Coma
Chapter Nineteen
Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Supernatural, and I'm not making any money from this fic. Any character you don't recognise from the show, I probably own. The plot of this story also belongs to me
Warning(s): Strong violence; spoilers up to episode ten of season one at least; some mild swearing
Author's Note: As always, thank you to everyone who has read and reviewed this fic. It's really amazing to see how many hits this fic has got so far – and how many reviews, how many people have it on Favourites, etc. Without a doubt, each review is extremely supportive, because it's always difficult to write something if it seems like no one actually likes it.
Also, I just thought I'd make a comment here. When reading this fic, it will probably not make much sense if you miss out a chapter, or if you just read the first chapter and then nothing else. (Well, unless you don't like it – in which case, feel free to only read the first chapter).
Ok, I'm done rambling… Let's move on to the next chapter.
Sam bit his lip, frowning to himself as he stared at the newspaper article on the computer screen. He couldn't stop staring at it. I know it seems like Jody's the one working with the demon, but… I don't know. He didn't really want to believe that she was sending people – hunters of the supernatural – to their deaths.
But it seemed like there was no other possibility.
Sam put his head in his hands, and sighed. I should have got her cell phone number, he thought. Then again, he'd had a lot on his mind during the past few days. He could hardly be blamed for not thinking totally logically. Has it only been a few days? It feels like months, at least.
Finally, Sam closed down the article again. Despite the fact that he had woken up only a little while ago, he still felt really tired. Whatever happened while I dreamed, it must have worn me out in some way.
Either that or he simply hadn't got enough sleep.
I really wish that Dean was here, Sam thought as he stood up. I know that wishing doesn't do any good, but… He's my brother. I can't handle what's happening to him, and it's even worse knowing that it's my fault.
Not to mention that he was feeling so lonely right about now…
Dad hasn't even called… I wouldn't expect him to come if something happened to me, but Dean's his perfect son. Always the good soldier. Definitely not like me.
"You shouldn't be thinking like that," Missouri spoke up from behind him.
Sam turned round to see the psychic standing in the doorway. "Why not?" he asked, feeling weary. "It's true." He was beginning to lose hope, and just wished for a way out of the situation. "Dad clearly doesn't care about anything that's been happening – not to me, not to Dean. You'd think that I would have figured that out by now." His words might not be very fair – but he wasn't really concerned with that.
"Don't try to judge your father," Missouri answered. "He's been doing what he thinks is best, and that's all."
"Whatever," Sam muttered, turning away. Truthfully, he didn't think that his father cared at all. Not about anything. Well, anything except for killing that demon.
I guess I can't blame him so much now, though… I want to see that son of a bitch destroyed.
"Don't cuss," Missouri said reflexively. "And, sweetie, I know how much you're hurting inside. But you have to understand that your Dad's going through a lot as well. And, yeah – he should be with his boys. But if he's not, there's a good reason for it."
"Yeah, like he's too involved in his case to care about his sons!" Sam's emotions were coming to the surface, despite his best efforts. It seemed like everything was coming to a head.
I need my brother…
Missouri nodded, her expression showing her sympathy. "It's only natural that you should feel like that. After all, Dean took care of you – did all that he could to protect you…"
"And look at how I repaid him. He feels like I abandoned him – even though he won't admit it. I shot him, first with rock salt and then with a regular bullet. His body's in hospital while his soul's stuck in some parallel world. For all I know, he could be suffering greatly, and it's my fault!"
Missouri just watched Sam, not saying anything. She probably knew that there was nothing to say that would alleviate how Sam was feeling. However, she then stepped forward, and hugged Sam gently.
Sam returned the hug, hardly aware of how much he needed it. Of course, it wasn't as effective as having his brother back.
But nothing would be like that.
Missouri held Sam for a few moments longer, and then released him. "You'll get Dean back, I promise. Your brother can take care of himself."
Sam nodded, wishing that he could be so sure. He knew that Dean would scold him for losing hope – but it was difficult to keep holding on. He did make an effort to pull his thoughts away from his guilt, though. "Did you manage to find out anything about the Somnus-Nex demon?" he asked.
