Spoilers: mentions of events from 'The Benders'

Cleithrophobia

- Floor 2, part1 -

oo0oo

The stairway to the second floor was made of uneven stones, which jutted out at odd angles. The walls contained mismatched torches, candles, and lanterns that flickered wildly, throwing light here and there without a regular pattern. The effect was very disconcerting and it made Sam have a difficult time keeping his balance.

"Well, are we ready for what's behind door number two?" Dean asked when they reached a wooden door that appeared to be made of old and rejected planks of wood, none of them straight and all of them splintered, which had been haphazardly nailed together.

"Yes, please," Sam said while pinching the bridge of his nose. "This stairway is giving me a headache."

Dean pushed the door open with care, more afraid that it would simply fall apart with the movement than worrying about something hidden just beyond it. They passed the threshold and looked around. The outer walls of the large area contained more mismatched lanterns that did little to illuminate the room. In the dimness, the second floor resembled a typical workplace filled with rows and rows of cubicles.

Sam wandered forward to one of the nearest squares, took out his flashlight and looked inside. He jumped backwards in surprise at what he saw.

"Sam?" Kole asked, coming towards him. "Are you OK?" Dean followed her and they both looked in to see a cage with thick metal bars. "Whoa, that's one way to keep your employees from leaving their work stations."

"Sammy?" Dean's smirk quickly disappeared when he saw the sickly look on his brother's face.

"I'm fine, Dean," he mumbled irritably. "Let's just keep moving." And, without waiting for his brother or cousin, started walking towards the opposite end of the room, trying his best to keep his eyes straight ahead and not look into the passing cubicles.

"What was that about?" Kole whispered to Dean, giving him an apologetic look.

Dean gave her a non-committal shrug. Sam hadn't said much about his time trapped in hillbilly prison and Dean had assumed that it meant he was fine. Apparently, his little brother had adopted Dean's own penchant for censoring any information he didn't want to dwell on.

"Hey," he said, trying to quickly change the subject, "I meant to ask… how did you know closing your eyes would work? You know, back there with… well, whatever those things were."

"Umm," Kole hesitated, turned to face him, bit her lip, "I guessed."

"You guessed? How would you guess that?"

"Dean, I don't know if you really want to know the way my mind works. It can be a pretty scary place," she told him with a grin. "But, I suppose it finally all fit together when that… other you… tried to kick you. You looked away, but I saw what happened. His leg kind of went through you and he vanished. When one of them took a swing at me, I just closed my eyes to test the theory."

"Kind of a risky test, isn't it?"

"Yeah, well, hindsight is 20/20. I wasn't really thinking too clearly at that point."

Dean slowed down for a moment, noticing that there was a break in the line of cubicles. He took out his flashlight and glanced down the aisle to the left and saw at least two more rows of cubicles and could only guess that there were another couple rows to the right. His curiosity nearly took over, but he glanced towards his brother and saw that Sam was quite a bit ahead of them now and not slowing.

"My turn for a question," Kole's voice got Dean walking forward again.

"Shoot."

"OK, I get why Tommy and Sam's girlfriend were downstairs. I mean, I don't know how, but these guys are obviously messing with our minds somehow." She paused, trying to figure out how to ask her question. "But, what I don't get… why were… you down there?"

"It's kind of a long story."

"Well, then give me the Cliff Notes version."

"OK, let's just say that I'm not dead," he smirked, "but that's not what my death certificate says."

Kole was about to ask him to expand on his explanation, when something to her right caught her eye. She aimed her flashlight at a cubicle and gasped.

"What is it?" Dean asked, then his own breath caught in his throat as he looked over her shoulder. Inside the cubicle was another cage; only this one was not empty. Inside was an emaciated body.

"Is it… real?" Kole grimaced. Judging by the clothing and the size of the body, the figure was that of a teenager.

"Well, I'm no expert," Dean said, trying to keep from gagging. "But, if it's not, it's a real good likeness." He backed away from the cage and turned to see an empty aisle.

"Where's Sam?" Dean asked.

"I don't know," Kole said, already starting to jog ahead, pausing only to glance into the cubicles she passed. There were more cages, and more and more of them were occupied.

"Sammy," Dean called out, not quite a yell, but a bit louder to try and gain Sam's attention. No answer. Unnerved, he began jogging as well and quickly caught up with Kole.

They stopped when they found another break in the row of cubicles. Shining their flashlights ahead of them and to either side, all they could see were vacant aisles. They both tried calling out to Sam again and were met with the same silence.

"Split up?" Kole asked Dean.

He didn't really like the idea. Logically, he supposed it made sense; they would find Sam quicker if they separated. But, it also meant that, until one of them found Sam, they would all three be on their own.

Cleithrophobia: the fear of being locked in an enclosed place