Fourteen

Reggie could hear someone screaming, crying out in excruciating agony in the distance. She squeezed her eyes tightly shut, curling into a ball as she tried to block the sound from reaching her brain. A searing pain shot through her side, though, and her eyes flew open as she jerked awake.

"There she is," she heard a voice say from across the room.

Reggie blinked her eyes, trying to make them adjust to the darkness, to make out the shape that belonged to the voice. Alexander stepped forward, emerging from a black corner and Reggie realized she was no longer in the same room.

She had been moved, her new surroundings darker and colder. She was also no longer suspended from the ceiling, her hands free on the ground in front of her as she lay on her side on the cold stone floor. Reggie pushed herself up leaning against the cold, damp wall behind her and stared at the creature in front of her.

Alexander smiled at her, or at least it was the action of a smile. The look sent shivers down her spine as thin pink lips spread over sharp pointed teeth. He closed his crimson eyes and took in a deep breath, relishing whatever smells hung in the air. Reggie scanned the room quickly in that moment before returning her eyes to Alexander.

"Where's Dean?" she asked icily.

"Oh, he's…around. We had our fun with you two and now we've moved on to something new. Well, new for you anyway," Alexander purred as he bent down a few feet from Reggie. She slid her legs out in front of her and saw the shackle around her right ankle. "A precaution I don't really think is necessary," Alexander stated, indicating the chains. "Cassandra thinks you might still try to fight us."

"Well if you think I'm no match for you, why don't you take them off?" Reggie snapped. Alexander shook his head and smiled at her again.

"Even after everything you've seen - our speed, our power - you still think you're capable of standing a chance against us?" Alexander asked. He began to shake his head. "You must really be quite stupid."

He stood up and made a wide circle around the room, staring at his long fingernails as if admiring a good manicure.

"You think there is a chance you'll survive this?" He stopped and stared at Reggie, then nodded, as if deciding something. "Of course you don't. You just want to make sure Dean does!"

"How did you manage that idea?"

"He was the first thing you asked about. You lie bleeding on the floor, chained, and facing certain death, yet the first thing you ask about is that useless hunter? You must really care for him." Alexander took a step closer, staring into Reggie's furious glare. "I wonder, does he know?"

"We're friends, that's all." Reggie turned her face away and spotted a large wood door to her right.

"Don't insult my intelligence, Reggie. I've seen the way you two look at each other," Alexander spat. "The bickering and fighting, that's just all part of the dance you two insist on performing instead of actually acting on your feelings. You forget that we've been watching you. Or perhaps you didn't realize?" He waved his hand, dismissing her before she could respond, as he continued to circle the room.

"Either way, I've seen how he looks at you when you're not looking, how he stares at you with such intensity. And you do the same, don't deny it."

Alexander was directly in front of her now, leaning down into her face, the rot emanating off of him in waves. Reggie refused to look at him and it made him furious. Alexander grabbed her face in one hand and turned it so that she had no choice but to look at him.

"It's a shame he'll never know," he hissed, stroking her cheek with his other hand, "how exquisite your flesh feels." He curved one sharp finger down the side of Reggie's neck, digging the nail into the skin at her collarbone. She screamed and pushed his hand away.

Alexander laughed as Reggie held her hand against the flow of warm blood running from the cut, wincing as the salt from her sweat stung the wound. He stood up and turned his back on her as the heavy door opened with a slow creak. Elisa peeked into the room. From the way she hesitated in the doorway, Reggie could tell the ghoul was concerned about something.

"We have a problem," she mumbled, trying to keep her voice low so that Reggie couldn't hear her. Alexander glanced over at Reggie and then hurried from the room. Elisa glared at Reggie for a moment, then followed, shutting the door behind her.

Reggie raised herself up, moving the shackle so that she could stand on her feet. Her jeans were stiff in spots where her blood had already begun to dry. She realized she had only her bra on, her shirt having been removed during one of the times she'd blacked out. Reggie began to roll the left leg of her jeans up, stopping when she revealed the small black strap and silver blade fastened to her calve, just below the knee.

The ghouls hadn't searched her completely, having missed the blade she had put there as part of her routine before leaving the motel room. Reggie pulled out the knife and bent down over the lock on the floor. Glancing up at the door every few seconds, she began working on the lock, trying to pick it with the knife between her fingers. She winced when the blade dug into the tip of her index finger, drawing blood, but ignored both the bleeding and pain as she continued to work.

Finally, Reggie heard a click and the top of the ancient black iron lock popped up. She glanced up at the door again before yanking the lock off and prying the shackle open. She limped to the door, gripping the knife in her right hand as she took the handle of the door in her left.

