Note: This chapter was somehow the motivation for this story and is based on a dream I had after watching too many SN episode in a row one night. - Please read and review as there is still more to come and I need to know if I am going into the right direction with this or not :)

The Beast Within

-Chapter 13-

It's often safer to be in chains than to be free – F. Kafka

It was still dark when Sam suddenly rose from his sleep. He immediately looked over to the other motel bed where his brother Dean was sleeping. Sam noticed that Dean's breathing was so subtle that it almost wasn't there and his heartbeat was reduced to only a few faint thumps a minute, so he couldn't have heard anything. Sam kept staring into the darkness trying to synchronise his own heartbeat and breathing, while his ears were searching for the noise that had alerted him.

Maybe it had been just another vivid dream haunting him in his sleep? He turned his head towards the alarm clock. The red digits burned an imprint of the time 2:57 into his sensitive eyes. He was trembling both with excitement and fear. Excitement about the fact that he was now able to see things in the night and hear noises from far away but also fear, because he still didn't want Dean to discover his ugly secret. If Dean knew what had become of him, he most likely would kill him for what he now was.

Sam quietly slipped out of bed and put on his jeans and a t-shirt. He didn't need to visually check on Dean again, as his breathing told him he was still fast asleep.He left the room quietly like a ghost and paused on the motel porch for a few seconds, breathing in the cold, fresh night air.

Not a lot was going on at 3 in the morning. 2 Cats were fighting near some garbage cans down in the parking lot and Sam could sense their primal rage. He also heard a neighbour's dog barking in response to the racket. 4 rooms down on the left a couple were obviously having fun and Sam heard what she whispered in her lover's ear. The hairs in his neck stood up as Sam looked around but none of this was the reason that had woken him up.

He turned his head a little to the right to tune into another sound. Somewhere down the corridor, a few doors down, something strange was going on. Sam frowned and set his bare feet in motion, his eyes pinned on the location where that noise seemed to come from.

Sam stopped in front of room 101. He didn't need to put his ear close to the door, he could hear it all clearly now. Sam grimaced in disgust and fury, his breathing becoming faster as his rage began to take over. His muscles were trembling, his fist clenching. The rage was so powerful, as it took full control of him, that he burst through the door without hesitation. The splinters flew in all directions with the main part of the door landing on the motel bed in the middle of the room.

Once inside Sam scanned the shady room with his now black eyes for the person he was after. He found the middle-aged man standing left of the bed and he was giving off a distinguishable, foul scent, smelling of decay, which only Sam's sensitive nose could pick up.

To the naked eye the man looked like a normal human being in a suit, but Sam was sure he did not confuse the two. This wasn't an ordinary man.

The Beast that had taken over Sam, that he had become, let out a deep growl and leapt forward towards the demon. He was startled and clearly surprised when Sam knocked him to the ground.

"It's you!" he shrieked in panic, pinned firmly under the Beast.

Sam let out yet another deep grunt as he displayed bear-like teeth which the Beast had given him, and not waiting for the demon to say anything else, he went directly for his throat.

The demon only produced gurgling sounds, his eyes open wide. His body was twitching as it tried to retain the demon inside, but the container was damaged and dying and so was the demon within.

The blood of the human container was flooding the carpet as it was done. The cruel act left the Beast wheezing, his mighty chest heaving. Sam within the Beast suddenly heard that same whimpering sound as before and which had woken him up from his sleep. Heavily breathing and demon blood dripping from his face and teeth, he slowly looked around to find the source. He could hear the tiny sobbing but not see the person it came from.

Sam rose up, and it seemed he had become taller than usual, his head nearly touching the ceiling now, his broader shoulders casting an enormous shadow as he carefully approached the bed. He could sense something warm and sweet over there, but also pain and fear.

On the floor, her back firmly pressed into the room's corner, he found a little girl, clenching a little teddy bear in her small hands, her face buried in the soft plush toy. Sam still battling with the anger inside tried to focus on the girl, telling the beast that he was, that she was not a potential target. Instead he wanted to tell her that she was rescued now, that she would be ok, and that he was sorry about what she had to witness, but Sam was aware that he was not his usual self anymore.

He had become the Beast and it was finally free. No basement keeping it confined, no collar holding it back. As much as it scared Sam, he couldn't help but enjoy his new freedom. He felt mighty and powerful; it felt like his chest could burst from it, an unknown strength flooding through his body like liquid steel. So much rage he wanted to let out, but not now he heard himself say to the Beast that he also was. Not now. Can you not hear the sirens in the far distance?

Somebody had responded to the noise coming from room 101, so Sam could not stay and be found. They would lock him away again and he could not bare the thought.

Sam looked down at the girl with heartfelt compassion, but she was terrified to death of his appearance and ferocity, there was nothing he could do in his current state to help her, though he wished he could give her a hug but Sam and the Beast had to go.