Coma
Chapter Twenty
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. (Not that anyone else would want them)
Warning(s): Some violence; mild swearing; one part in particular might be quite upsetting to readers (you have been warned); spoilers up to and including episode ten at least
Author's Note: Again, thank you to those people who have read and reviewed this fic. In a way, it's easier to continue if I know that there are people who are enjoying reading this
Sam woke up with a slight wince. His neck was aching, probably from having been sleeping at a funny angle.
Sam sat up, wincing slightly. My back hurts… Obviously, sleeping on a couch isn't that comfortable. Then again, he was used to sleeping on beds in motels – not on the couch at someone's house.
And certainly not the house of someone who was probably in cohorts with the demon.
Sam became aware of the fact that Amber was sitting in one of the armchairs, and he blinked a few times, trying to focus on her. "Hey… What's the time?" How long have I been asleep for? He felt a bit out of it, almost like he had been asleep for too long.
"10am," Amber answered. "You've been asleep for an entire day." Rather unusually, her eyes looked almost… clear. She seemed more in control of herself than she had been. "I guess you were pretty tired," she continued. "I asked… um, Missouri, if I should wake you up, but she said to just let you sleep."
"Probably a good idea," Sam agreed, straightening up. "Has Jody gone out?" He then frowned, noticing that Amber was holding her arm with an almost pained look on her face. "What's wrong?"
"I'm not sure," Amber admitted. "I just felt this pain in my arm – like something bit me or whatever."
"Bit you? You mean like a mosquito bite?"
Amber shook her head. "I felt really sick earlier – and my arm doesn't itch, it just aches. And there's no mark. Thing is, I realised that the symptoms are consistent with the bite of a copperhead snake, but… Well, I think I would have noticed if I had been bitten by one."
Sam raised his eyebrows. "You know about snakes?" he asked, for some reason surprised. Or maybe I'm just surprised that I'm having a more or less 'normal' conversation with someone who, only a couple of days ago, I would have said appears to have some kind of mental problem. "Do you still feel sick?"
Amber shook her head, and then gave a slight frown. "I wouldn't say that I'm an expert on snakes. I wrote a report on the copperhead a while back. It seems to be common more in Kansas, though…"
Kansas? Hm… I wonder if there's an Amber in the parallel world that Dean's in. Then again, if Amber was connecting with her 'twin' in the parallel world – why was it happening? And why did no one else appear to be affected? I suppose it could just be something totally different… But, right now, I'm hard-pressed to think of what "Have you had anything else like that happen?"
Amber shrugged slightly. "Well, the other day, my neck hurt a bit. Also, I've been getting these feelings of déjà vu lately."
"Lately?" Sam repeated. "You mean… since you came here to Illinois?"
Amber nodded.
Talk about weird coincidences…
"Do you still need me around?" Amber asked, a little hesitantly. "I mean… you've spoken to Melissa. And it's not like you really need me here to interpret what she's saying for you. So… I'd like to go back to university. Please."
I really shouldn't be surprised, Sam thought. This is what I talked to her about, after all. If she's happy to leave – and without the spirit of her sister – then that can only be a good thing. "I don't want you to feel like you have to leave," he said out loud. "If you'd prefer to stick around – well, I'm sure that I can find some way to use you." But, if I'm honest, I guess she'd just get in the way.
Amber ducked her head slightly. "You don't need me. And, well, I don't really want to get involved in this. You can call me a coward if you want, but it's the way I feel."
Sam shook his head. "You're not a coward," he answered. "If you want to leave, you can. Do you need me to drive you down to the airport? When are you thinking of leaving?"
"I'm going to book the tickets today, to leave this evening," Amber replied. "And, well, I'll probably get a cab there. To be honest, I'd prefer it." Although her tone wasn't rude in any way, it was definitely firm.
She's basically saying that she doesn't want to spend any more time with me than is absolutely necessary… "Ok," Sam said. "What made you…? I mean, what's changed?" If that question even makes any sense…
Amber shrugged slightly. "You brought up a good point, I guess," she answered. "I can't just keep my sister with me, no matter how much I want to. She's dead, and I guess it's about time I accepted that."
