Howdy all ! Update time again. Thank you all so much for your reviews, you guys are actually keeping me going with this story…not many chapters to go, just got to sit up ass down now and write them.
Hope you guys enjoy this chapter, a lot of reveals in this one, so pay close attention !
Again, if you do get a chance please do let me know what you're thinking and if you're still enjoying.
On with 'Lying in Wait'….
Chapter 18- Lying in Wait
" Here you go..." Dean said with a smile on his face as he leaned out the sliding door and handed Sam one of the glasses, " Not exactly beer, but you know, it's kicks the hell out of ice-tea..."
Sam stared at the soda in the glass. Part of him could barely even believe what he'd just seen.
The other part of him screamed at himself to act as normal as humanly possible.
" Thanks.." Sam said as he took the glass and placed it front of him on the table. " So ermm, about last night Dean..."
" Can we just forget last night...?" Dean muttered as he awkwardly stood in the doorway, " Dude this is crazy, I'm not sitting inside the house, either we both eat inside, or we eat outside..."
" Fine, you know what, you're right, what was I thinking..?" Sam said with a fake smile, " We'll just eat inside..."
Dean nodded quietly and picked up the salad bowl and the plates and headed back inside the apartment.
Sam watched as Dean disappeared, and without wasting a second, Sam grabbed the glass of soda and tipped half of it into the large umbrella plant that sat on the deck.
Sam stood staring at the plant. He wasn't sure exactly what he was expecting to happen. In fact, Sam was pretty sure if anything had have happened to the plant, he'd have probably died of shock.
" You coming..? Or am I interrupting your conversation with the tree..?" Dean asked, his eye brows raised, as he reached forward and picked up the rest of the dishes and headed back inside.
Sam swallowed, grabbed the fajitas and his drink and followed Dean back inside, firmly closing the sliding door as he did.
Dean watched as Sam placed his soda and the fajitas on the coffee table, and disappeared into the kitchen. The younger Winchester returned carrying the salt drum and an apple.
Dean rolled his eyes at Sam's workings.
" Dude the foods getting cold..." Dean muttered, unable to comprehend what this Sam
was doing. In fact, Dean was struggling to see the point of pretty much everything that Sam was doing.
Maybe it was a ploy to lure Dean into a false sense of safety.
" Then start eating.." Sam said with a sigh as he cut the apple in half with his knife and begun to place sage leaves in the middle over the pips.
Dean opened his mouth to snap a response when his eyes landed on Sam's glass. It was then the elder brother noticed that half of Sam's drink was gone.
" Thirsty...?" Dean commented on as he pointed to Sam's glass innocently.
" It's like 80 odd outside, of course I'm thirsty..." Sam said with a dry chuckle as he adverted his eyes back to his apples.
Sam couldn't believe that Dean had commented on the glass.
...He is so never ever living this down for as long as I live... Sam thought to himself, although truthfully he knew, that none of this was Dean's fault.
He knew Dean was being manipulated.
That someone else was pulling at Dean's strings and making him see and believe certain things.
What was driving Sam mad was the fact that he, still, had no idea what was doing it. This led to the awful situation that Sam found himself in, having to place stupid apples and sage around the house, lines of thick salt everywhere and fluffy pink candles, which he knew Dean would blow out as soon as his back was turned, because he had no idea what it was he was up against, and because he didn't know what he was hunting, he didn't know how to kill it.
The only thing that he was sure about was the fact that Dean was not possessed. He was showing no symptoms of possession, but manipulation, hell yeah, Dean was showing every trade mark cliché sign of manipulation.
What puzzled Sam was the fact that usually, even Dean would have realised it.
Suddenly Sam's head snapped up and his eyes turned to look at Dean who was hungrily examining the fajitas on the table.
Dean, did, know he was being manipulated.
Well to some degree he knew.
Dean had said as much last night. He'd told Sam that the voice in his head told him all these things.
...Yeah, must be that same friggin voice telling you to drug me...Sam realised with an inner sigh.