Taking a deep breath, she turned the knob and slowly opened the door. The screaming was louder in the hallway and she pressed her head against the back of the door, steeling herself for what she was about to do. Taking another deep breath, Reggie pulled open the door just enough to squeeze through, and slipped into the dark, dank hallway.

Dean opened his eyes and found himself alone in the small room he had awoken in earlier, before the ghouls had brought him to Reggie. His hands were not chained to the wall this time, but both his legs were bound in shackles at the ankles. He shifted and hissed as the skin around a large gash in his side pulled.

Dean could feel several different cuts and gashes stinging, and after a quick assessment, saw that none of them were very deep or life threatening. He could hear screaming from somewhere, some other room, and listened, trying to recognize the voice. The sight of the ghouls carrying Reggie, unconscious, from the room, a steady drip of blood from the cut across her bare stomach following them out flashed through Dean's head and he grimaced, pushing it away again. Cassandra had tortured him some more, digging her long claws into his arm, until he too succumbed to unconsciousness.

Dean heard movement outside the room through the cracked door and he tensed, waiting for one of the ghouls to come through the door. The noise moved away, heading off down the hallway, and he relaxed a little. A few minutes later, Dean heard voices, carrying above the screaming and he shifted, trying to get closer to hear.

"…someone in the main house, Alexander." Dean recognized the voice as the ghoul called Elisa. "Alana and Jessica went to check it out half an hour ago. No one's heard from them since."

"Then take Jacob and go see what's taking them," Alexander snapped. "They're probably just enjoying a meal of their own. You know how they hate to share."

"What if it's the other one, the third hunter? From what Cassandra has said, Sam Winchester is something entirely different than what we've dealt with before."

"Sam Winchester's…gifts are only affective on demons, Elisa. There is nothing to worry about. Now, go see what is taking Alana and Jessica while I return to Reggie. My, do I have such fun planned for that beautiful…" Alexander's voiced trailed off as he moved away from the door.

Dean grabbed the chains in his hands and yanked fruitlessly, his anger flooding his vision a hazy red. The screaming continued, getting louder and more agonized. He dropped onto his butt on the cold, damp floor and cursed under his breath. Sam was in the wrong place, looking for them exactly where he and Reggie knew he would start.

At least now Dean knew where he was. There had been an outlying building, probably a storage building or maybe even an old barn, and they hadn't even known it was there. He hadn't considered that the ghouls would be able to cloak an entire building, but maybe their power was a lot stronger than he thought.

"Be careful, Sammy," Dean mumbled to himself, shuddering as he thought about what could be happening to his little brother. "No," he cried, shaking his head. "You know what you're doing, Sam. You'll be all right."

Dean glanced around and snorted. "Me, on the other hand…well, I'm pretty screwed at the moment." As if in answer, the door to his room began to creak slowly open. Dean shifted, pressing his back against the damp stone wall behind him and waited.

Reggie crept down the dark hallway, her back pressed firmly against the wall, her eyes adjusting quickly to the darkness. She came to a black door and stopped, pressing her ear to it. Inside she could hear the horrible sounds of tearing and growling. Her stomach clenched painfully as bile rose up in her throat and Reggie choked back a gag as she realized what she was listening to.

"Oh god," she mumbled and moved on, knowing she was too late for whomever it was that had been in there, the sounds of the ghouls feasting inside the room following her down the hallway.

Reggie heard voices up ahead and pressed herself against the wall, trying to fade into the blackness around her. She knew there was nowhere to run and, if they came around the corner ahead of her, the ghouls would surely spot her. They were, after all, able to see in the dark far better than she could, even after all the years Reggie had spent living in darkness.

The voices moved the opposite way and Reggie exhaled the breath she'd been holding, exhaustion and relief flooding through her. She took only a few seconds to collect herself, before moving again. She peered around the corner, checking to make sure the coast was, in fact, clear.

The screaming was louder in this hallway, but only slightly so, and Reggie listened, trying to discern Dean's voice from the cries. It was too impossible, the voices so choked with agony to tell, and she steeled herself as she started down the hall.

Reggie came to a door that was slightly ajar and stopped, listening for any kind of sounds from within. She heard a voice curse loudly and her heart jumped in her chest. Reggie eased the door open slowly with her left hand and slipped into the room.

"Reggie?" Dean cried out in relief.

Reggie nodded at him and raised a finger to her lips, shushing him. She stuck her head back out the door and Dean waited, listening for the sound of approaching feet, staring at Reggie's dirty, bare back. She stepped back into the room and closed the door before slumping against it.

Reggie looked horrible and amazing all at the same time. There was dried blood splattered on her jeans and the light blue bra she was wearing. Her curly brown hair was messy and tangled. A fresh gash across her collarbone still bled freely and she had a large bruise along her left side from either cracked or broken ribs.