Sam nodded, understanding Amber's feelings. I know how difficult it is to move on from the death of someone… He still wasn't really recovered from Jessica's death – that was proved by the nightmares he had constantly. But what if Amber is connecting to her 'twin' in the parallel world? She might be the only link I have to whether Dean's even alive or not… "Actually, I of course wouldn't want to keep you here against your will – but if you've been getting hurt or something, it would probably be better if you didn't travel just yet – just to be on the safe side."
Amber frowned, and Sam could almost see the little wheels turning over inside her mind. Finally, she replied, "If you think that I should stay, I will… But only for a little while."
"That's fine," Sam said. She agreed quicker than I expected… He gave a sigh, and then headed towards the door of the living room. "I'd better go round to the library now. You just stay here and rest. And call me if anything else happens."
"Isn't there anything else I can do?" Amber asked.
Sam considered that for a moment. "Actually, there is. You can ask your sister if she's been keeping tabs on Jody at all. Give me a call and let me know if she's done anything even remotely suspicious. Missouri can let you know what my cell phone number is."
"Ok," Amber replied. "I hope you find the information that you're looking for." As soon as the words had left her mouth, she immediately looked a bit distant.
"Me too," Sam muttered as he left the living room and made his way slowly to the front door. Then, he paused, just as he was about to step on an envelope that was lying on the mat.
Surely the post wouldn't have come this early? Sam wondered, even as he bent down to pick it up.
The envelope was the only thing that had apparently come through the door. Sam turned it over, and narrowed his eyes slightly as he saw that the only thing written on the front was SAM WINCHESTER. The envelope itself was brown, and looked official.
Who actually knows that I'm here? Sam looked at the envelope for a moment, and then opened it.
Inside, there was a sheet of paper which looked as if it had been photocopied from a book. Sam leaned against the wall next to the door, and read the information, his bottom lip caught between his teeth.
The Somnus-Nex demon
The Somnus-Nex demon feeds specifically on people who have fallen into comas. Once someone has woken up from a coma, their life force is sufficiently weakened to enable the demon to get past a human's natural immunity to their power.
This weakness lasts for exactly 24 hours. Very often, the Somnus-Nex will 'stalk' its chosen victim, often leaving behind a residue that looks very similar to an aura, but appears to be more like dried blood in colour. Although this can be seen by anyone, most people will disbelieve what they see, their own brains insisting that it is something that is perfectly 'normal'.
The demon can only be completely destroyed when it's getting ready to feed, since that is when it is open to attack. The fastest way is to use a combination of salt and holy water to immobilise it, and then to perform a high-level exorcism. The items will need to be prepared in advance, since each step must be performed as quickly as possible, otherwise the demon will be able to break free.
Oftentimes, the demon will recruit a human to aid it – usually by offering the human something they particularly desire, such as immortality, wealth, immunity, power, and many others. However, the demon draws energy from its servant in order to manifest – so the human will often appear weak and tired; perhaps rather restless and unable to sleep well.
Sam read the article through twice, frowning in concentration. Most of it sounded pretty straightforward – but it was the final paragraph that really concerned him. When I first came here, I noticed that Jody looked really tired, and she hasn't looked much better… There was something that kept pushing at the edge of his mind, though. Something that he had noticed before. However, try as he might, Sam couldn't concentrate enough to remember what it was.
It's got to be Jody… Right? There was the problem with doing something to stop her – and then discovering that it wasn't her at all. Then again, there was also the problem with doing nothing… and ending up with Dean getting killed.
I wonder if the others entered parallel worlds as well… I suppose I'll never know that for sure.
Sam slid the sheet of paper back into the envelope, and then walked back into the living room, where Amber was sitting exactly where he had left her.
Amber glanced up at him. "I thought you were going out to the library…?" she said, sounding confused.
Sam shrugged. "I don't need to now," he replied, without elaborating. "Was Melissa able to tell you anything?" He decided that he was going to base his final assessment of whether Jody was innocent or not on whatever the spirit had to say.