The situation was going from bad to worse.
Sam needed to buy some time from Dean, time to find out exactly what Dean was going to do once he was drugged. As Sam knelt down in front of the sliding door, he placed the apples on either end.
...Wait a second, if I've been busy protecting the house, how on earth did it get in to manipulate Dean into drugging my soda..?...Sam thought, still on his hands and knees as he fiddled with the apples. He snuck a look at his elder brother.
That question did bother Sam.
He'd been busy busting his ass since his miraculous recovery last night, to try and protect his big brother, and things had been fine, until...
Until Dean had come into the apartment while Sam was on the deck.
" I am such a moron..." Sam muttered to himself in disgust.
Of course that's how the friggin spirit got back to Dean; the elder goof ball of a brother had walked back into the apartment, leaving the sliding door wide open. Sam should have guessed straightaway, after all he'd been busy spying on Dean as he was drugging his drink, with the door wide open.
" You loose a contact down there or something..?" Dean said, his face suddenly appearing in front of Sam's, making the younger stumble back slightly on his knees.
" Huh..?" Sam said his heart racing in his chest as he looked at Dean's face, into his elder brother's eyes. Anything that would help Sam identify this thing that was after his family.
" I said, what are you doing here..?" Dean said standing back up straight, " You're acting weirder than usual, you sure everything is ok..?"
Sam thought about the question.
Should he tell Dean the truth, tell him that he knew that he'd drugged the drink, tell him that it wasn't Dean's fault but they still had to be really careful.
Sam slowly stood up as looked at Dean who had finally sat himself down at the table, unable to resist the food any longer.
No, he couldn't tell Dean, simply because he knew someone was pulling Dean's strings.
Sam made a face at Dean's back as he considered the situation.
Maybe it was time, he, started to manipulate Dean. After all, it could provide the answers he needed, if Dean thought his little plan was working.
Sam just wished he knew what his big brother's plan was.
" Dude, I'm not being held responsible for there being nothing left of this lunch.." Dean said, his voice breaking through into Sam's clogged mind.
" Actually, Dean..." Sam said purposely dropping his voice down to a whisper.
God he hated playing up on his elder brother, but it needed to be done. He needed to see what Dean was up to.
Dean turned in his seat and peered at Sam.
" Problem..?" Dean asked carefully, his hazel green eyes actively taking in Sam's body language. " You feeling ok..?"
Sam swallowed his nerves down. If he did this, he'd had to see it through to the end.
No matter what.
" Actually, I'm not feeling that great.." Sam said forcing a pained look onto his face.
It didn't take much effort; all he had to do was re-think the way he had been feeling the last few days. That instantly made Sam mad, knowing that the way he'd been feeling had all been down to Dean, no wait, not Dean, the spirit, yeah the spirit, the evil red eyed spirit.
Not Dean.
Sam was gonna have to keep reminding himself on that one.
Dean slipped out his seat and trotted over to the sofa where Sam had flopped on to, almost folding in on himself. Dean's heart hammered violently in his chest. He hoped to whoever it was that was listening to him that he hadn't poisoned Sam with an overdose. That would be all he needed. He needed the boy to go to sleep, so he could search the book for the ritual to get the spirit out of Sam.
But Dean had to try and remember that as much as he hated this evil, demonic version of Sam in front of him; it was still his baby brother's body. It was still his Sam. He couldn't physically hurt him, no matter how angry he got.
" I'm just tried, guess everything that's been happening in the last few weeks is just catching up on me.." Sam said with a weak smile as Dean sat on the sofa looking at him with those questioning eyes.
" You feeling sleepy..?" Dean asked, unable to hide the curiosity in his voice.
So that was it, the drugs were supposed to send him to sleep.
Sam nodded promptly, and sent Dean his most innocent smile.
" Think I'm gonna go and lie down, I'm not feeling that great.." Sam said getting slowly to his feet and wondering towards his room.
