Disclaimer: This story has the typical violence you'll see in the show along with all the angst. I try not to get too off character or too violent, but I'm giving it a mature rating just to be on the safe side.
I of course own nothing and get nothing but the satisfaction of writing the story and hopefully making it enjoyable for others as well. Comments are always welcome, good or bad. Thank you and I hope you enjoy it.
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At first Sarah thought she could just tough it out and wait until an opportunity presented itself while she was being escorted to the bathroom again. It just didn't seem like it was going to be her day though. The man continued to smirk at her and she could feel herself losing her cool. As brave and defiant as she wanted to be, what she saw next was just enough to break it.
He had never turned his back on her, so she didn't realize that he was carrying such a big knife until he pulled it from its sheath secured to his belt on his back. Her body instinctively jerked as she took a step backwards into the wall. This was no ghost with a razor and Sam was who knows where, but not here to help her. "Where's the book?" he growled in a low whisper.
"You're crazy, it's just a book!" She couldn't go anywhere and she knew it. She certainly didn't care about this book enough to want to get hurt over it, she didn't even know why it was so important. "It's at my house," she finally blurted out.
He smiled and sighed in what Sarah thought was disappointment, "where in your house?"
"In the safe." Sarah was still clinging to the wall.
"We didn't see a safe in your house," his smiled faded and he studied her closely.
"It's hidden behind a picture, if you let me go…" she caught her breath as he moved towards her with the knife.
"Let you go? So you can run off and cause problems for us? No, my dear, we're going to confirm the safe information. Now tell me which picture it's behind." He moved towards her threateningly, "now Sarah."
---
The people in the first couple of stores recognized Sarah, but didn't know anything about the book pages they have copied. The third store, Supernatural Supplies and Books, made them both chuckle and shake their heads. The woman behind the counter recognized Sarah as well and let them know that she had come back for a private meeting with the owner to talk about the books he has locked in his private collection room. She told them that Sarah was suppose to come back that night, and as far as she knew the meeting took place, but that she hadn't seen Sarah since earlier in that day when they first met.
Unfortunately, the owner of the shop was not in and wouldn't be in for a few days. He'd told her yesterday that he was going out of town for a few days for vacation. Dean and Sam thanked her and left to stand by the car. "Well this sucks out loud," Dean mumbled as he stood thinking. Sam had an extremely concerned look on his face and was staring down the road at nothing in particular, "we could try to find out where the owner lives and check out his place?"
"Not a bad idea," Dean said as he climbed into the car and waited for Sam to join him. Once Sam was in, Dead headed for the county clerk's office. Sam waited in the car while Dean went in and performed his magic to get the information. After a while Dean came back out with the papers indicating the property owned by Mr. Phillip Culver. Quickly, Dean started the car and pulled away towards the nearest coffee shop. They didn't even leave the car when the arrived, Sam just pulled out his laptop and made the wireless connection from the parking space. After a few moments more, Sam had the directions and Dean was on the road again.
---
Sarah told the man exactly where he needed to go and which picture to look for, but she refused to give him the combination. She wanted to be the one to get it; she wanted to have a way out of this situation. It wasn't until he went through with his threat and actually cut her several times that she relented and gave him the combination. He left the room and Sarah was left bleeding on the floor in the corner of the room next to the bed. She was using the sheet from the bed to try to stem the flow of blood, tears streaming down her face.
Eventually she stopped the bleeding and lay down on the bed continuing to cry. As she drifted off to sleep her thoughts were on Sam. "Where are you Sam," she breathed as she closed her eyes.
---
Sarah woke with a start when she heard angry voices coming from down the hallway.
"You did what? Oh my God, what were you thinking?" The voice was angry and loud, but not yelling.
"I did what I had to do to get the information your brother demanded. She's fine and he's happy. That's all I need to know." It was the voice of the man who had hurt her earlier. "There is a problem though," the voice continued, "there are people at her house, most likely FBI."
She had no idea how long she'd slept but it had been long enough for him to get to her house and back. She heard cursing and footsteps coming towards her. She quickly covered up again and pretended that she was still asleep.