Missouri shook her head. "I'm afraid not, Sam. I'm sorry – it seems that this demon isn't a well-known one. Do you remember anything else about what happened while you were asleep?"
Sam gave a sigh. "Unfortunately, no," he admitted. "I don't know why." I suppose that would be another thing I've forgotten… "I'm sure I would have attempted to get any possible information out of the Vereor demon, but…" His voice trailed off, and he shrugged slightly. "Maybe the demon made me forget deliberately."
"But then surely you wouldn't remember anything? You can remember the name of another demon…"
"Which doesn't exactly help a lot." Sam paused, and then glanced towards the door of the study as his ears caught the sound of someone coming through the front door. "Jody." It wasn't like there was anyone else who'd be coming through the door.
And Amber was in the spare room right now.
Missouri glanced towards the door as well, and then nodded. "Yes." She frowned. "Her mind's still clouded. You need to be very careful if you're going to confront her at all."
"I know," Sam replied. He moved past Missouri, and headed out of the door and down the stairs.
Jody paused in front of the door after closing it behind her. "Oh… Hello," she said. In her hands, there was a bottle of milk. "Sorry… I didn't think you'd still be up." She glanced at her watch. "It's late…"
"Yes, I know." Sam watched her with a grim expression. "Did you think that you could just sneak in and not explain yourself at all? Where were you?" So much for being careful about what I say to her…
"I was at the hospital," Jody answered. "There was something I had to… check out."
"For this entire time?" Sam didn't really believe her. "What were you checking out?" And what's with the bottle of milk?
"I don't know." Jody sighed. "I need to… put this milk away. I'll label it – it's not supposed to be drunk." She glanced away a moment, and then started walking towards the kitchen.
As Jody walked past him, Sam reached out to grasp her shoulders to stop her. Jody hesitated, looking up at him. "You should tell me what's going on with you." Sam made an effort to keep his tone calm, but wasn't succeeding too well. "I can help," he continued. "I can help… But you have to trust me."
Jody stared into his eyes for a moment, and then looked away. She opened her mouth, but then closed it again, and gave a slight shake of her head. "Nothing's going on with me. I'm just worried about what's been happening."
Liar. Sam let go of the woman's shoulders, though. Truth to tell, he had no proof that Jody was involved with the demon – not yet, at least. But she was certainly acting suspiciously.
If she knows something, why isn't she telling me?
Jody's shoulders slumped as she all but crept past Sam. "I'll put this away, and then I'll go up to bed," she mumbled, even as she headed into the kitchen.
Sam walked towards the kitchen as well, and stood in the doorway. "You know… It's my brother who's in the coma, who is probably going to be the demon's next victim. I really don't appreciate you keeping things from me!" Despite his best efforts, his voice rose, until he was almost shouting.
Jody flinched. "I'm not keeping anything from you." She found a black marker in one of the drawers, and wrote on the bottle of milk before putting it in the fridge.
"And I don't believe you," Sam stated. "So where does that leave us? I swear, if you do anything that puts my brother in danger – we're going to have real problems."
Jody all but slammed the fridge door shut, and narrowed her eyes at Sam. "I'm not trying to do anything to put Dean in danger! What I'm trying to do is what I can to sort everything out! But now, I'm going to go upstairs and sleep." She walked over to the kitchen door, and then paused in front of Sam. "Please can I get past?"
He didn't move out of her way, just watched her intently. "If you're not hiding anything, then what's with the whole not telling me what's going on?"
"I can't deal with this." Jody looked worn out. "I'm sorry; I don't even know what I'm looking for myself, so how can I tell you?"
"You do realise that that doesn't make a whole lot of sense, don't you?"
Jody shrugged, staying quiet, and just waited. With a sigh, Sam moved back out of the way. "You'll have to talk sooner or later."
"Sure…" Jody walked past Sam, and headed towards the stairs. "But can we make it later?" she said back over her shoulder.
"Whatever." Sam sighed heavily. After a few moments, he became aware of someone standing behind him. He knew instinctively that it was Missouri, and spoke up without turning round: "I guess I blew it, huh?"
"You could have handled it better," Missouri answered.
"Seems like I'm losing all sense when it comes to my brother." Sam shrugged, not really caring. He turned round to look at Missouri. I need him with me… I can't do this alone. I never could. He didn't say it out loud, but he was pretty sure that Missouri understood how he was feeling.