Dean sat rooted to the sofa, his guilt once again washing over him.
" You need a hand..?" Dean offered glumly, his eyes never rising to meet Sam's.
" No, I think I'll be ok..." Sam said mustering a smile for Dean's sake, " Just make sure you leave me something to eat.."
Dean nodded quietly and watched as Sam disappeared from view...
xxxxXXXXxxxx
Sam walked back into his bedroom and shuddered at the sight of the mess. He'd forgotten about the disaster that had taken place in here a couple nights back.
Sam swallowed as he noticed blood on the inside of his door. His own blood. It wasn't the most comforting thing to be staring at.
Sitting gingerly down on the end of his bed, Sam's mind begun to piece together a plan.
He knew that Dean was drugging him for some particular reason, the question was what..?
Whatever Dean was planning was taking place somewhere between now and the darkness of tonight.
Sam closed his eyes and tried desperately to start thinking of everything he knew about this spirit.
He knew the spirit had red eyes, he knew the spirit had originally come to him, taunting him about taking Dean away from him. Now suddenly Sam never saw the spirit anymore, but knew when it was around, almost like a sick sense.
The younger brother suddenly sat up straight on his bed as a thought suddenly crossed his mind.
Why had the spirit chosen to manipulate Dean..? Why not him..?
And then and answer finally came to Sam.
It was going after Dean, because it couldn't go after Sam.
The spirit knew that its mind manipulation wouldn't work on Sam.
Sam sucked in a worried breath. This meant that this friggin spirit knew about his psychic thing; which meant that somewhere along the line, the yellow eyed freaking demon was involved.
Just how, Sam had no idea.
...He's the key to you...
Sam scratched his head, what had the spirit meant by that. What or more like, how was Dean the key to him..?
Sam's head was already pounding, as the questions flew around his confused mind. He needed answers, and fast.
The little brother knew that once the spirit was finished doing whatever the hell it wanted Sam to do, Dean would be dead.
And judging from the state of Dean's confusion in the last few weeks, it was clear to Sam, that Dean was no where near capable of saving himself.
Sam was gonna have to save Dean, whether Dean wanted to be saved or not.
Sam's head suddenly shot up from its lolled position as he heard foot steps approaching his room.
Quickly, he kicked off his sneakers, crawled onto the middle of his bed, and lay on his side, his back to the door.
As soon as Sam heard the door open, he closed his eyes...
xxxxXXXXxxxx
Dean could feel his stomach lurching around inside of him, as he watched as Sam trotted off into his bedroom and quietly close the door behind him.
Dean hated what he was doing, but each time he felt his guilt raining down on him, he simply thought of Sam.
After all, he was doing all this for Sam.
He was saving Sam.
Silently he crossed the room and without another look towards Sam's bedroom, he opened the 'Key of Solomon' and begun to shift through the pages methodically. His fingers automatically turned each page, yet his eyes never read anything, and his brain never registered any content.
His hazel green eyes paused momentarily at the ring on his finger. He'd worn the silly ring for six years and up until the last few days, it had never bugged him. Sam never mentioned the ring; Dean never talked about his brother's gift to him. It had just sat on his finger day in and day out, for the last six years, slowly blending into the person that was Dean Winchester. It was just like the amulet he wore around his neck, when he looked into a mirror; Dean no longer saw the amulet, just like he no longer saw the ring.
Those things were just a part of him, a little kink to Dean that made Dean, Dean.
Yet, lately the ring, this stupid silver worry ring, was holding onto his heart like a millstone around his neck.
Dean frantically drew his eyes away from the ring and returned to the book in front of him.
Page after page he turned, not reading, not stopping, not looking.
Just knowing that he was the only one who could save Sam.
Finally, the elder Winchester froze.
His fingers traced the aged page and his eyes slowly drank the information on the page. Dean didn't enjoy what he was reading, but if this was the only way to save Sam then he'd do it.