Right now, I'm gonna trust my instincts.
Amber looked away a moment. "She wasn't very clear on the details," the woman admitted quietly. "But… The woman who died was Min-Li – apparently a friend of Jody's, and one of the receptionists who worked in the hospital. Melissa saw Jody standing outside her house before the police came, carrying something which seemed to have come from Min-Li's apartment."
The bottle of milk… Without another word, Sam turned round to head out of the living room again.
"Where are you going?" Amber asked.
"To get handcuffs," Sam answered, without turning round or slowing his pace in any way.
Jody curled up on her bed, flicking through a magazine. She wasn't really taking much of it in, though. She was feeling too worn out to really get into anything. Not to mention that she was waiting to hear something about the bottle of milk she had taken to the lab. She knew that it would take a while to test the liquid – but patience had never been one of her strong points.
I don't know if I did the right thing in telling Doctor Herring about what I know, but… I felt like it was the right thing to do…
"What are you doing?"
Jody glanced up from her magazine to see Sam standing in the doorway. "Oh… Um…" She blinked a few times. "Just reading, I guess… Did you go out or something?" She hadn't heard him use the front door at all.
"Yeah," Sam replied, stepping into the room. "Hey… you know, for a little while, I thought that perhaps you were working with the demon."
"Huh?" Jody stared at him, her eyes wide. "What… you mean that demon which has been killing the people in the hospital? Why would you think that?! Of course it's not me!" She blinked. Someone's been working with the demon? How come I was the last person to hear about this?
Sam stepped further into the room – right next to Jody's bed – and extended a hand. "Promise?"
Jody frowned, feeling slightly confused. Then, she shrugged, and held out her own right hand to grasp his. "Of course…" she started. Then, she felt something cold and hard clamp around her wrist, and couldn't help yelping a little. "Hey!" She glanced down at her hand, and widened her eyes. "Handcuffs?! Is this some kind of joke?" She looked up into Sam's cold gaze. Ok… Not a joke.
"Funnily enough, I just don't believe you about not being in cohorts with the demon," Sam answered, as he used the other half of the handcuffs to drag Jody nearer to the bedposts. She struggled, of course, but Sam was able to fasten it to the closest bedpost, and then lock it with the key, which he then tucked into his pocket.
Jody tried to pull her hand free of the handcuff – but it was a too snug fit. "Are you crazy?!" she demanded.
"Nah, I'm just making sure that you can't escape to help the Somnus-Nex demon kill my brother," Sam said. "If you really are innocent, then I'll apologise later. But, right now, I need to help Dean. If you need anything, you can just yell for Missouri or something." With that, he walked out of the room.
"You get back here and let me out of these handcuffs RIGHT NOW!" Jody screeched – but to no avail.
"I am not talking to you." Amber sat in the back seat of the Impala with her arms folded across her chest, stubbornly not looking at Dean.
"You just did," Dean pointed out, even as he got into the driver's seat, and glanced with some impatience towards the house. What's taking Sam and Jess so long?
"Well, I'm not talking to you now."
"You know, I had an argument like this with Sam once," Dean commented. "Eventually, he got tired of the whole thing and gave up not talking to me. 'Course, he was about ten at the time, so it wasn't too difficult…"
"Was this your brother, or the brother of my boyfriend?" Then, Amber shook her head. "Never mind; I don't wanna know. But that demon was awful. You have no idea just what it was like for me, being a prisoner inside my own mind!"
"You know what? I don't!" Dean snapped. "But you're not the only person who's been possessed by a demon! And do you think you could maybe be a little more grateful, at least?! The demon's gone – not everyone has that kind of luck. And, hey, you know what? If I hadn't done that, the demon would have eaten you up from the inside – like some kind of bug." But, you know – don't thank me or anything.
"Oh…" Amber said quietly, in quite a small voice. "I guess you sorta saved my life, then… Thanks."
