Chapter 4

Sam walked quickly, his long legs taking him across the parking lot and down the street to the warehouse where he and Eric had been training not moments before. He felt… agitated, like he had eaten something to upset him. What if that much vampire blood had done something to him? What if his own demon-infected blood didn't mix well with vampire blood?

He sped up, walking past the warehouse and across a large lot filled with rusty machinery and discarded metal scraps. He stopped by an empty container, leaning against it to breathe for a moment.

Warmth was spreading inside him. He could feel it in his veins, like before with Ruby only slower. He gasped as it reached his extremities. He felt… strong again, like with Ruby, only he still felt himself. The usual blurring he'd felt before, like being on a drug, wasn't there. It was as if his body had fought the blood and won.

He felt almost jittery with the strength. A sudden thought occurred to him.

He should call Dean. He needed to talk to him, right now. He had been reluctant to call, even when he'd found Eric, and since Dean hadn't called once since they'd split, Sam hadn't either.

He fished out his phone, shaking his head slightly to clear it. The display seemed a little blurry, but it became clear quickly.

'What are you doing?'

Sam jumped, swore, bumped into the container, swore again and spun around to Eric, who stood watching him with intense eyes.

'I… I'm gonna call Dean,' Sam said, looking down at his phone. Eric's hand came out and covered it.

'What would you tell him?' Eric asked softly. Sam stilled completely.

'I…'

'He'll know,' Eric told him sympathetically. 'He'll know the moment he hears your voice, filled with guilt. He will know and he will not understand.' Sam tried to find words, but there were none. Eric was
right. He put away his phone. 'How do you feel?'

'Good,' Sam admitted, more surprised by the second as he felt his strength. 'Great, actually.'

'Good,' Eric agreed, his voice deep. 'We need to find a demon for you to practice your powers on.' He almost turned to go, but Sam stopped him.

'Whoa, wait, what? You mean my strength, right?'

'I mean your powers, the reason the Yellow Eyed Demon chose you.'

'No, no, I can't,' Sam shook his head, turning away. 'That's what Ruby wanted me to do-'

'With her blood, not mine,' Eric pointed out sharply. 'How else do you think you were going to kill Lilith? She's stronger than anything you've gone up against before.'

'But Ruby-'

'Ruby was making you her slave,' Eric explained. 'She used your desire to kill Lilith as the fuel to the fire, but the plan was still sound. She just never intended to let you follow through with it.'

'How do you know all this?'

'I told you,' Eric turned away and started walking, 'my time with the demons was good for something.' Sam reluctantly followed after a few moments. He didn't want to ask Eric about his time away, but a part of him missed the old Eric more than anything.

When they got back to the motel, Eric's phone rang. As usual, he picked it up and rejected the call. He did that a lot.

'Let's pack up,' Eric told him. Sam did as he was told.

XXX

'Goddammit, Sam,' Dean muttered when his call once again failed to go through. He looked across the street at Fangtasia. He didn't really want to go in at all, but he wasn't seeing a whole lot of other options. There was a crowd outside, and they weren't looking too friendly, for vampires that is. They had some pretty unoriginal signs and the chanting was already getting on Dean's nerves.

He got out of the Impala and slammed the door, walking cautiously towards the entrance. He wasn't even going to try sneaking past the crowd. Something about the look in his eyes must have told them not to mess with him, because the crowd parted just enough for him to pass through. He hadn't gotten halfway, however, before there were mutterings.

'Fangbanger.'

'Disgusting freak.'

Dean resisted the urge to tell them he was a hunter, and used to be the only thing standing between these people and getting sucked dry.

'You're going to hell, you know that?' Dean stopped short, knowing he should just move on, but his temper was already short with Sam going off the map. 'You're gonna burn forever,' the voice continued. Dean turned around slowly. The dude was wearing a sweater vest for fuck's sake. He was holding a sign, but Dean didn't care to read it. The man took one look at Dean and visibly swallowed. Dean decided the man wasn't worth it and left the crowd behind. The bouncer looked at Dean with a slight sneer. He was different from the one who had let the hunter in last time.

'We don't want your kind in here.'

'And what kind would that be?' Dean asked with a sarcastic smile.

'No hunters,' the big bad vamp told him.

'Ah, come on now, I've been in here before.'

'No hunters,' the vamp repeated loudly. Dean sighed, stepped up close even though the vamp was taller than him, and fixed him with his best "I'm sick of your crap"-stare.

