Chapter 17 - Drip, Drip, Drip...
They had been sitting there for a whole day now, all feeling gone from their bodies, still huddled close. Of all the possible ways to die, Dean never thought he would wimp out and freeze to death. Words weren't spoken either. Hell, it took way to much effort. Sam had somehow fallen asleep, and Dean had managed to maneuver himself so that he could watch his brother. He closed his eyes, all the memories he had with Sam coming back.
A content smile spread across his shivering face, he opened his eyes to continue watching his brother. But Sam wasn't there; he was gone.
'S…S…Sam?' Dean tried to shout. He scrambled slowly to his feet, searching the entire enclosure, but it was obvious. His heart dropped as he realized; Sam was gone.
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When Sam came around, the first thing he realized was that he wasn't outside. Though, his body was still shivering heavily, and he was numb to the core. The second thing was that he was alone. Where was Dean? Katie, she was missing too. He started to sit up slowly. His body still ached from the cold, and checked out his surroundings. He was in a room, completely bare except for a lone table in the corner.
It wasn't big, the floor was a hard stone, and from somewhere; a warm draught blew in. Someone opened the door, letting more of that warm air float in, and Sam turned slightly to see it was Aaron. He glared at Sam and walked over casually to the young hunter. Sam couldn't move. His whole body was throbbing. All he could do was watch as Aaron came over, and lifted him up.
Aaron threw Sam onto a table that was in the corner. He quickly tied Sam's hands and feet down with the straps. The table was steel, and it was cold, but Sam couldn't tell, his body was most likely colder than the table he was laying on. Sam looked over at Aaron, and growled.
'Where is my brother?' Sam demanded, 'Where is Katie?'
Aaron turned around and answered cruelly, 'Dean? Well, he is probably still freezing to death, and Katie…' he paused, a crooked smile on his face. 'She's in a much better place. Sadly she couldn't take the cold as well as you and your brother.'
'You're lying,' Sam hissed.
'Why should I lie, Sam?' Aaron mocked.
Aaron walked out of the room. Sam heard some rustling from the doorway, and metal shifting around with a clank. He wanted to lift his head up, but he couldn't. His body was just too tired to do anything right now; all he wanted to do was sleep. So, he closed his eyes. He felt a sharp prick in his hand.
His eyes shot open at the sudden unexpected pain, and looked around wildly. Aaron was standing over him, smiling, and was placing an IV in his hand. There were two bags hanging off the pole. Sam didn't want to know what they were for. One of the bags contained an almost translucent blue liquid, and the other was empty. Sam shifted as he felt another prick in his forearm.
'What are you doing?' Sam groggily asked.
Aaron didn't answer. He walked out of the room and grabbed something else. Aaron returned with a large metal object, like a pole. It was "L" shaped at the bottom, but then made a half a square after that. It was a crooked shape. Aaron walked over to the sink that was behind the table and placed one end of the pole in it. He turned on the water, making sure it was cold.
The end of the pole rested just above Sam's head. It was a tap, with a knob attached to the top. Aaron walked over the knob, turning it slowly, and water started to drip from the tap. One drop at a time, though. Not a fast spray of water, just one slow, and agonizing drop at a time. Sam flinched as the cold water hit his forehead. He couldn't believe this guy was going to try and use water torture on him. Sam had never had the pleasure of enduring it.
'How bad can it be?' He thought. He would soon find out.
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Dean's feet hurt, his back hurt, and his whole body ached. He needed warmth, he needed, something to guide him. He had no idea where Sam was. He was still seated in the freezing snow, the slight zaps of electricity reminding him of the prison surrounding him. He held Katie's head in his lap gingerly. He didn't want it to be true. But Katie had died from hypothermia an hour ago. He was alone.
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A couple of hours passed for Sam, with the water constantly dripping. His forehead was now completely damp. His body still ached, but at least it was warmer. Or was it? Sam wasn't sure. All he could do was concentrate on the constant dripping. It was as if the room, and all of the noises faded, all he could hear was drip… drip… drip. That was it. He shook his head, but the noise remained. It was started to drive him crazy.
'Had enough, Sam?' Aaron said, sarcastically.
'Where is my brother?' Sam barely whispered. At least it was a coherent thought, which was a start.
'You know what these IV's are for, Sam?' Aaron turned and idled one of the IV bags, 'This one,' he said pointing to the blue one, 'is a sedative. The other one I plan on using to drain you of your blood, slowly.'
'What?' Sam asked, almost to the point of delirium.
'This sedative, here, lets see how it works," Aaron said, and released the clamp.
Sam felt the cold liquid started to flow in his veins. He was getting tired all of a sudden, but he couldn't sleep. The constant dripping was driving him mad. Mad enough to the point he was only thinking about it. He started to close his eyes, but bolted them back open as he felt ice-cold water thrown onto his body. Little ice cubes started melting into his skin, it was so cold.
Aaron leaned in and whispered in Sam's ear, "I am going to drive you insane. I won't let you sleep, the water dropping won't let you sleep, but the sedative is trying to force you to sleep. You won't though, that is the idea. Your body will crave the slumber, but you mind won't let you. It will drive you mad, until you finally crack!"
Sam shivered. Aaron was right. He body was so tired, but his mind couldn't focus on the sleep deprivation, all his mind was doing was trying to block out the water, but it couldn't and it was driving Sam crazy.
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Dean didn't realize what had happened. The last thing his mind was doing right now was thinking straight, but he was almost positive the cold snow had disappeared from beneath him. He wrenched his tired eyes open. What he saw shocked him. Sam lay in front of him, strapped down, two IV's hooked up. The water dripping ever so slowly down his face, his eyes open, yet threatening to close.
Dean attempted to move to him, but only then realized his own predicament. He had been chained, spread eagle to the wall, forced to watch his brother suffer. He still shivered uncontrollably, but he could feel slight warmth, and it was soothing. He watched in anger as his brother attempted to close his eyes, and Aaron threw water over him, the ice cubes an obvious part of it.
'Welcome back Dean,' said Aaron. 'Glad you could join the party.'
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Nikki