by the vampire with the rope, not letting him get his balance and making him stumble behind the others. Sam's wrists were raw and starting to bleed from the rough ropes and constant pulling and jerking.

It was hours before they stopped again and Sam bend over panting hard from the excursion. He looked around at the surroundings not seeing much difference from the other place they were at except maybe a few more trees. It had darkened again, so Sam figured it was night.

"Bruce, Stan," Luther called to the two who had untied Sam. "Hold him," he ordered.

The two vampires moved to Sam, one knocking him to his knees and grabbing a hand full of hair to pull his head backwards at a painful angle. The other grabbed his jaw and forced it open, holding it that way.

"I'm doing this so you can become a monster like us. So you can experience what it's like to be one of us." Luther bit his wrist and held it over Sam's gaping mouth so the blood would drip into it.

Sam realized what he was going to do and tried to struggle but was being held too tightly by Bruce and Stan. He could taste the coppery, metallic warm blood as it filled his mouth. Sam tried not to swallow but his mouth was clamped shut and a hand was held over it forcing the warm blood down his throat. Luther laughed loudly as he backhanded him, knocking him to the ground at their feet.

"Tie him to a tree," he commanded.

They jerked Sam up and drug him to a tree untying his hands and forcing him back against the trunk to tie his hands again. He couldn't help but moan with the pressure put back on his shoulders and tried to stay on his feet as long as he could. He tried to lean forward, but it didn't help. His body was screaming in agony from the abuse he had endured. Very carefully, Sam slid his arms down as far as he could before easing his body down the trunk of the tree. He was finally able to sit down with his hands on the ground, but still could feel the agony on his body by his position.

Fire seemed to race through his veins as the vampire blood started changing him. He started shaking and breathing hard as he fought to control what was happening to him. Sweat popped out on his forehead and he shivered uncontrollably. He couldn't stop himself from remembering when he was soulless and had let a vampire feed Dean his blood to change him because he wanted to find the nest. He couldn't stop the tears that filled his eyes and squeezed them tight willing them not to fall.

spn

Castiel and Meg were hidden downwind of the nest of vampires and watched what was happening to Sam. Meg had to stop Castiel from charging in halfcocked and getting someone killed. She knew they needed a plan. She pulled on Castiel's arm and got him to step back into the forest far enough she could whisper to him.

"We've got to be smart about this Clarence," Meg whispered in a calm voice.

"We need to get Sam out of there. Didn't you see what they did to him?" Castiel demanded as his eyes flashed a silver/blue for a moment.

"I know, but there's too many grouped together for us to take out without Sam possibly getting hurt or killed. Now listen, I have a plan…." Meg began to whisper her plan to him and when she finished, turned and disappeared into the trees and darkness. She picked up Sam's machete along the way and began to work her way around the small clearing where the vampire nest had settled for the night.

With the stealth of an experienced hunter, Meg crawled along on the leaf strewn ground, making her way to the tree where Sam was tied. It seemed to take her forever to get around to him and wiggle her way up to the back of the tree.

"Sam," Meg barely breathed, touching his bare forearm to get his attention.

Sam tensed and his eyes sprung open when a hand touched his arm, and he heard a familiar voice behind the tree. He remained still and looked out at the vampires that were slumped around the clearing. He watched when one sat up and looked toward the trees when a small noise caught his attention. Without saying anything to the others, the vampire got up and wandered into the woods to see what the noise was. Castiel was waiting to ambush him and quickly took him out without him alerting the others.

Meg pulled a knife out to cut the ropes holding Sam and pulled his machete loose to place in his hand. She didn't think he was in much shape to fight, but at least he was armed now. She slid back away from him and moved around so she could rustle some branches attracting the vampire guarding Sam. Meg kept moving father into the trees with the vampire following her. When she determined he was far enough away that the others wouldn't hear, she got behind him and took his head off with one hard swing of her machete. With that done, she headed back to the clearing to help Castiel with the rest of the nest.

Castiel whistled for Meg that he was in place and heard her response. They came out together, each taking on two of the four remaining vampires. Luther was on the other side of the clearing and realized that they were being attacked and self-preservation kicked in. He grabbed Lenora and ran.

Sam stumbled to his feet, barely able to stand and raised the machete but didn't have the strength to stop them. He fell forward to the ground as Meg and Castiel finished off the other two. All his senses were hyperalert and he was being bombarded by everything.

"Sam, Sam are you okay?" Castiel asked him as he helped him to sit up.

