Elixir
Chapter Four
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. Anything you recognise from another fandom, I don't own
Warning(s): Strong violence; some swearing; spoilers for the entirety of season one and up to episode eight of season two; character hurt; a brief 'bloody' moment
Author's Note: Thank you to everyone who's read and reviewed this fic so far . Each review really means a lot to me. I hope everyone had a good Christmas and New Year!
I also hope you all enjoy this latest chapter!
Once Sam and Jody were gone, Dean headed into the study, feeling in his pocket and finally finding the slip of paper with the administrator's number written on it. A bark drew his attention to the door, and Dean gave a slight frown as he noticed the Springer spaniel sitting in the doorway, tongue hanging out.
Dean narrowed his eyes at the animal, feeling a little uncomfortable around Brownie, but not really nervous. "Do you want food or something?" he asked.
The dog just stared disconcertingly at Dean, panting heavily. Dean turned his attention back to the phone, but found it somewhat difficult to concentrate on making the call with the dog sitting there. He sighed a bit, and then put the piece of paper down next to the phone before heading over to the door. "Come on… I'll find you something to eat." He assumed that Jody would have some dog food in one of the kitchen cupboards.
I should have asked her where the food and beers were before she and Sam left…
Fortunately, Dean found the door leading to the kitchen pretty quickly. He stepped inside, and started opening the cupboards as Brownie ran over to his food bowl and stood beside it expectantly.
Dean found some tins of dog food, and also a packet of potato chips. He opened a couple of drawers, and found a tin opener and a fork. He set the packet of potato chips on the side, and opened the tin before forking some of the dog food into Brownie's bowl.
The dog yipped, and then started eating the meat chunks. Dean turned his attention to the packet of potato chips, and opened them. He then started eating, leaning against one of the counters. Screw the whole eating healthily thing… There's no point in eating salads and things like that. It's not like I don't exercise enough anyway.
Dean was about halfway through the packet before he realised that Brownie had finished his food, and was now sitting in front of him, tongue hanging out and paws raised, as if he was begging. When Dean shrugged and turned back to his food, Brownie gave an almost scolding bark.
Dean turned back to the dog, and frowned. "What do you want now?" he asked, not having any hope that the animal would understand him.
Besides… if Brownie did understand him, then it would mean that the dog wasn't an ordinary animal, and he'd have to kill it. Or exorcise it.
The dog just sat there for a moment, watching Dean. Then, it barked, and ran out of the kitchen.
Dean frowned, feeling that strange sense of déjà vu again. He shook his head slightly to clear it, and then made his way out of the kitchen and into the study once again, leaving the half-eaten packet of potato chips behind him.
Brownie was sitting there, in front of one of the bookcases. As Dean passed him, the dog let out a low growl. The man paused, and glanced at the animal again. "Now what do you want?" he demanded, narrowing his eyes a little as he tried to remember if he'd read up on anything to do with animals trying to communicate.
Sammy should be here. He's the scholar – not to mention being psychic…
The dog barked, and then leaped up at Dean. The man frowned, and pushed the dog down and away from him. "Hey!" I really don't like dogs, and even less when they jump up on me. He frowned slightly then, as he noticed that Brownie had been sitting in front of a photo sitting on the bookcase.
Feeling curious, Dean reached out and picked up the photo.
There were two young women in the photo, their arms around each other and laughing at the camera. Both women looked familiar to him, but Dean could only put a name to one of them. Melissa – the spirit who had taken revenge for her death by killing her murderer, Doctor Nelson.
The second woman in the picture looked like she might be Melissa's sister, and Dean wondered if she might be Amber. The sense of déjà vu came back – even stronger – as he stared at the second red-haired woman in the photo.
"So… Do you have any brothers or sisters?"
"I did have one. An older sister. Her name was Melissa – she was a reporter."
Dean frowned as he heard the voices speaking inside his mind. He immediately backed away, suddenly feeling quite uneasy, and had to fight with himself not to throw the photo as far away from him as possible.
I shouldn't be hearing voices… If anyone would be, it should be Sam!
Brownie barked, and Dean couldn't help jerking slightly. He turned to look at the dog, but suddenly seemed to see another place overlaying the room he was in. Instead of seeing Brownie looking alive and well, Dean seemed to see the dog ripped apart by what appeared to be a wild animal and covered in blood.