Reaching for a near by pad and paper, he begun to write down a list of ingredients he would need for a cleansing ritual. It bothered him to why an exorcism wouldn't work, but he had to trust his instincts.
Dean sighed loudly, as his eyes averted back to Sam's door.
He was going to have to cleanse the spirit out of Sam.
Dean shuddered at the thought. He's never done one before, he'd only ever seen his dad try and do it once to save some poor soul; but it hadn't worked. Dean remembered watching; trying desperately to help, but the innocent boy had bled out before the spirit had left the body. Only once the boy had died had the spirit left. Dean remembered his father taking great pleasure tracking down that evil son of a bitch and wasting it.
Re-reading the page, Dean slowly shook his stuffy head. He didn't remember the ritual his father used being anything like this, in fact it had been totally different. The incisions on the body were the main things that concerned Dean.
One across each wrist and the final one across the abdomen.
The blade was to be made of pure silver and coated from tip to handle in the cleansing potion, as an incantation was read.
Dean re-read the page again.
Surely cuts like that would kill the victim. Not free them of the spirit.
Dean's mind retraced to his father, John; how he wished the elder hunter was here to guide him through this. To show him the right way, how not to screw up again and let Sam die. But he had screwed up, that was the reason why John had left and now because of his failure at being a good brother, he was going to lose Sam also.
Sucking in a nervous breath, Dean ran through the list of ingredients that he would need. He was pretty sure he had every ingredient he would need, except one.
Arrow root.
Re-reading how to make the potion, Dean noted that the arrow root would be the final ingredient to seal the potion.
Dean quickly, and silently went about making the potion, he knew Sam would be unconscious until tonight and for just a few seconds again, pangs of guilt shot around his body.
This wasn't a time to be feeling guilty, it was time for action.
A time for him to make up for everything he'd done in the last few months, for his failures. He would save Sam, if it was the last thing he ever did.
He stood watching the contents boil in the pot, his eyes focused on the flames from the stove.
The older brother didn't even notice the awful smell of the potion.
He had his mind set on a goal and nothing was going to distract him.
Satisfied that the potion had been boiling for long enough, Dean switched off the stove and glanced at the time.
Sam had been asleep about two hours.
It was almost 6pm.
Dean grabbed his wallet and keys from the stand near the front door, and motioned to open it when he paused, his eyes instantly going back to Sam's bedroom.
Placing his keys and wallet back down, Dean noiselessly headed for Sam's bedroom.
His hand on the handle, he realised the door wasn't shut, and quietly, hoping the hinges wouldn't squeak, Dean pushed open the door and in the darkness could see the outline of Sam's body laying in the middle of the bed, his back to him.
Dean sighed inwardly as he watched his sleeping brother.
" Everything is going to be ok now. I'm gonna make everything ok again..." Dean whispered in the perfectly still room.
Quietly, Dean picked up the blanket which was strewn on the floor amongst all the other debris from a few nights back, and covered Sam with it.
His hand hovered just inches away from the back of Sam's head. Dean allowed his finger tips to brush the strands of dark hair ever so slightly.
" I'm sorry Sammy..." Dean whispered to his brother's back, feeling tears burning in his eyes.
Blinking them angrily away, he slipped quietly out of the room again.
Dean wouldn't be wrong, not this time.
He would save Sam; even if it killed him...
xxxxXXXXxxxx
Sam Winchester finally allowed the breath he'd been holding to slowly slip out of his body. Either that or he would have passed out from having held it for so long.
Laying still and listening for the sound of the Impala, Sam waited until he heard the engine start and frantically scrambled to his feet, tossing the blanket off him as he went.
That smell.
As soon as it had begun to waft its way into Sam's room, the younger boy had instantly recognised it.
It was poison.
Hurrying into the living room he watched as his big brother pulled out from under the house and watched as he turned left and vanished from view. Sam realised that Dean was heading for the near by town. No doubt he had been missing ingredients.