Missouri nodded. "I know."
Sam took a deep breath, and started in the direction of the living room. "I'm gonna go get some rest as well. Then, when I wake up in the morning, I'm going to tear apart heaven and hell looking for a way to get my brother back."
"Hey."
Amber glanced up at Dean. "Oh… Hi. What were you doing? You were gone a little while." She made a slight face. "Not that you have to tell me everything, of course…"
Dean shrugged. "I talked to Mom a bit." Of course, he wasn't going to mention the other thing he had done. "Anyway… I brought your milk up," he added, holding the glass out to her. I'm not totally sure that this is a good idea… But doing this would be preferable to having the demon 'burst' out of her. Even so, a part of Dean hoped that Amber would have changed her mind about wanting the drink.
No such luck, though. Amber smiled, and reached for the glass. "Thanks."
Still holding onto the other side of the glass, Dean leaned forward, and briefly kissed Amber on the lips. If this whole thing doesn't work, then I won't get another chance to do this.
Amber blinked, her expression confused, as Dean pulled away. "I thought we weren't doing that…?" She didn't look too unhappy with it, though.
Dean shrugged. "Just… have a drink," he replied, choosing not to make any comment to what Amber had said. If this works, she's probably gonna hate me. He sat down on the edge of the bed, hand tight around the salt shaker in his pocket. He then checked in the holster attached to his belt.
Good… The gun's there.
"Are you all right?"
Dean glanced at Amber. "Huh? Yeah… I'm fine. Are you… going to…?" He made a gesture that was supposed to signify drinking. "Go ahead. It's not like it's poisoned or anything." No, it only has the black elixir mixed in.
"I know…" Amber tipped up the glass, and drank the milk.
Dean immediately stood up, hand reaching for the dart gun. He knew that he wasn't going to get much chance to knock her out – he was going to have to react as quickly as possible. How do I know when the demon's taken control of her? Maybe it would be better to shoot her with the dart gun now.
Amber closed her eyes for a moment, seemingly not noticing Dean's actions. For a moment, she just lay slumped against the pillows. Then, abruptly, she sat up straight and screamed.
In an instant, Dean had the gun drawn and aimed at Amber. The demon turned black eyes on him, and then let out an ear-splitting shriek. Dean's hand never wavered as he fired the dart gun. Please let this work…
The dart hit Amber in the chest. For a moment, she just looked surprised. Then, slowly, she toppled sideways off the bed.
Dean tucked the dart gun away again, and then picked up Amber's limp body. He carried her out of the room, hoping that no one would come out – even if they had heard the screaming. Maybe they'll just think it was a nightmare or something.
When Amber finally came to, it was to feel something damp and squishy under her cheek. She was cold as well, and her mouth felt dry. Her head ached, and she felt nauseous. She tried to sit up, but, for some reason, her body wouldn't obey her.
"You're awake… Good," Dean's voice spoke from somewhere above her.
Did he shoot me…? Amber again tried to sit up. However, although her brain seemed to be working all right, somehow the messages were getting lost before they reached the rest of her body.
However, Amber suddenly became aware of something moving around inside her. She felt a chill as she once again attempted to move anything – even her right little finger – and failed. What's happening to me?
To Amber's shock, an answer came: Don't you know? Looks like someone got a little impatient with how long it was taking for me to take control of your body. The words were accompanied by laughter which grated on Amber's mind. The little hunter thinks that he'll be able to trick me into making my first kill and subsequently weaken myself. His confidence in himself really is sweet. Maybe I'll play with him a bit first.
No no no no no. All Amber could do was repeat the word over and over again, feeling dazed. This couldn't be happening. It was all just a bad dream. Any moment now, she was going to wake up next to her boyfriend, who'd listen to her and then laugh with her at how ridiculous the idea of demons was.
"What are you doing, Dean? Why are you doing this to me?" As the demon lifted her head, Amber could see that they appeared to be in a forest. Dean was standing in front of them, a grim look on his face, holding a small book in his hands.
"I know what you are," Dean replied. "And I also know that you're not Amber. I hope you can hear me," he continued, his eyes boring into Amber's. "I'm going to get you out of this. I promise."
