Chapter 14

Sam felt his stomach rush to his throat as he was transported to what looked like a very fancy hotel room. He stumbled and tried to get his balance as he stepped from the demon. Once the room stopped spinning, he centered his attention on the demon named Crowley.

"Where am I?" Sam asked.

"This is one of my suites I use when I travel up top," Crowley responded. "I have then all over the world. If it doesn't suit you, I can take you somewhere else."

"Again, where am I?" Sam asked impatiently.

"Upstate New York, the Catskills. Feel free to stay however long you want. Everything is prepaid, so order from room service and please, for all our sakes, make use of the facilities," Crowley said waving toward the bathroom door as he stepped from him. "And if I was you…I'd burn those clothes."

"You know this doesn't make us friends or anything, right?" Sam stated.

"Of course. The way I see it, we both win in this situation. You got what you wanted, freedom, and now…I'm the King of Hell," Crowley offered lightly. "Oh, and here's a little something for your…Troubles shall we say," he offered dropping something on the bed. "Enjoy your stay, this is a five star resort after all. I'll put the Do Not Disturb sign out for you."

Before Sam could toss a snide retort at him, Crowley was gone, leaving him alone in the luxurious suite. He gave the room a curious once over but then his eyes fell on the bathroom and he walked in a daze toward it, pushing the door open and sucked in a sharp breath. His eyes widened as he took in the huge tub, separate shower stall, the stack of soft looking towels and the array of bathroom products lining a shelf beside the tub.

His mouth hung open for a moment before he came to his senses and went to the tub to draw a bath. While the water ran, Sam grabbed his bathroom bag from his duffle and pulled out his toothbrush and paste. He ran some water and brushed his teeth three times and gargled with mouth wash twice before they felt clean. He never knew how much of a luxury it was just to be able to brush his teeth.

He quickly stripped out of his nasty, sweat stained clothes and tossed them in the corner to throw away. There was no way he could salvage them, even if they were washed. After adjusting the water and checking the temp, he stepped into the tub and sat down letting the hot water flow over him. Sam sighed with delight as the water continued to fill the tub until he turned it off before it overflowed. He felt like he had died and gone to Heaven as the water soaked into his grimy skin. Sam leaned his head back against the rim of the tub and closed his eyes relishing in the bath.

Before the water cooled, Sam held his breath and slid down into the water to soak his head. He came back up and wiped his eyes before taking some shampoo to massage into his hair. He worked it through his dirty, greasy hair and dunked his head again to rinse. Sam took a washcloth and soaped it good so he could scrub himself to wash away the loosened dirt and grim. By the time he was done, the water was getting cold and looked nasty. He stood flipping the lever to let it drain.

He moved to the shower and turned on the water, adjusting the temp before stepping inside. Sam knew he wasn't clean yet and started by shampooing him hair again. He repeated it again before feeling that it was clean. He soaped his body and washed his beard before rinsing off. He hated to get out, but he could feel himself getting weak and exhausted from breaking out of hell and couldn't wait to sleep in a real bed. Sam grabbed a large, soft bath towel and dried his body, and then his hair. He removed the hair dryer from the wall holder to partially dry his hair before finding some clean briefs to slip on, noticing they were loose around his lean hips. He had lost weight and muscle mass during his stay in hell and needed to build his body back up.

He wiped his hand across the mirror and looked at the man staring back at him wondering who he was. He was not the same person who was heading to Stanford however many weeks ago. His eyes were harder and wiser, and he ran a hand over his beard deciding he was going to keep it. He would trim it up later to look more presentable.

There was something about it that made him feel older and more secure and showed that he was a different man. It also showed that he was not the same young, giddy, boy heading to college to start a normal life. All that had changed now, but he couldn't think of that right now, that could wait until later.

He looked at the dirty ring in the tub from his bath and used a towel to wipe it before going into the other room. Sam didn't want the maid to wonder about him being so dirty and he was a little embarrassed by it. He stepped into the main room and finally looked to what Crowley had dropped on the bed. He found a roll of hundred dollar bills banded together and looked at it in shock and surprise. He dropped it into his duffle deciding he might need it later and wasn't going to turn it down. After adjusting the air for the room, he closed the drapes to darken it before climbing into the king size bed and letting his body sink into the mattress. He was asleep within minutes of his head hitting the pillow.

spn

The only reason Sam woke was he had to use the bathroom and stumbled into it and relieved himself. He barely had his eyes open and was on auto pilot as he made his way back to the bed and crawled back between the softest sheet he had ever slept on. He hugged a pillow to his chest and went back to sleep, still too tired to even dream as his mind fell into the ebony darkness of the abyss.

