Elements of doubt
Chapter 3: The nick of time
Something's trying to kill more than just Deans' love life. Chapter 3: Dean is in dire need of rescuing, Sam just doesn't know it.
I was going to do this in four chapters, one for each element but then I realized that not only were my chapter getting really big, our week long spate of rain was finally over and I should really go outside and enjoy the sunshine before it goes away again. So here's what I've got so far, I hope it's O.K .
Kits: Thanks. That's my first Awesome
dread kaili: Your right they have overdone the gay jokes on occasion but it can be very funny sometimes and I just kind of walked into it, when I realized were I had put them, so decided to have some fun with it. So I'm glad you think it worked O.K.
Ps Promise not to overcook Dean to much but I'll give Sam plenty of opportunity to play the overprotective hero.
Please let me know what you think and if you have any suggestions that would be great to.
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"Shit!"
Dean forced himself to take a deep breath and calm down, now was not the time to be panicking. Pulling out his pocketknife he started to examine the locking mechanism on the doors emergency release. It didn't take long. The thing was buggered, at least half of the mechanism was missing and there wasn't even enough left to even fudge a repair.
The kilns interior was already beginning to heat up. It wasn't much yet, just enough to make the small space seem a little stuffy but Dean new that would soon change. Looking at his watch he swore again, it was still fifty minutes until his next scheduled check in with Sam. O.K time to get proactive, he thought pulling his gun out of the back of his jeans he used its butt to bang on the kilns small observation window.
"Help! Somebody, Help!" He yelled at the top of his lungs, his voice reverberating around the tightly enclosed space. There was no way anyone was going to hear him on the outside.
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Sam raised his hand to knock on the door of the old style plantation house, but the door flew open before he could actually knock. "HI SAM!" Sarah yelled as she bounded past a surprised looking woman and wrapped herself around his leg.
"Err, HI." He greeted the woman weakly, more than a little surprised at his greeting himself.
The woman smiled, her face taking on an expression of amused understanding. "So you're Sam?"
"Yes, Mam"
"I'm May, Sarah's Mom." She said giving his hand a warm shake. Then with a slightly apologetic smile she turned her attention to the little girl. "Sarah, why don't you see if Sam wants to come through to the kitchen for some cookies while I get Daddy?"
"Samwanttohavesomecookies!" Squealed the little girl as she let go of his leg and took his hand instead, dragging him towards the kitchen without even giving him the chance to consider her question.
Sitting himself at the kitchen counter at Sarah's insistence, he tried not to laugh as the little girl went into full hostess mode. Rapidly presenting Sam with a plate of chocolate chip cookies an empty mug and strangely a framed picture of a rather impressive looking office building. Fortunately her parents returned in time to stop her spilling a gallon of milk all over the floor.
"I'll take that honey. I'm sure Sam would rather have a coffee anyway?" May told her daughter, looking to Sam for confirmation as she retrieved the milk from the little girl.
Sarah's face dropped in disappointment and she bit her lip. Sam just couldn't take it. "Are you kidding milk's the only way to go with cookies" He grinned.
Sarah squealed in delight, suddenly happy again and Sam wondered briefly if he had used similar tactics to get his own way with Dean all those years ago.
Jim laughed and gave Sam a friendly slap on the shoulder, while May just rolled her eyes at the lot of them.
"It's good to see you again Sam." Offered Jim; looking around for Dean as he did so. "James not with you"
"No, sorry, he's out running some errands that couldn't wait. We just wanted to check you were O.K. You know after yesterday."
"That's a shame I'd have liked to thank him as well."
"Really sir, there's no need. Like we said before we're just glad we could help."
Jim smiled. "May, do if you mind if I borrow Sam for just a minute? I'd like to show him the garden."
May raised an eyebrow but just nodded. Sarah wasn't quite so understanding, "Daddiiiiiiiiieeeeeee!"
"No honey." He said gently. "You can have Sam back in a moment."
"O.K Daddy" Huffed the little girl.
Sam handed him the picture to Jim as he got up and the man rolled his eyes. "It's one of mine, she likes showing it to people." He said by way of explanation, but when Sam just gave him a blank look he explained further. "I'm an architect."
"Oh, it's good." And it was, in Sam's opinion anyway.
"Thanks" Smiled Jim leading the way towards the back door.