The shadow appeared over her window and a flashlight was shown in on her. She continued to breathe as normally as she could and didn't move. "Get her something to eat and drink. Bring bandages and anti-biotic ointment for her wounds. Don't harm her again, do you understand?"
"Unless your brother says otherwise, I'll do what you've asked. But you know as well as I do that he runs this show." Sarah heard the footsteps drifting off as they walked away.
---
As Dean and Sam neared the house they realized that the houses were farther apart from each other, huge fences separated the land from the rest of the world, more landscape separated the house from the start of the driveways, and security cameras could be seen at some of the front gates. Unfortunately, the property that went along with Phillip's address was just like those. "Bet he's got big dogs too," Sam smirked, then sighed heavily, "what's the plan?"
Dean looked at the fence and the camera at the driveway gate as they drove by and up the street a little ways. It was starting to get dark. "We'll drive around until it's completely dark. Then we'll come back and do some looking around."
---
Once it was dark, Dean parked the car up the street near an electrical structure that was off the road. They went to the trunk and looked. "What do you think we need to take?" Sam asked. Dean thought for a moment, "probably just a couple of handguns," he said as he handed Sam one and tucked one in his jacket. He closed the trunk and they headed for the house.
They hugged the fences, most of which were smooth brick. One was half brick on the bottom and iron on the top. They ducked low and moved to the driveway. Dean watched the camera closely. It was pointed at the drive area between the fence and street. The red light blinked for a little bit and then went dark. It stayed dark for about a minute and then blinked for about another minute. Getting the rhythm down, he waited for it to go dark and again, then signed for Sam to follow him as he ran across the driveway to the other side.
As they were turning the corner of Phillips property, Dean saw the car coming up the road. Looking around quickly, there was no place for them to hide without jumping the fence. Just as panic was about to set in, the car slowed down and pulled into Phillip's driveway. After a brief pause, they heard the gate being opened. Quickly Dean headed for the driveway and watched the camera. The light was blinking … the gate opened all the way and the car drove through. The light was still blinking as the gate began to close. Dean continued to watch, the gate was almost closed when the camera stopped blinking. Dean grabbed Sam's sleeve and ran for the gate. Dean ran through and Sam almost got caught, but turned sideways as the gate closed and locked in place.
"Well, at least we know that someone's home now," Dean breathed as they stood with their backs to the fence off to the side of the driveway. Dean was looking for any other cameras or the sounds of dogs. When he didn't see any immediately in the area, they began moving through the shadows towards the house.
The house was fairly well lit. Dean scanned the walls and windows of the house from the safety of the shadows and found each of the external cameras. "This is going to be really tough Sammy." Dean frowned as he watched the red blinking lights on each of the cameras. "At least they're using cameras that we can see when they are and aren't looking at us." They moved towards the side of the house, where they saw a large window into the kitchen. A large man was in there pulling things out of a small bag. From the looks of it, he was getting ready to eat dinner. "You figure that's Phillip?" Sam asked in a soft whisper, "he's pretty big." Dean just turned to Sam and smirked, "the bigger they are …" and let his voice trail off.
Dean looked at the side door that also appeared to lead into the kitchen. It had the standard dead bolt and door knob. There was also a camera above it. Dean could see what appeared to be a control panel on the wall inside the kitchen area and assumed it was the alarm. There were no lights on it and Dean silently prayed that Phillip wouldn't turn it on as he walked by. He finished putting the food on a paper plate and fixed a cup of water from the sink using a plastic cup. Dean frowned, "that's odd." "What?" Sam whispered, "what's wrong?"
Dean watched as the man walked out of the kitchen past the control box without turning it on. Dean smiled, "good he didn't turn on the alarm, but what was weird was that he used a paper plate and a plastic cup." Sam gave him a confused look, "maybe he didn't want to do dishes …" Sam paused then stiffened, "… or maybe he's got Sarah in there!" Dean had to practically drag Sam to the ground to make him stop moving forward, "Wait a minute," Dean whispered harshly, "just wait. We're going in there, but you've got to go slow. We need to move carefully around the cameras and probably need to pick the lock on that door. Now wait and follow my lead. Get your picks ready." Dean took a deep breath and turned to watch the cameras looking for the right time.