All the missed sleep had him sleeping long and hard. He barely moved in the bed once he got comfortable and warm. The remaining day passed, and night came to be chased away by the rising sun and still he slept, only waking long enough to drink some water and use the bathroom. It wasn't until evening that Sam began to stir from the nest he had made and rolled over to try and see the digital clock sitting on the nightstand. He wiped his eyes and looked again before he could read the display.

Sam yawned widely and felt his stomach growl, complaining at not being fed. He wasn't sure when the kitchen closed, but he found the menu and called room service to order some food. Once he placed his order, he made himself get up and slip on a robe provided for the hotel's guest, before digging around in his duffle for the sock he had hidden his money in. Even if everything was paid for, Sam thought he should tip the waiter that brought up his food. He went to the sliding glass doors and opened the drapes partway to look out at the dimming sky as the sun was disappearing beyond the trees.

About thirty minutes later a knock sounded at his door and Sam went to answer it. He looked through the peep hole before opening the door to allow the waiter to wheel a cart into the room.

"Good evening sir, I hope you are enjoying your stay with us," the waiter greeted him. "If you need anything else, the kitchen is open until eight."

"Thank you," Sam replied holding out a five.

"Oh no sir, everything is taken care of, no need to tip," he adamantly said shaking his head no, as he backed from the room. "You can leave the cart outside your room when you are done sir."

"Alright," Sam said. He moved the cart to a table by the doors and started removing the covers, not able to stop his mouth from watering when he smelled the aroma of the food. He quickly found the silverware and began to eat with gusto. He poured a cup of coffee and added sugar and milk before sipping it and savoring the taste that he hadn't had since he had been kidnapped. Sam stopped long enough to burp several times before finishing the food and sitting back sated and content. He had overeaten but couldn't help it. He sat in the chair for a moment before picking up the newspaper to glance at it.

Sam's eyes widen in shock when he saw the date on the paper. It had been a nearly six weeks since he had been kidnapped and he was sure he had been in Hell much longer than that. It felt like months had gone by. He had tried to count the times the lights were turned off and gave up after sixty-eight. He couldn't understand the difference until he remembered something, he had read in one of Bobby's books a long time ago. It suggested that time passes differently in different planes of existence. Maybe that was it, time wasn't the same in Hell as it was here on Earth. He had no idea how long he had been trapped there, but he was out now and that is what counted. He was free.

spn

Sam found the remote and channel surfed stopping on news channels where he learned some of what had happened while he was gone. Hurricane Katrina had hit the gulf states, Louisiana, Alabama and Mississippi killing over eighteen hundred people and causing mass flooding and destruction. Houston had the largest evacuation in history from Hurricane Rita and the largest United Nations World Summit was held in New York City. There were common events that he just glanced at, tiring of the news, and finally settled on a movie to watch.

He drank some more coffee and ate a slice of pie as his brother came to mind. Sam knew he would love this pie and a deep sadness filled him. There were so many things invading his mind that his head began to ache. He couldn't think straight or make any decisions about what he was going to do now, so he let his mind rest and watched the screen wanting to let his food settle before going back to bed.

Sam could tell his body still needed the rest before he made any huge choices of what he would do next. When the movie was over, Sam rolled the cart outside his door, being sure to grab the container of salt he had requested. He poured a line in front of the door to his room and the sliding glass door for his own peace of mind. He used the bathroom, closed the drapes back and went to bed closing out the outside world for a while longer.

He would make some decision in the morning when he could think clearer and had a better handle on things. One thing was certain, Sam was going to leave this place soon. He didn't want to be indebted to a demon for anything and he wasn't sure if this Crowley guy, now King of Hell, could be trusted not to try something. He needed to keep his guard up and protect himself.

As Sam lay in his bed, images of his brother sprang to mind. He wanted to call Dean, but what did he tell him? The Yellow Eyed Demon's word haunted him. He wondered if his Dad and brother even knew he had been missing all this time? The college would not have tried to call them since they had no contact information for anyone but him. His father's parting word made his stomach churn and he tried to put them out of his mind. Was he alone now? What should he do? Sam knew he was a freak, a psychic, and some would say a monster. How would his family see him now? Would they want to hunt him down and kill him?

He silenced his mind and rolled over trying to allow sleep to claim him and pushed those thoughts away.

A/N: Sam is free, but what now? Big decisions to make for him and will they be the right ones? We will see… Thank you for reading this story. Reviews do make my day. NC