A/N: To those of you actually following this story, I'm sorry for the late update. I was planning on updating earlier, but I've been quite busy with life and work lately, so I haven't had the time. Also, this chapter was a bit difficult to write, but here it is.
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Chapter 14 - Mad World
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All around me are familiar faces
Worn out places, worn out faces
Bright and early for the daily races
Going nowhere, going nowhere
Their tears are filling up their glasses
No expression, no expression
Hide my head I wanna drown my sorrow
No tomorrow, no tomorrow
And I find it kind of funny
I find it kind of sad
The dreams in which I'm dying
Are the best I've ever had
I find it hard to tell you
I find it hard to take
When people run in circles
It's a very very, mad world, mad world
Gary Jules - Mad World
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Sam POV
Sam didn't want to be the one doing this. Even though he had wanted nothing more than for Rika to wake up again so he could talk to her and kiss her, he had been ambivalent about it as well. It was because he had been dreading this very moment. He had to tell her that her watcher was dead. He had told people news like this many times before, but it never got any easier. He looked down, pondering on how he should begin. He cleared his throat a bit and then he looked up, into her eyes. They instantly darkened and got filled with sadness and pain, like she knew what he was about to tell her. Sam opened his mouth, starting to speak, and he felt it difficult to get the words out.
"There's something I have to tell you."
In agony he watched as Rika turned her head away slightly, looking down at the sheets. She raised her hands to cover her face for a few seconds, only to remove them and look back up into his own eyes. Her face was filled with a painful realization, but she looked determined at the same time. Maybe determined not to cry. Then she finally spoke, without a single tremor in her voice.
"Hugh didn't make it."
"No, the police found his... what was left of him... back at the house. It burned completely to the ground."
"I guess I knew all along, I just couldn't admit it to myself. Logically, I knew he couldn't have survived that fire, but I-I..."
Sam heard that her voice started shaking, she swallowed once and looked down, biting her bottom lip. He felt like he needed to say something to her.
"I'm so sorry."
"I know", she whispered. "So am I. I'll get over it."
He was surprised at the lack of emotion she was showing, but he knew she was just trying to hold it in and be brave. The sorrow would manifest when she felt it was time. "I hate having to ask you this right now, but do you remember what happened? Dean found traces of sulfur at Hugh's house, so were guessing demons were involved."
She crinkled her forehead a bit, and hadn't it been for the situation, Sam would have thought it was really adorable. He could tell she was really trying to remember the details of what had went down the night before, so he didn't say anything, giving her the time she needed. It took a couple of minutes before she started speaking.
"There were demons alright."
She raised her gaze from the sheets, and looked at Sam instead.
"The whole thing's still a bit blurry, probably 'cause of the concussion or something, but I remember most of it now", she continued. "When you left Joe's, I sat there for another hour, talked to some people... Well, I figured I had been neglecting my slayer duties the last few days, so I decided to go check on Hugh and then maybe find some vampires."
Sam just nodded reassuringly when she looked at him.
"So, I got to his house and it was completely dark, there were no lights on in the house. I thought that was strange, since he's usually home from work at that hour. I figured he was out, maybe at the store or something, and that he'd be right back so I decided to go inside and wait for him since I have the key. When I got to the door, it was unlocked and slightly open. That's when I knew something wasn't right, he's... he was... always more careful than that. I just walked in, and I remember calling for him, trying to see if he was at home after all. I noticed this weird smell, and I quickly recognized it as gasoline."
She took a deep breath, and Sam saw that her other hand, the one he wasn't holding, was gripping the bed so tight that here knuckles were white.
"It's okay", he said. "You don't have to tell me more if it's too difficult."
"No, I have to", she replied. "I can do this."
Then she continued her recap of the events. "Well, I got into the living room and that's when I noticed him. He was standing next to the wall, but it was so dark that I couldn't make out his face, not even with my slayer vision. I remember I asked him what was going on, but he didn't reply. I looked around the room, and saw that there was an empty canister on the floor, which was wet."
Her voice started shaking slightly and Sam instinctively tightened his grip around her hand, trying to protect her even though he knew it was too late. What had happened had to be very traumatizing for her.
"He grabbed something out of his pocket, and I saw it was a lighter. He lit it, and took a step forward and I was able to see his face... His eyes were completely black."
"Possessed", Sam gasped.