Satisfied that Dean was gone, Sam snapped the lights in the living room on and begun to scan around for anything that could help him figure out what the hell it was his elder brother was up to.
Sitting in the kitchen, was the 'Key of Solomon'.
Walking over to the open book, Sam's eyes gradually widened when he read the page his big brother had left it open at.
A sacrificial ritual.
Confused and beginning to feel a little nervous, Sam's eyes read the page as fast as it could; the digestion of the information came seconds later.
Sam felt like someone had kicked him in the stomach.
" Who are you sacrificing Dean..?" Sam whispered as he glanced around the kitchen, and paused when he spotted the note pad beside the stove and snatched it up.
On the page was Dean's writing, but what was written at the top of the page didn't make sense.
Dean had written the words 'Cleansing Ritual' and the listed the ingredients needed, but as Sam scanned the list, the younger boy realised that those Dean had wrote down had nothing to do with cleansing at all.
It was lethal poison.
With the note pad in tow, Sam returned to the 'Key of Solomon' and re-read the page and then looked at his brother's writing.
It was like Dean had seen something completely different.
And then it dawned on Sam.
Dean had seen something different. The friggin red eyed spirit was at work again, and no doubt this was what it was after the whole time.
...He's the key to you...
Sam chuckled dryly.
Of course Dean was the key to him.
Dean was the only person who Sam would ever allow to get close enough to him, would ever drop his guard around. Dean was the one person that could ever get Sam to do anything that he wasn't keen on doing. Dean was one person in this entire world that Sam struggled to say no to. Dean was the only person who knew what he was feeling and thinking without him ever having to verbalise it. Dean was his big brother; the bond between them was strong enough to withstand anything.
And blood shed between blood brothers at the right time, in the right place, with the right ritual would unleash pretty much anything.
And this spirit had been lying in wait for them the whole freaking time.
The question that sprung to Sam's mind, was why..?
Why pick the Winchesters..?
" What the hell does the spirit get out of having me dead..?" Sam wondered. "Why did it have to be at Dean's hand, with this particular ritual..?"
Those questions had no answers at the moment; all Sam could focus on was the fact that he had to stop Dean from slicing him up like shish kebab.
Why on earth would Dean ever agree to something like this, Sam understood that Dean was being used as a puppet right now, but surely Dean could see what he was doing was wrong.
...Everything is going to be ok now. I'm gonna make everything ok again...
Sam felt the colour drain away from his face, his body sunk into one of the stools in the kitchen.
Dean was trying to save him.
At least in Dean's head, his elder brother was trying to save him.
Dean was struggling to tell the difference between what was real and what the spirit was telling him was real. It didn't take a genius for Sam to realise that the spirit had twisted what Dean had read, manipulating Dean to believe that he could save Sam by; cleansing him.
When in reality, the cleansing would poison him, if he hadn't bled out from the wounds first.
Dean was going to kill him.
Sam scrubbed his face in worry, there was too much to do, too much to think about.
The younger boy on the stool sat staring at Dean's hand writing on the note pad. He closed his eyes as he felt tears sting them.
This was never going to be over. Never.
This spirit was never going to let Dean go, even if Sam managed to stop the ritual going ahead, Sam knew when he was beat and this was one of those occasions.
This spirit was psychically connected to Dean. If Sam avoided death tonight, it could happen tomorrow, or the day after, or worse; the spirit could turn around and simply end Dean.
The idea sent a cruel shiver up Sam's back.
The younger boy knew that there was only one true outcome tonight, and that was in both of their deaths.
Sam slowly stood up and sucked in a deep breath.
There was no way he was letting Dean die. Not if there was just a grain of a chance that he could stop it.
And with that thought, Sam grabbed the book and frantically started searching through the pages...
xxxxXXXXxxxx
Poor old Sam, he's got to be one tough cookie to try and figure out this mess, and as for Dean, bless is guilt ridden heart; poor boy has his head so screwed up he doesn't know what he's doing. If you get a chance please review :o) See you all next update…