'I need to talk to the vamp in charge,' Dean told him. 'So I can either go in there with my big ass knife and start cutting off heads till you manage to take me down, or you can go tell your boss that I'm waiting.'

The vamp took one last look at Dean before he opened the door, spoke to another vamp inside before exchanging places with him.

Dean sighed and glanced back at the crowd. They were looking at him like he was insane. They were the ones standing outside a vamp haunt waving insults on signs, and he was the crazy one?

The world really was coming to an end.

XXX

An abandoned house, somewhere in the middle of
Arkansas…

Sam hit the wall hard. Even though it hurt like a bitch, he knew he took the hit easier than before, without his strength. He got up quicker too, and the demon noticed this. Its eyes turned black and it gave a hiss of anger. Sam raised his hand, the action coming back to him as familiar as riding a bike.

For a moment nothing happened. The demon stared at him with curiosity, as if it couldn't quite decide what Sam was trying to do. Sam felt panic grip him. He closed his eyes and summoned up all the strength he had, but it wasn't enough. He reached out to the closest weapon he could find- a sharp piece of wood on the old dusty floor. The demon was slowly coming to the realization that Sam was full of shit and grinned evilly. Just as it was about to charge, Sam launched himself forwards. His weight sent them both to the floor and he stabbed the makeshift stake straight through its neck. It didn't kill it, but it sure pissed it off.

It gargled blood, trying uselessly to scream and rage. Sam lost himself for a moment, staring at the flow of thick red power.

He leaned down and buried his face in it.

Eric watched from across the room, head tilted to the side in contemplation.

The demon managed to push Sam off enough to punch the hunter in the face. Sam reared back, face covered in blood. Eric came forward quickly, but stopped short when Sam raised his hand right in front of the demon's face.

This time the black smoke started flowing immediately. It took only a few seconds before the body of a local carpenter fell to the side, a large hole through his neck.

Sam gasped and tried to calm his breathing. He was feeling the demon blood flowing through him, awakening the old powers. The vampire blood hadn't been enough, he knew now. It could only be demon blood. He looked up at Eric.

'I- I'm sorry,' he found himself saying. Eric reached out and cupped the side of Sam's face.

'No, don't be sorry,' he said softly, smiling even. 'My blood was clearly not enough.' He leaned down, Sam leaning up, and they kissed softly, the blood smearing between them. 'We'll get you more,' he whispered. Sam couldn't feel anything but relief at the thought.

Suddenly, Eric turned away sharply, doubling over in pain. Sam got to his feet, but Eric held up a hand to stop him. The vampire gave several horrible grunts of pain.

'Stay here,' he told Sam and then hurried out the back. Sam looked around him in confusion.

Outside Eric stumbled away from the house.

'Dammit,' he muttered, face contorted in anger and frustration. 'You're too weak!'

He fell to his knees as another spasm seemed to snap through him.

XXX

Dean left Fangtasia feeling even more annoyed and agitated than before. The anti-vampire protester muttered another insult and Dean reacted without thought. He pushed the guy, hard. Luckily for both of them the rest of the crowd caught him. They didn't bother Dean more after that. He got into the Impala and took a deep breath.

Then he hit the steering wheel. Hard.

'Fuck!'

Sam had found Eric, gone off with him and was now God knew where. And he hadn't called.

As fate would have it, Dean's phone chose that exact moment to ring. He managed to drop it in his haste to get it out. By the time he flipped it open he was too panicky to even check the caller ID.

'What?' he demanded into the phone.

'Dean…' a hoarse voice, filled with pain, like he was lifting something really heavy off himself.

'Eric?' Dean asked. If Eric was this bad, where was Sam?

'We're in… Osceola, Arkansas…' Eric bit out through gritted teeth. 'An abandoned house on-' He gave a moan of pain.

'Where's Sam?' Dean asked. 'Eric, is Sam okay?' The line went silent for a long time. Dean almost gave up and hung up when Eric came back on, sounding completely different.

'False alarm, Dean,' Eric said, voice almost sweet. 'Sam is fine. We're both fine.'

'Who are you?' Dean asked, following his instincts.

'Forgotten me already, Dean? Now that hurts,' Eric said.

'Where's Sam?' Dean demanded.

'He's fine. Better than fine, actually. I'm afraid I have to go now. You take care, Dean.'

Dean closed his eyes and threw the phone into the passenger seat. After taking a moment to shove down the overwhelming anger he felt, he put his baby into gear and hightailed it like a bat out of hell towards Arkansas.