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Pulling his cell out of his pocket, he stripped off his jacket and the two jumpers he was wearing. He definitely wasn't going to need them in here, he was already sweating hard.
Wiping the sleeve of his long sleeved T-shirt across his forehead, he began to sweep the room looking for reception. It was a long shot he knew. He hadn't even been able to get reception on the outside of the kiln but his next option was even less likely to work and he had already search every inch of the cramped space without finding anything he could use to his advantage.
Throughout his search the reception bars on his phone remained depressingly absent but he tried the phone anyway, calling Sam over and over again. Then in a fit of desperation he tried 911 in the blind hope that he could throw himself on the mercy of the towns good natured Sheriff but that didn't work either.
Looking at his watch for what had to be the twelfth time in five minutes he was depressed to see that only fifteen minutes had passed since he had been locked into the kiln. This was not looking good.
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"I think you're her new hero." Sam blushed at that and tried to look anywhere other than Jim's smiling face.
Jim laughed and clapped him on the shoulder, clearly enjoying his discomfort but when he spoke it was with complete sincerity. "I could think of worse choices. The two of you…. What you did for us…." He smiled slightly uncomfortably and patted Sam on the arm. "I'll stop embarrassing you now but sufficed to say we owe you a lot."
The two of them walked down the garden path for a little way in silence before Jim indicated a park bench. Taking a seat he shifted in discomfort for a moment before speaking. "Sam, can I ask you something? It may sound a little strange."
Sam nodded, curious.
"Did you notice something strange, you know about the accident?"
"No. Not really. Why are you asking?"
"It's just that Sam was around earlier asking questions." Sam's gave him a confused look. "Not you Sam of course, Sam the Sheriff." He smiled. "She was suggesting that maybe I should take May and Sarah and go away for a while to get over the accident. She didn't say it in so many words but I've known her since school and she doesn't spook easily, and this has got her spooked. So I was wondering, it was an accident wasn't it? I mean I can't remember anything that would suggest it wasn't but it's not the first accident that has happened around here lately and what with what happened to Chris and Andy. I was just wondering if you saw anything."
The man looked incredibly uncomfortable he was obviously finding this very embarrassing. So it was a measure of how seriously he was taking this that he was speaking to Sam at all.
"I think you should go" Said Sam seriously.
Jim looked relieved as if he'd expected Sam to tell him he was nuts. "You think something is going on too, don't you?"
Sam nodded. "Yes I do. I just don't know what."
Jim gave him an apprising look. "You better see this then."
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Dean was beginning to feel light headed and it was getting difficult to keep his eyes open, they felt so dry. Time for plan B, he thought, or was it plan F he was losing count.
Picking up his gun from where it lay on top of his coat, where he had put it after it got to hot to be comfortable to keep on him. Taking aim at the small observation window, he swallowed hard. Firing a weapon in this type of enclosed space was never a good idea but he had run out of options. Firing once, he had to hit the ground hard when the bullet ricocheted past his head. The floor was already unbearable hot.
Quickly pushing up off the floor, he headed back to the window. It was still intact but a thin spider web of cracks had appeared around the impact sight. It was a start.
Sighing he took aim again and got ready to duck.
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"It appeared yesterday morning, I didn't think anything of it at the time but now I'm not so sure. It certainly gave Sam a start." He smiled. "Sorry Sheriff Politska."
"It would." Sam knelt down to get a closer look at the symbol carved into the rock by the Fraser's front door. "It's the symbol for the Greek god Poseidon."
"The water God" Whispered Jim his face paling.
Sam nodded.
"We'll be out of here by this evening."
Sam gave the man a sympathetic look. "I'd stay away till the sheriff says it's O.K to come back, if I were you."
Jim nodded in agreement; he was still pale but looked determined. Sam just hoped going away would be enough.
"Come on. We better get back for milk and cookies or Sarah's going to have a fit." He said as he steered Sam back to the house. "I'll get everyone moving as soon as you head out."
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Dean had to concentrate to stay on his feet now. He could feel the heat of the floor through his boots and didn't think it would be a good idea to fall down. It had taken him six bullets, two near misses and a long scrape across his arm from a particularly nasty ricochet to get the job done but it hadn't helped. The window had broken but he couldn't get to the door release and nobody had come to investigate the noise, even when he had fired off all but one of his remaining bullets through the gap.