"Cas," Sam slurred before pitching forward into his arms unconscious.

"We need to move from here Clarence," Meg told him. "I'll get one side and you take the other. We need to follow Luther."

They got Sam up between them and stumbled as they made their way into the trees away from the clearing. It was hard going with Sam's size, but they were able to follow the faint trail left by the fleeing vampires. An hour later, they stopped and laid Sam under a tree, far away from any trails or paths so they could check him out.

"Let me clean his face," Meg offered pulling a bottle of water out and wetting a scrap of cloth she tore from her shirt. "You know what this means, don't you?" Meg questioned Castiel as she cleaned around his mouth and chin.

"I'm not sure," Castiel replied not fully understanding the situation.

"The leader fed Sam his blood. Being here he's okay because it seems the monsters don't have the cravings like on Earth. But when we get back, he's got to take the cure because if he drinks a drop of human blood, he'll be a vampire and there's no cure for that."

"We need to find Dean," Castiel stated looking down at the younger Winchester. "He'll know what to do."

"We were hoping he was with you."

"I have the general area he is in. I couldn't stay with him since I draw the worst of the monsters here to me, the Leviathan. I had to keep him safe."

"Oh, Clarence, I know your heart was in the right place, let's just hope Dean sees it that way. We have a way out of here, I hope." She reached into Sam's jacket pocket and felt around, pulling out the tin box and checking it.

"Is that angel grace?" Castiel asked seeing the vial with the shimmering fluid moving around in it.

"Yes, we had a little angel help getting here."

"Who? I don't know any of my brothers that are strong enough for that. Not any that are alive."

"Gabriel," she shrugged.

Castiel looked at her with shock and surprise but turned to Sam when he moaned and rolled his head as he started waking up. He jerked trying to see around him, looking for danger. Sam tried to sit up but was stopped by Meg's hand on his chest.

"Lay still," Meg told him as she wiped his face again.

"Good, you're awake," Castiel spoke to him. "I can't completely heal you, but I can ease some of your pain." He reached and laid two fingers on Sam's forehead and let his grace flow into Sam.

Sam breathed deeply as the grace ran through his body making his minor aches and pains slowly go away. He could feel his breathing get easier and his pains seem to drop to a tolerable level, but he could still feel the blood almost rushing in his veins.

He looked to his friend, Castiel, and saw the shape he was in. He looked like a homeless person really, really, down on their luck. He was sure some of the stains on his clothes were blood. Sam would never have guessed he was an angel of the Lord by looking at him now.

"Where is Dean?" Sam asked when he realized his brother wasn't anywhere around.

"I'm not with him, but I have a general idea where he is. He's still praying to me, but to keep him safe, I've been avoiding him."

"Was that really a good idea Cas? He doesn't have anyone to watch his back," Sam chastised him. "Let me rest a little bit and we need to go find him."

"We have another problem," Meg added, looking at Sam. "Do you know what happened to you?"

"I was kidnapped by vamps and Luther fed me his blood," Sam replied, his voice emotionless as he stared straight ahead, trying not to shake as he wiped his bloodshot eyes.

"You've got a cure for that though," Meg told him.

"Yeah, but what happened to Luther? I need his blood for the cure."

"He ran with a female vamp."

"We've got to find him and Dean too."

"We should split up," Meg suggested. "Clarence can go find Dean and we go after the vamps. When you find him, you can come looking for us. We can leave signs for you to follow."

"We shouldn't split up," Castiel insisted.

"It's the only way. If Luther gets too far away or gets killed, Sam is lost," Meg told him. "Why don't you go on and find Dean. Sam and I can handle the two vampires."

"Go on Cas, she's right," Sam agreed trying to hide his pain and unsteadiness. "I'll leave you guys a trail so you can follow."

Meg moved to Castiel as he stood and grabbed his trench coat lapels to pull him to her so she could plant a long, hard kiss on his lips. She let him go and stared deeply into his blue eyes before speaking, "You be careful Clarence."

Castiel stood still, not sure what to do, and looked at the two for a moment before turning and disappearing into the trees to search for the older Winchester. He had no argument to the plan and knew the sooner he found Dean, the sooner they could go in search of Sam and Meg and hoped they had caught up with the vampires and gotten Luther's blood.

A/N: Castiel goes after Dean and Sam and Meg go in search of Luther because they need his blood to cure Sam. Will they find him? Thanks for taking this journey with me. Thank you to everyone who is reading my story. Special thanks to the guests who left reviews and their continued support. Reviews/Comments would be great. NC