Dean blinked, and the image was gone. A glance down revealed that he had dropped the photograph with enough force to crack the glass. Slowly, Dean crouched down and picked up the photograph, a little shakily. He put the photograph on the desk, and then slowly sat down on the chair, trying to work out just what was happening to him.
Sam claimed that I slipped into a parallel world, and might have met Amber's twin there… But if that's true, why don't I remember?
Dean really didn't have a clue of what was going on, or of what was happening to him. He didn't remember anything about his time in a coma – unless the brief snippets of conversation and the image of Brownie dead counted.
Maybe I should give Missouri a call. See if she can tell me anything. Dean turned his attention to the dog again, watching the animal with slightly narrowed eyes. He was beginning to suspect that Brownie wasn't an ordinary dog, and wasn't sure what to do about it. Not too long ago, he would have killed the animal without a second thought.
But after the vampire, Dean wasn't so sure of anything anymore…
One thing was for sure – Dean couldn't handle calling the administrator right then. He wouldn't be able to concentrate on having a conversation with anyone other than his brother – and Sam had gone to the library with Jody.
It doesn't mean that I can't talk to him, though… Dean picked up the phone, and, without hesitating, dialled his brother's number.
Sam and Jody walked into the library, both quiet and each caught up in their own thoughts – or, in Sam's case, brooding.
I don't get it, Sam thought. How is Amber's disappearance connected to the demon? All of my other visions have been in some way. And what was the deal with arriving too late to stop her disappearance from coming true? Why show me that part of the vision at all if there was no way to prevent it from happening?
"Sam?" Jody's voice drew the man from his thoughts as she continued, "What are we looking for?"
"Newspaper articles, mainly," Sam replied. "If we're lucky, we can get one of the librarians to do most of the work for us, if we tell them what kind of things we're looking for."
"They're unlikely to be willing to help us," Jody pointed out. "You haven't been away from here too long, right? Most of the librarians here don't like to help. I guess it's not part of their job description or something. So how are you gonna get them to do most of the work?"
"Watch and learn," Sam replied. He walked over to the reception desk and to one of the older librarians with grey hair and a stern look on her face. He could feel Jody's eyes on him, and couldn't help smiling a bit, even though he wasn't too fond of the idea of manipulating his brother. Still, if it was to save his brother – he would do anything.
The woman turned her attention to Sam, and raised her eyebrows. "Is there something I can do for you?" she asked.
Sam gave her his best smile and leaned forward slightly; his hands on the desk, but was careful not to move too much into the woman's personal space. "My partner and I are working on a project," he said. "We need to look at newspaper articles, specifically at disappearances in recent times and up to about twenty-three years ago." He allowed himself to look a little helpless.
The woman blinked, and seemed to be caught off guard by Sam's comment. "You'll have to sign for the newspapers," she told him. "Either you or your partner."
Sam nodded, and when the librarian turned to get the book, he cast a surreptitious glance towards Jody. I can't exactly sign myself. Jody at least is a student at the university. It'll look too suspicious if I make the signing.
Jody hesitated, and then walked over to Sam. The man glanced at her, and Jody signed the book after the librarian brought it over without a word. She set the pen down again, and glanced at Sam, then at the librarian.
"There are quite a number of cases about people disappearing from around here," the librarian commented as she walked round the desk, and headed over to a filing cabinet. "People have come up with all sorts of theories as to why this has happened – but most of the victims have stayed missing."
"Most?" Sam questioned, as he and Jody stopped close to the librarian. "Some of them turned up again?"
The woman nodded. "The ones who came back were all acting strangely and saying some very odd things. But I'll let you read the articles for yourselves," she continued, rifling through one of the drawers. She took out a pile of newspapers, and handed them to Sam. "These would be the most helpful to you. Make sure you put them back when you're finished with them, though."
"Of course." Sam looked at Jody. "Let's go find a free table to sit down at, okay?" Without waiting for an answer, he started to walk over to the tables, and heard Jody obediently follow him.
Sam sat down at the only free table. When Jody sat down as well, he pushed half of the newspapers over to her. "I want you to look through these, and mark down any similarities you can find. To Amber's disappearance, and with any that might be connected to each other. Make a note of any direct quotes if they mention any from someone who came back after being taken."
