Spoilers: mentions of events from 'The Benders'

Merinthophobia

- Floor 2, part 2 -

oo0oo

This place just keeps getting better, Sam thought to himself. First Jess's grave and now the stairway to Hell. Funny how, even given how he and Dean were raised and all the evil that they knew of, Sam had still always held to the childish belief that Hell was down and Heaven was up. Though, come to think of it, the way his mother and girlfriend died on the ceiling above him… it almost made sense to him that Heaven and Hell were in reverse, direction-wise.

"Well, are we ready for what's behind door number two?" Dean asked when they reached the top of the stairs.

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

The second floor was nothing like the first. Of course, second story graveyards are probably not a very popular idea, so they weren't exactly expecting a repeat. However, what they discovered, a floor that resembled a typical workplace filled with rows and rows of cubicles, was a bit bewildering.

Wandering toward one of the nearest squares, Sam 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?"

"Sammy?" Dean's voice asked just behind her.

"I'm fine, Dean," he mumbled irritably. "Let's just keep moving."

To be honest, Sam hadn't realized that the sight of a cage would affect him in such a way. But, without warning, images of gap-toothed hillbillies with a fondness for hunting humans and the scream of a man who thought he had gotten away from them, filled his head making his headache turn nearly lethal.

I guess I won't be visiting a zoo any time soon, he thought. Not that that had even been an option for him since the field trip he went on in the second grade. Of course, with my luck, our next job will include a possessed baboon.

Sam did his best to keep his eyes forward, not needing another blast of images and sounds on top of the pain he already felt. He began walking faster, just needing to get to the end of this room, to get to the next floor.

At a break in the row, he looked back, over his shoulder, to see his brother and cousin had not only slowed, but actually stopped in front of one of the cubes. He was about to call out to them, about to remind them that the boys they were looking for had made it to the last floor, when he heard something to his left. He closed his eyes and tried concentrating on the sound, still weary of looking at the cages.

It was so soft that he may have missed it if he hadn't stopped, but now he was sure it was there. Someone nearby was crying.

Sam listened carefully and followed the sobs through the gap in the row and into the next aisle. He hesitated for only a second before taking a deep breath and looking up. Instead of a cage, inside the cube was a set of pillories, enough for three people to fit their hands and heads in.

Feeling relieved, and a little guilty for that relief, Sam continued his search for the crier. He walked by two empty cubes before he found her.

"Hello?" he said softly.

The girl, who looked to be in her late teens, tensed and sniffled her crying to an end.

"Don't you come near me," she tried to portray confidence but failed miserably. "I don't know who you are and I don't care. But, you're going to be sorry about this. My Dad-"

"Hey, hey, take it easy," Sam said, sympathetic voice in place. Realizing that she couldn't lift her head to see higher than his knees, he kneeled down and tried to face her. "I'm here to help you."

"Yeah?" He nodded. "OK, then. How about getting me out of this thing?"

"Right," he smiled and rose to his feet once more. "I don't suppose you know where the key is."

"I think it's on the wall… over there," she pointed with one of her trapped hands.

Sam walked over to the wall. There was a ledge mounted to it with various odds and ends piled on top. He rifled through the contents but couldn't find anything resembling a key.

"I don't see anything…" he let his words trail off as he continued to search.

"Keep looking," she told him, her voice suddenly calm and callous, and close.

Sam was about to turn around when a new pain formed at the base of his skull. It wasn't enough to knock him unconscious, but enough to knock him to the ground. In his stunned state, he was no match for the figure behind him.

One arm reached out and held Sam firmly around the shoulders; the other hand (too large to belong to the teenage girl) brought some kind of saturated cloth up to his nose and mouth. On instinct, the sudden attack caused him to gasp, which was the wrong move. The first deep intake of breath caused his body to relax, so much so that he felt numb. The world around him began to spin and fade in and out. With the last of his consciousness fading, Sam thought:

Chloroform? Now I'm being kidnapped in a circa 1980 television show…

Merinthophobia: the fear of being bound or tied up

pillory: device used for punishment by public humiliation.

While the stocks held a person in place by their ankles, the pillory held a person's neck and wrists between hinged wooden boards that were locked together to secure the captive.