---
Sam watched Dean intently waiting for his signal. As soon as Dean started to move, Sam was right on his heals. They reached the door and Sam quickly picked the lock so they could enter the house. Once inside, they quickly and quietly closed the door and locked it back. They stood inside the kitchen listening for anything that might indicate someone heard them or was coming towards them. Everything was quiet. They started moving quietly in the direction they'd seen Phillip go. As they entered the next room, it was dark but there was enough light from the kitchen and the hallway to see that it was empty. They moved through the room towards the hall but froze when they heard voices.
"I've got her dinner like you asked."
"Good, what about the bandages and cleaning supplies for the wounds?" This caused Sam to tense violently and Dean almost thought he was going to burst forward and attack anything that might be there no matter what it was. Sam didn't though; instead he looked at Dean with pleading and angry eyes. Dean just motioned for him to wait and tried to do the same himself. He knew how Sam felt and wanted to do the same, but they needed to find out exactly where Sarah was and how many other people were in the house.
"Yes, sir. I've got everything you asked for and I'm heading down there now."
"Good. I'll come down a little later to check on her. I've got to speak with my brother first." A few footsteps are heard then, "hey, what about the book?"
"Oh, I swung back by the house again, but still couldn't get it. Those people were still there. We'll try to figure out a way to get them out of the house later."
"Ok." The footsteps start again. Luckily, none are heading in their direction. One walks up the stairs and the other into the distance.
"I think we're using up all our good karma tonight here Sammy. Lets just hope we don't use it all before we get Sarah." Dean smirked back, but Sam wasn't smiling. His jaw was clenched and his eyes were sparkling from the tears that Dean knew were there but Sam wasn't letting them out. "Hang on Sam, we're going to get her." They moved to the hallway, it was now empty. At the end of the hallway was the main door to the house. A staircase went up on the left. Sam carefully opened the door under the staircase, but there were just boxes stacked in the small space. Walking softly down the hallway they came to the beginning of the staircase and could see two different rooms off to the left and right. The right appeared to be a library. They moved to the left and entered a large living room type area furnished similarly to the first room they'd entered. "Sheesh, how many couches and lounge rooms does this guy need," Dean whispered tersely.
There was another door at the back of this room that opened up to stairs going down into a basement. They slowly walked down testing each step to make sure it didn't squeak or creak beneath them. At the bottom, they could clearly make out the entire basement using the lighting coming from three different lights receded into the ceiling. In the back corner was another door. This door was heavier and had two locks. As they opened it the hinges squealed lightly but Dean stopped and moved the door open slower. Once opened, they descended down more steps … several flights of stairs.
---
Sarah stayed in the bed curled in the fetal position not wanting to move. She had been cut on her forearms and her collar just below the neck. As he'd raised the knife to her face threatening her cheeks and eyes, she had told him what he wanted to know. The wounds still throbbed as she lay there and burned if she moved. So she just lay there as still as she could.
Eventually she heard the footsteps coming back. Fear made her tremble and the tears began welling in her eyes again. She sobbed a little as the click sounded and her door opened. She could hear the footsteps coming up behind her, but refused to turn over. She heard movement but wasn't exactly sure what he was doing. Then a voice sounded near the door, "hey."
"What?"
"I'm heading to her house, you coming with me?"
She heard the man behind her move to the door, close it, and lock it. She then heard their voices as they walked down the hallway. "No, I've got to take care of her …" the voice was cold and became too soft for her to hear anymore. Her imagination took over and it was enough for her to break down into complete and uncontrollable sobs.
---
"Where the hell are we going? Is this some kind of freaky bomb shelter?" Dean whispered sarcastically. They could hear sounds echoing down the hallway so they quickly moved until it ended in a T intersection. Listening softly, Dean determined the sounds were coming from the right. As they moved down the corridor it began to change, "this looks like it's turning into a sewer tunnel or something," Sam whispered lightly. "Yeah, only much cleaner," Dean sneered, "I guess they even have maids for this area in the rich hills." Dean's humor died as they heard footsteps and talking heading back towards them.