It's your fault I'm even in this… Amber wasn't sure just where that feeling was coming from – but she was sure it was true. He was so insistent about me drinking that milk… Why is he doing this to me? Despite the hopelessness of the situation, she struggled again against the demon's hold.
The demon laughed once more. Fool. You're not going to get away from my grasp that easily. Even though the demon sounded pretty confident of its own ability and Amber's lack thereof, it kept a tight hold of Amber's soul.
For the moment, Amber stopped struggling. It clearly wasn't working, and, as hard as it was, she knew that she should probably trust Dean to help her. He knows about this sort of stuff. Even if he did instigate this, there must have been a reason for it…
The demon must have heard Amber's thought, but it made no response. Instead, Amber heard it continue to speak to Dean. "Oh, well… I won't try to convince you otherwise, then. But if you think you'll be able to exorcise me… Well, you're about to get a very rude awakening, boy."
Dean smirked, not looking too bothered by the demon's words. "Well, let's just see about that, shall we?"
Why are you just staying here? Amber wondered. Not that she was complaining about the demon not trying to attack Dean, of course.
He's not totally stupid, the demon answered. He did a chalk circle to hold me still here.
Heh… I guess you're not smart yourself, Amber thought, trying not to degenerate into a crying, terrified mess.
What good would that do? Aside from being extremely therapeutic, of course.
The demon slowly pushed Amber's body upright. "Why don't we just forget about this whole business?" it asked sweetly. "I can do… so much for you. Why don't we just forget about this and do something together? I can be anything you want."
"Nah, you're not my type," Dean responded. He smirked. "I don't tend to go for big evil demons."
The demon shrugged. "That's your loss, then. You're not going to be able to get my guard down, though – so don't get your hopes up."
As the demon spoke, Amber could see that Dean was holding something under his jacket – something that seemed to be squirming slightly. The demon didn't seem to have noticed anything, though. Amber immediately started trying to concentrate on something else. Hey… Is that the moon? How come I'm not having problems seeing this forest if it's night time right now?
Shut up, the demon ordered.
I mean, I guess it's possible that it could be you causing this, Amber continued, seeing a way to distract the demon from whatever Dean had planned. But why would it affect me as well? Does this usually happen with people who have been possessed? Amber was just really saying whatever came into her mind, and not really thinking about it.
"Problems?" Dean asked, raising his eyebrows.
The demon decided to ignore Amber, and turned its attention back to Dean. "Why would there be problems?"
"Well, maybe there will be now." With that, Dean removed his hands from under his jacket, and hurled something at the demon. Amber saw a long, twisting body, and sharp fangs above a forked tongue.
The demon didn't try to get out of the snake's way. However, as the snake hit Amber in the arm, she felt some pain, and couldn't help gasping mentally.
Almost immediately, the demon smacked a hand at the snake, knocking it violently to the ground.
What good does that do?
Amber wasn't sure whether the thought came from her or from the demon – but it wasn't like it really mattered. She then became aware that Dean was reading something in a language that she didn't recognise.
"What are you doing!" the demon demanded, panic obvious in its tone. Its eyes – and subsequently Amber's gaze – moved to the snake lying in the grass.
The snake that was no longer moving.
The demon's head jerked up, and it screeched as Dean continued to read. He didn't seem bothered by the demon's screaming at all. The demon stumbled back a few paces as the reading continued. "Stop it!"
Dean ignored the demon, and just continued reading. The demon itself was hit by a force that reverberated throughout Amber's body, enough to send her to her knees.
Amber was then hit by an intense heat that felt like she was burning up inside. She felt like something was being ripped from her, and she threw her head back to scream. Instead of sound, though, what came out was a black mist.
And then Amber slumped.
Dean immediately tucked the book away, and headed through the circle and towards Amber. "Hey… You ok?"
Amber opened her mouth to speak, and then had to lean forward to throw up.
"Yeah… I need to get you to the doctor." Dean helped Amber to her feet and slung her arm around his shoulder to support her. "That was the only snake I could find on that short notice. It won't kill you – but you'll probably feel sick for a little while." He helped her along the path in the direction of the Impala.