Jody took a look at the stack of newspapers, and released her breath in a slight sigh. "It's a good thing that I don't have any assignments on at the moment," she commented. Then, she took a pad of paper and a pen out of her bag, and set them down on the table next to the stack of newspapers.
Sam watched Jody for a moment, and then turned his attention to his own pile of newspapers. He took out a notebook and a pen, and started reading through the newspapers, feeling an odd sense of déjà vu. He remembered having to look at newspaper articles online when Dean had fallen into a coma.
And this is, once again, to save Dean's life…
Sam studied the articles with a frown. Most of them were just about disappearances, and more than Sam would have really suspected. No one seemed to have made any connection between the victims. Finally, he came across an article which mentioned someone who had come back after being missing, and he read it eagerly.
Missing Person Presumed Dead Returns to Family and Friends
47-year-old Peter Rogers – missing for a fortnight – came back to his family on Sunday 4th January. The father of three was confused and disorientated, and had to be kept in hospital overnight for observation.
When Mr. Rogers turned up again, it was at the beach where he was thought to have disappeared from. He was obviously delirious, and kept talking about some kind of elixir that was supposed to heal wounds and bring the dead back to life. The doctors and police thought that perhaps he had been brainwashed and gone through mental torture.
Foul play is suspected, and people are asked to be especially careful when going to the beach after dark.
As Sam read, he made notes on the paper about the details he noticed. The beach seems to feature more often than not, and I'm guessing that was where Amber was taken from. If she and Peter Rogers were taken there, then they could have been imprisoned in a cave. A beach hut is unlikely…
Sam moved onto the next newspaper, and started reading the missing persons article. However, before he could really get into it, his cell phone rang.
The ringing of the cell phone caused Sam to get a few glares from the librarians and some of the students. He gave them an apologetic look, and then stood up, heading towards the door of the library to take the call.
"Hello?"
"Hey, Sammy," Dean's voice said on the other end of the phone. "What's up? Managed to find out anything yet?"
Sam sighed. "More questions than answers," he admitted. "There have been disappearances – a lot – and there have also been people who have come back after disappearing. I've only found one so far. He apparently returned disorientated and delirious – kept talking about some kind of elixir." He made sure to keep his voice low.
"Elixir?" Dean repeated. "You mean as in the elixir of life? That kind of elixir?"
"Is the administrator there?" Sam asked, aware of the fact that Dean wasn't trying to keep his voice down.
"I haven't called her yet," Dean admitted after a moment.
Sam frowned, realising that there was something a little off about his brother. "Why not?" he asked. "I thought you'd jump at the chance to pump the administrator for information. You certainly seemed eager to see her again. Losing interest in the chicks as you get older?" he teased gently.
"You wish, Sammy," Dean replied immediately. "I'm still interested in the chicks, of course. But only one of them is going to kill me."
"Maybe," Sam corrected. "We don't know for sure."
"I think we have a pretty good idea there, bro. If you had any doubt, exactly how many of your visions haven't come true – or at least very close to it? None," Dean answered his own question. "You know her better than me, Sam. How close to killing someone do you really think she is?"
"I don't know Amber that well," Sam said. "I only met her once." I don't think having a vision of her counts. He then frowned, noticing that Dean was strangely avoiding using Amber's name. I wonder why that is… "Hey, Dean… You sound really strange. Is everything all right? Did something happen?"
"I'm fine," Dean replied in a slightly snappish tone. "That dog – Brownie – is acting weirdly. I'm pretty sure it's not a normal animal."
"Animals tend to have a kind of sixth sense about supernatural things," Sam reminded his brother. "Plus, it's Amber's dog. It could be unsettled because of her disappearance." I know Dean doesn't like dogs – but he shouldn't sound this strange…
"That dog might be a lot of things," Dean answered. "But he definitely isn't unsettled. The first time I saw him, I had a strong sense of déjà vu. Which might not be so strange in itself – but I swear the dog directed me to a photo of Melissa and her sister. Oh, and then I saw him dead."
Sam was taken aback by that. "You saw him dead?" he repeated. "The dog?" Dean doesn't have any psychic abilities… Not as far as I know, at least.
"Yeah," Dean replied. "It was only briefly, though. It looked like he'd been killed by a wild animal – ripped to pieces – and even though it was in the study, Brownie seemed to have been killed in a kitchen."