He could no longer raise the spit to yell. The hole in the glass hadn't even helped the temperature much because the heated walls stopped him getting to close to it.
Morbidly he had kept the last bullet for himself, he wasn't sure he would use it. He couldn't do that to Sam but it was comfort knowing it was there.
He wasn't afraid of dying, not really. It was this particular method of dying that scared the crap out of him and it had done since he was four years old. He knew that this was different; he wouldn't actually be burning to death. Well at least not until the kiln got really hot and he would be long dead by then but standing here with his eyes squeezed shut to try and keep what moisture he could in, the hoar of the Furness sounded a lot like the noise his house had made as it burned down with his mother in it. It still gave him nightmares to imagine what she had been through and he didn't know if he had the courage to face a death like that, not when he just had to stand here and wait for it, but then as always there was Sam.
So in the end all he could do was stand there and pray, not that he believed in it but he was willing to give it a go for Sam's sake.
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Sam finished his cookie and accepted a drawing from Sarah.
"This is really good Sarah." He smiled looking at the picture. I was obviously a picture of yesterdays rescue with Sam depicted as a giant and Sarah as a rather strange looking pink blob, but the thing that struck an odd cord with Sam was the chaotic black mass floating over the scene. "Sarah, what is this?"
Sarah shrugged. "It was singing, it sounded funny. I didn't like it."
"It was singing before you fell in." He asked.
Sarah nodded and Sam exchanged a worried look with Jim, who nodded. The family would be gone within the hour.
Saying his goodbyes he head out the door, looking at his watch as he did so. It was a couple of minutes past the hour and Sam was a little surprised Dean hadn't called already. His brother may be lax with his time keeping on most things but he was always on the dot with a check in. Unconsciously picking up his pace he pulled out his phone and hit speed dial. When it went straight to voice mail he broke into a jog. It was probably nothing.
Five minutes later he was at Marklands pottery and glass. Pulling open one of the warehouse doors and was half deafened by the cacophony within. A couple of men looked up as daylight flooded into the interior, one of them moved towards him. "Can I help you?" He enquired politely.
"Yes, thanks. I'm looking for James Morrow. Do you know where he is?"
"Sure, I'll show you." He clapped another man on the shoulder and headed past Sam out the door. "This is the glass blowers workshop; he should still be in Andy's studio over in the pottery workshop. It's a bit quite over there today. I'm afraid we're between runs." He smiled at Sam and offered his hand. "I'm Mac by the way, the owner."
"Sam." He said shaking the man's hand.
The two of them were walking towards the second warehouse, when Mac flagged down a group of young woman one of whom Sam recognized from the park yesterday. "Eileen, have you seen that reporter anywhere?
"No Mac." She shrugged, completely disinterested.
"O.K, I guess he must still be in the studio then. Thanks Eileen. You girls take care getting back to college." He smiled and walked over to the warehouse door and pulled open the door.
Markland Pottery and fine glass had been in Macs family for three generations. He knew every noise, every smell, every inch of the place and something was off.
It wasn't so much that the kiln was on. Although it shouldn't have been on, that caught his attention; it was that it sounded wrong. Running across the room he was hitting the emergency cut off before he had even given it conscious thought, an exploding kiln of this size would take out half this building and everyone in it.
The uneasy feeling that had been sitting in the pit of Sam's stomach erupted into full on panic when Mac suddenly ran towards the kiln, there was no doubt in his mind that whatever was wrong had something to do with Dean. Running after Mac he reached the man just as he spotted the shattered observation window.
"Shit" Yelled Sam as he spotted the wavering figure inside the kiln. Running to the door Sam yanked at the doors opening mechanism but nothing happened.
"It won't open while the kilns still hot." Yelled Mac pulling a knife out of his pocket and slashing the cables attached to the lock, suddenly something clicked inside the door and Sam could get it open.
A wall of heat hit Sam as the door opened making him stager back but only a step, as he ran to Dean's side. The instant he touched his brother Dean collapsed, forcing Sam to physically drag him out.
Returning to the cool of the studio was almost as much of a shock to his system as entering the kiln even after only a few seconds exposure, it made Sam's head spin and he almost didn't register when Deans body started to seize.
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