Quickly they ducked into one of the small side tunnels that was dark, trying not to splash the small trail of water that was flowing by. "Overflow," Sam whispered softly, "these must be overflow for heavy rains." They grew silent as two individuals walked to the T intersection and stopped.
"Alright, but be careful. If you get caught you know what will happen."
"Yeah, I know. Be back in a bit." He headed down the hallway towards the house. The other man no longer had the food or water with him. He watched a moment as the other walked down the hall, then turned and headed back the way he'd come.
"She must be nearby, maybe," Dean whispered, "he's already dropped off dinner." They quietly moved out from their hiding and headed down the hallway behind him. As they came to another corner that opened up into a small room with the hallway continuing on the other side, and they saw him stopped by a table. He was stacking bandages and peroxide. Sam couldn't take it, he charged. Dean didn't move fast enough to stop him and the guy heard Sam coming.
Luckily, the guy didn't know it was someone attacking him, so when he turned his look changed to one of surprise as Sam slammed into him. Unfortunately this guy was big and strong. After the initial shock had worn off, even after several strong hits in the face from Sam, the guy was able to give Sam a punch strong enough to knock him completely down. But Dean was right there to step in and take over, starting with a strong kick. Between the two of them, they were able to make short work of the man. Quickly they headed down the hallway until they could hear the sobs. There were a few doors and they looked in each until they came to one where they could barely make out a form curled up tight under the covers.
Quickly he opened the door and move towards the bed. They could hear her sobbing, so without thinking Sam immediately ran to her side and grabbed her. All he wanted to do was pull her close and hold her.
---
Sarah heard the footsteps coming back and just curled up as much as she could. The door opened and she prepared for the worst. As soon as she felt the hands on her she couldn't take it anymore and she screamed as loud as she could. She tried to get away, even if it was just to the corner, she just wanted to get away from this man and his knife. It was not until she heard his voice that reality truly sunk in.
"Sarah! Sarah!" Sam cried as she screamed and tried to get away from him. "Sarah, it's me, Sam!"
---
It took a moment more before she finally caught her breath enough to realize that it really was Sam and it was Dean standing over near the door. She grabbed Sam in a hug that nearly took his breath away, but hissed and drew back slightly as the pain shot up her arms. She bit her lip and hugged him again ignoring it. The pain didn't mean anything now.
Sam couldn't help but let a couple of tears roll down his cheeks as he looked at her huddled in the corner. He could see the blood on her sleeves and chest from the wounds. It didn't help much when she did realize it was Sam, grabbed him, but then jerked back from the pain. As she grabbed a hold of him again like a child clinging desperately to a parent about to leave her behind, Sam let several more tears fall. The more she sobbed the angrier he became.
"Sam, we need to get out of here. I'll be surprised if no one heard those screams." Dean's insides were twisting in knots. He could see the blood from the doorway. The room was dark, but with the door open, enough light shown through to make it clear. Dean wanted blood himself, to go back to the man on the floor in the other room and just beat him until he stopped breathing, but he knew he had to get them out of here first. "Sam, come on!"
Sam carefully but tightly held Sarah and moved off the bed. She was shaking and still clinging to him, but she'd stopped sobbing at least. "Come on, let's get out of here," Sam said softly as he steered her towards the door. Her head and face were pressed against his chest and both arms were wrapped tightly around him.
Dean heard yelling down the hallway, someone had found the man they'd beaten up. "Damn," Dean cursed, "they know we're here." Dean pulled his gun and pointed it down the hallway.
"Wait," Sarah whispered then tried to clear her voice. "There's a ladder, I saw it, back this way." She shuddered as she tried to regain her composure and indicated down the other hallway.
"Go, go!" Dean urged as he followed them. As they reached a corner, Dean saw two men come down from the other hallway, "hurry!" Dean fired once down the hallway towards the men in hopes that it would deter them from following too quickly.