Sam couldn't help feeling confused and a little nervous. I wonder if Dean has been drinking, or even started doing drugs, he thought, a little uneasily. It was a scary thought – but Sam didn't think he could put anything past this new, silent and hurting brother. Out loud, Sam asked, "Dean, are you feeling all right? Have you… taken anything?" He winced as he spoke, already guessing how his brother would take that question.
There were a few moments of silence, and Sam could just about imagine the look on his brother's face. Then, finally, Dean spoke up, his tone sounding cold. "Just what are you implying, Sam?"
Sam recognised the warning signs, and quickly decided to drop the whole subject – at least for now. "Nothing," he replied. "Look, Dean – I'll finish up here with Jody, and then we'll come back here and let you know what we've learned. All right?" Please don't do anything stupid… he silently begged.
"Whatever." There was a click as Dean disconnected the call.
"This experiment doesn't seem to be working on her. There's a lot of damage to her mind from the memories – especially those with connection to her death in the other world. I'd advise termination of the subject, and perhaps an attempt with a new one."
The first sense to return to Amber was sound. She didn't dare open her eyes as she heard the voices, though. Someone was probing her body with cold, impersonal hands, much as a doctor would examine a patient. Despite her best efforts, she couldn't help a slight whimper, and an attempt to squirm away from the probing fingers.
Abruptly, the hands were withdrawn. "She's awake."
"We've come too far with this to start again," a voice that seemed to be hissing slightly said. "Even if those memories damage her mentally, she can still be useful to us. He'll come for her – and by that time, she'd better be ready."
"Are you sure he'll come?" a third voice – one that seemed somewhat familiar to Amber – asked. "His memories of her have been sealed away. He won't be eager to rescue her because he doesn't know enough about her."
"He'll come," the second voice replied, sounding grim.
"Open your eyes," the first voice told Amber. She wanted to refuse, but found herself powerless to disobey. A little light was shone into her eyes, and the woman continued, "Pupils are normal – no sign of dilation or blood vessels having burst. As for the rest – she won't survive for long if you continue to withhold food. If you're insistent about using her, she needs to be in relatively good health. And if you're not careful, she's going to catch hypothermia."
A doctor? Amber thought fuzzily, straining to see in the darkness. She couldn't make out much more than blonde hair pulled into a bun, though. It felt like she'd always been in this room, lying on this cold slab…
The next thing Amber knew, the restraints on her were suddenly loosened. She couldn't help a soft cry of pain as the blood suddenly rushed into joints that hadn't been used in a while. Someone was sitting her up, and she was helpless to do anything other than let them do so.
"Stay here a moment," the third voice that was familiar to Amber told her. "If you try to run, I'll hurt you worse than you've ever been hurt before. Understand me?"
Amber nodded, wincing as intense pins and needles started in her hands and feet. Right now, she felt too weak to even move at all. The support left her shoulders, and it took all she had not to let herself fall and to keep sitting up as still as possible. She still didn't know where she was, but she knew that she was in danger.
A few moments later, the person returned, and started feeding Amber. By then, she was beginning to be able to move her hands and feet, but she gave no sign of that as the food was placed into her mouth – like she was an invalid – and she began chewing.
The food was mainly bread, dried meat and fruit, and some nuts. Amber was too hungry to care, though, and ate greedily as the person held the food for her. He seemed to understand the importance of not eating too much after being starved of food, though, and cautioned her to be slower.
As Amber's eyes got more used to the dim lighting, she could make out the fact that she seemed to be inside a cave. There was an entrance not far, and as her eyes flickered around, she tried to work out how easy it would be to get there. She still couldn't make out the faces of her captors, though…
But what did they mean? Who's coming here? Someone who's going to rescue me…? Amber had no idea how long she'd been there for, though. Am I dead? I remember dying… It was Dean's fault… She was suddenly pulled from her thoughts, though, as the person who'd just fed her walked over to the other two.
Here was her chance. Amber pushed herself off the slab, and ran for the entrance.
She didn't get very far, though. Amber was still quite weak, and no match for the speed of the others. She was hit by a flying tackle, and knocked to the floor. The next moment, she felt her right hand grasped, and she tried to pull herself free, but was unable to do so.
"I did warn you…" the man said calmly.
The next moment, white-hot pain exploded in Amber's hand, and she screamed.