Reggie finally met Dean's gaze and smiled at him. She hurried over and knelt down beside him, a long silver knife in her hands. "Where'd you get that?" he asked as she began working on the lock for the shackle on his left leg.

"I had it strapped to my leg. They didn't find it when they pulled off my boots." There was a click as the lock popped open and Reggie started working on the right shackle as Dean yanked the first one off.

Within seconds, Reggie had that one unlocked too. She helped Dean up and he felt her cool skin against his. He stared at her for a second before wrapping his arms around her, hugging Reggie tightly to him. Dean felt her wrap her own arms around his waist as she pressed her face against his chest. They stood like that for a second, both too relieved at the other's safety to move. Then Reggie pushed herself back and looked up into Dean's face, her green eyes red, but bright.

"We gotta get moving."

"Yeah I know." They moved to the door and listened, trying to hear anything above the screaming outside to determine whether the hallway was clear or not.

"I guess we're just going to have to take a look," Reggie whispered, taking a step back from the door. Dean nodded at her and prepared himself for a fight.

"You don't happen to have another knife strapped somewhere, do you?" he asked anxiously as Reggie reached for the door.

She snorted, choking back the laughter, and shook her head.

"Nope, sorry. Guess you're just going to have to stay behind me."

Although Reggie couldn't see Dean's face in the dark, she knew what he was doing.

"Don't roll your eyes at me," she hissed over her shoulder as she opened the door.

The hallway was empty so Reggie motioned for Dean to follow her as she slipped through the door and pressed her back against the wall. Dean eased out of the room a second later and they moved down the hall, their bare feet barely making a sound. They could feel a cold draft coming from somewhere ahead of them and moved toward it, hoping it would lead them outside.

As they rounded a corner, they came to a wide open space, and in the center, stood Cassandra and Alexander, their backs to Reggie and Dean. They looked agitated and, as Reggie ducked back behind the wall, began to argue.

"She was in the room when I left it, Cassandra. And I didn't unchain her, if that's what you're thinking," Alexander snapped. "I know what she is, what she's capable of, down to the last breath in her body. I have dealt with hunters before, you know."

"If you didn't unchain her, then how did she get loose? She was searched when Elisa and Alana first brought her here," Cassandra replied.

"Well, then they didn't search her properly! She's gotten free, picked the lock with something, and is now roaming around, probably determined to find Dean."

"Most likely, yes," Cassandra said, sighing. "Why don't you set a trap for her then, use him as the bait, and lore her out? Once you have them both together, kill them. I'm tired of the game, anyway."

Footsteps began to fade away and an uneasy silence settled around them as Reggie and Dean waited, hoping that both ghouls had left. Reggie signaled to Dean and took a hesitant step forward. She peered around the edge of the wall and then glanced back at him, nodding that the coast was clear. They had taken only three steps when Alexander stepped out in front of them, a twisted grin stretched across his horrific face.

"Found your lover, have you, pet?" he hissed at Reggie.

Alexander took one quick step forward and swung, hitting Reggie and sending her flying into the darkness behind Dean. Dean turned to face the ghoul, weaponless but determined. He barely registered the creature's movements as it hit him, sending him crashing through an old, weathered stable door. Dean landed hard on his side in a thin layer of moldy hay and felt his shoulder dislocate.

"You have no idea what I'm going to do to her once I've killed you,' Alexander snarled.

Dean rolled onto his back and was yanked up, the ghoul's nails gripping painfully into the skin of his biceps. He cried out and head butted the creature, his hard skull connecting painfully with the creature's. The ghoul staggered backward, dropping Dean, who hit the ground again, stars flooding his vision.

Dean heard a screech of pain and looked up in time to see Reggie yanking her knife from the ghoul's back. The creature dropped to the floor, trying to grab at the wound, to stop the flow of dark blood oozing out. Dean spotted a dirty, broken shovel in the corner of the stall and grabbed it, using it to help him stand up, his injured arm hanging limply at his side. He threw the shovel to Reggie, who caught it easily, and placed the tip over Alexander's neck.

She placed one bare foot on the top and paused.

"Are you afraid to die now?" she growled at the ghoul and pushed down hard, severing the creature's head and cutting off its horrible scream.

Reggie looked up at Dean, a small trail of blood running down from a gash on her forehead, and handed him back the shovel.

"Now do you feel better?" she asked as she brushed past him, heading off into the darkness.

Dean gaped after her for a second, stunned.

"Are you coming?" she called impatiently from the blackness.

Dean glanced back at the ghoul's still form before jogging off after Reggie.