They followed Sarah's instructions until they reached the ladder. Looking up, it looked like a circular cover above them. Sam headed up the ladder in order to open it. The two men following them came around a corner and Dean fired again. Unfortunately, they had weapons of their own and returned fire. "Hurry up, Sam!" Dean called up to Sam, who was over half way up the ladder.
Dean heard voices coming from the other way and saw lights heading towards him. "Sarah, start climbing the ladder, now!" Dean urged.
"You can't get out of here, so I suggest you drop your weapon," a man's voice called down the hallway. The lights were getting closer from the other end, so Dean fired a high shot down towards them. The lights scattered momentarily. Dean hugged the wall watching as Sam reached the top of the ladder and struggled with the cover. Dean fired again down the original hallway but had to drop into a crouch as a gunshot came from the other direction.
Sam got the cover moved, so Dean grabbed the ladder and started climbing. Sarah was climbing slowly, still shaking from her ordeal and cringing from the wounds on her arms. Dean could hear someone yell and then footsteps running down the hallway. A shot rang out from below, ricocheting up the ladder area. Sarah was barely missed, but it was enough to make her cry out and lose her grip. She started to fall back but was able to grab the ladder again after sliding down several rungs. However, she hit Dean in the process, knocking him completely off the ladder.
---
Sam was at the top of the ladder and had moved the cover out of the way when the gun shot sounded and the bullet ricocheted past him. A quick prayer of thanks ran through his mind a moment before he heard Sarah cry out. Fear gripped him as he watched her fall a short distance. His relief that she caught herself was short lived as he saw she'd run into Dean, causing him to fall back down into a group of people. "Dean!" he shouted and started to climb back down.
"Get out of here, both of you!" Dean yelled up to them, but the men around him were shining their lights up the ladder and a voice yelled up, "I strongly recommend you come back down here or he," the flashlight was pointed at Dean, "wont live another minute." Dean tried to fight, punching and pushing, in hopes of giving Sam time to get away, but there were too many around him.
"Both of you come back down now," the man's voice was tense and threatening. Sarah looked from Sam to Dean and then back again. Tears were coming down her face and she wanted so desperately to climb out and run, but she couldn't let anything happen to Dean. If not for her friendship with him, then definitely for the love she had for Sam. She couldn't bear to be the cause of pain for either of them, so she slowly started down the ladder.
Sam hesitated only a moment before he replaced the cover and slowly began working his way down the ladder. He'd heard Dean still fighting for a short time, but now everything was quiet below. Once he reached the bottom, he found Dean unconscious on the floor. Sam was quickly grabbed by a couple of men. He struggled to stay next to Sarah. They were all dressed in robes with the hoods pulled back. Some were pretty old and stood in the back. "Separate them, different rooms, now!"
Sarah was being held by one of the two men that had originally kidnapped her, but not the man who had cut her. She was trying to fight the pain in her arms as he held them in his grip. He'd held them tight and may her inhale sharply and whimper, but once he'd heard that his grip had loosened a little. She was thankful that he was at least a little compassionate in that respect. When Sam jumped off the ladder near her she'd wanted to move to him, but the man wouldn't let her. Sam had moved a little towards her, but was grabbed by two men.
After giving the order to take them all to separate rooms, Sarah realized who'd said that. "Phillip?" Sarah glared at him. Sam looked from her to the man she was talking to. This was not the man they'd followed in from the kitchen or who had apparently cut her up, but it didn't matter, he was giving the orders and that made him as much an enemy to take down as the rest of the people in the hallway holding them.
Phillip just flushed and turned away from her walking down the hallway back the way they'd run. Dean was drug by a couple of guys holding him up under his arms, dragging his feet behind them. Sarah was forced to keep pace just a short distance behind Dean but she couldn't hear Sam, who had been behind her. She started to worry, "Sam?" The man shook her lightly telling her to hush … Sam didn't respond.
They put Sarah back in her original room, Dean in one next to her, but she didn't see where they'd taken Sam.