Dean grunted. "You could have said that in the first place, rather than yelling at me for throwing a snake at you and getting you bitten – which, by the way, will heal nicely in only a few days." He knew that his tone was bitter, but he couldn't help it. One thing he particularly hated was people who couldn't be even a bit grateful if he did something for them. "At least I got one that was relatively harmless," he muttered. "You just need to take some antibiotics."
"Sorry…"
I think I'll be glad when I get out of this world… Actually, Dean wasn't as sure of that now. Mom's alive in this world, and so is Jessica… Dad and Sam are happy. The other Dean didn't appreciate this – but I would. He was starting to be faced with the possibility that he wouldn't mind a lot if he had to stay in the parallel world.
As long as I knew that my brother in the real world was all right…
Dean glanced up as Sam got in the passenger side. "Hey, what took you so long?"
"Mom wanted to know when we were coming to visit them again," Sam answered as he did his seatbelt up. "I said that we'd try to come next month." He raised his eyebrows at Dean, and tilted his head slightly with an inquiring expression.
"Fine with me. You two all right back there?" Dean glanced back over his shoulder, and waited for nods from both Jessica and Amber before he put the car into gear and reversed out of the space.
It would be great to be able to visit Mom and Dad again… And it was so good to be able to see her this time, since my last sight of her – apart from at four years old – was in the old house, where she gave her life to protect me and Sam.
The smell of death was something that Dean would never fully get used to. As soon as the front door was opened, it hit him right in the face and almost caused him to gag. What happened?
"What's that smell?" Sam was frowning.
Amber's eyes widened, and she pushed past Dean and Sam. "Brownie?!" She started to head into the building, but was stopped when her arm was grabbed. "Dean? Let me go!"
"It might not be your dog," Dean said, looking into her eyes. "Besides… Even if it is, I'm sure it's nothing more than him messing up and it not getting cleaned up or something. But, hey – I'll check it out. You just wait here with Sam and Jess." I don't think her dog's alive, and if I'm right – whatever hurt him may still be inside the house.
"But…" Amber protested.
"Please." Dean met her gaze. When Amber looked away, he pushed her in Sam's direction. "Make sure she stays here." He then stepped into the house, covering his nose and mouth with one hand.
Ok… I just have to avoid breathing in while I'm inside the house.
It wasn't too difficult to track down the source of the smell. As soon as he had done so, Dean almost wished he hadn't. He was thankful for not having much food in his stomach, since the sight and smell combined made him want to throw up.
There was blood everywhere. Right in the middle of the kitchen, there was the dog's body, hardly recognisable as once being a living creature. It looked like it had literally been torn apart.
Was this Meg's doing…? Dean crouched down beside the dog's body, feeling for a pulse even though he knew it was useless. He only tried so that he could give Amber his word that he had attempted to see if her dog still lived.
When Dean pulled his hand away, the palm was stained with blood.
After wiping his hand on the wall, Dean turned to head back outside again. His plan was to get Sam, Amber, and Jessica out of the area, before going after Meg, or whoever had attacked the dog.
I'm pretty sure it was Meg…
Upon getting outside again, though, Dean paused, and his eyes narrowed, before he reached automatically for a gun that was no longer there.
Meg was standing outside the house. One arm was locked around Amber's throat; the other hand held a sharp dagger that glinted in the pale light. There was no sign of Jessica – but Sam stood beside the demon, his eyes completely black.
"Shit…" Dean whispered.
"That about sums it up." Meg smirked at him. "Oh, did I forget to mention? The vampire was sent after two people. He succeeded in your brother."
"Where's Jessica?!" Dean demanded.
"You're not nearly as intelligent as your brother," Meg commented, shaking her head with a mocking look. "The ones who have died in your world are the ones I can take control of in this world. I was in the process of subjugating the others here using my black elixir when you dropped in."
Dean's gaze moved towards Amber. "Let her go," he said, not ashamed to beg for the woman's life – even from a demon. "She's of no use to you dead – and she might be worth more alive. Let her go – or I will kill you." He narrowed his eyes, giving his most menacing look.
"That's a chance I'm willing to take." Meg pulled Amber's head back by her hair, and the dagger flashed through the air towards the unprotected throat.