"Yeah. He just grinned before dropping the lighter towards the floor. It scared me, because it wasn't him anymore. He just looked... I guess the right word would be evil. I started running towards the door as fast as I could but not fast enough. I just remember the heat, flying through a window, and that my whole body was aching. I heard sirens in the distance, and then I guess I passed out because I don't remember anything before I woke up here."
Sam knew how she felt, better than she might ever know he did. An image of Jessica in the ceiling, bleeding and then starting to burn invaded his mind. It had been the worst moment in his life, next to the one when he realized his father was dead. He could imagine the pain Rika was feeling. He looked at her again, and he saw that she was crying now, a few tears rolling down her cheeks. Then her whole body started shaking, and she finally gave in to the sorrow and emotions she was feeling. Sam wanted to comfort her so he got up on the bed, kissed the top of her head and just held her while she was crying it out. Her head was leaning against his chest, and he held her as tight as he could in his arms. He didn't want to ever let go. Silently, he wondered what this would do to her, she had seemed like such a bubbly and happy person before this, even with all that she had seen. He hoped she wasn't going to lose her faith.
He soon lost track of time, they just sat there until he realized she'd stopped crying. She reached up to wipe away the remnants of the tears on her cheeks and looked up at him, with that determined look he knew so well by now.
"I need to get out of here", she just said.
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Rika POV
Rika walked out of the hospital with short and careful, but determined, steps. Sam had asked her if she was okay a dozen times while they had walked from the ICU towards the exit and the answer had been the same every single time: I'm fine. She wasn't going to admit to him that her side was still hurting with the broken ribs and everything, he would never have agreed to her leaving the hospital if he had known. But she had to get out, she just had to. She couldn't just sit there doing nothing, while the thing that killed Hugh was still out there.
She had been crying in Sam's arms, but now there were no tears left. She just felt empty inside, not a single emotion except the love she felt for Sam. He had too much to deal with already, and she didn't want to burden him with this too. He had already seen her at her weakest, and she didn't like it at all. She was going to pull through, like she always did. The pain inside her was slowly turning into anger against the things that had taken her watcher from her. He had always been there for her, and he had really been like a second father to her. She needed to do something, for him. Make her screw-up right again. She needed revenge. It was stronger than the pain at this very moment, even though she would break down eventually. At the moment, she had decided not to start crying again. She needed to be strong for her own sake, Sam's and Hugh's.
Suddenly she felt strange, a bit dizzy and sick to her stomach. It wasn't because of the explosion or surgery, this was something completely different, but she had no idea what. She stopped and instantly felt Sam's arm around her shoulder. She looked up at him and saw he had that bothered look again. She loved the fact that he cared so much about her, but there were only so many are-you-okay's she could hear.
"I'm okay", she instinctively said and continued walking. Then everything felt wrong.
It was like she wasn't in control of her body anymore. She realized that she had stopped walking, even though she was telling her feet to move forward. Then, it felt like her head was burning from the inside, and it hurt tortuously. She felt the need to grab her head with her hands but she couldn't move them either.
She heard Sam's voice faintly in the distance, asking her if she was alright. And then she heard a female voice.
"I'm all good, never been better!"
She became conscious of the fact that it was her voice. The words came out of her mouth but they weren't hers. She could feel her lips moving into a big smile, the one she knew people thought was so bright and happy. But it wasn't spontaneous, it wasn't her doing. "What the hell is happening to me?", she thought. It felt like she was trapped in her own head.
She noticed her feet started walking again, towards the Impala where she could see Dean was waiting. Her steps were longer and more cheery now, and Sam had to struggle to keep up with her.
"No, no, God no. This is wrong", she thought. "It's not me Sam, can't you see it's not me?" It was like she was watching herself in a movie, or like when people on TV go back to see their past but no one can see them, touch them or hear them. She freaked out, there was nothing she could do. She now knew what was happening. She hadn't experienced this before, but she knew. A demon had now taken over the steering wheel, even though she had no idea how it happened or why.
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A/N: I've realized my chapters are quite short, they look and feel much longer on the computer while I'm writing them, but when I upload them they're freakishly short. I'm planning for two more chapters for this story, but I also have a sequel in mind and that one will have longer and a bit more Supernaturalesque chapters. ;)
I'd love some reviews, knowing how to improve even more, seeing as I'm not used to writing in English. When I've read through the old chapters I've noticed some typing and spelling errors, like I've been spelling "apartment" with two p's for several chapters and that I spelled sulfur incorrectly in the previous chapter, which makes me kinda embarrassed. :P Don't be afraid to point out errors, nor good aspects to the story.
