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Chapter Fifteen

Time seemed to lose all meaning as Sam drifted in and out of a fully conscious state. Every time he came down from his high, and began to try and gather his dwindling thoughts, Dawn would reluctantly shoot him back up again. With each progressive time he came down, he noticed an increasing wariness in Dawn, and his muddled mind tried to reason out why she should be so fearful of him now.

"D-Dawn," Sam managed to choke out, his mouth so dry it made it hard to even speak. He licked his dry, cracked lips, then swallowed repeatedly, wincing against the pain in his raw and burning throat. He grasped a hold of her hand, momentarily stopping her from injecting the drugs into his arm again. "Please . . . jus' a little time."

"Sam, I . . . ." She nodded, seeing his pleading look, and set the needle aside for a moment. "Sam," she hesitated for a second, licking her own pale pink lips as an uncertain look crossed her features. "Who's Jessica? Did you kill her?"

"Did I say tha' I did?" Sam scratched his head in confusion, then his hand fell weakly to his side, the subtle movement draining him of all his strength. He glanced at the ceiling and could clearly visualize Jessica's body suspended from it, her body burning amidst the roaring flames. "Was my fault," he mumbled.

"So Father was right," she said with a curt nod, suspicion registering in her deep blue eyes, "you are evil."

"Not like that, Dawn," Sam tried to argue, but words failed him as he knew in his heart that it was his fault that Jessica was dead.

"It's exactly like that," came the Father's cruel voice as he strode to the cell door. "Don't buy into his lies, Morning Dawn. He's a manipulator and a liar. All he cares about is himself. He is selfish . . . cruel," he quirked a sardonic brow at Sam before turning to smiled lovingly at her, "and evil, and doesn't deserve your pity."

"N-not true, Dawn," Sam turned beseeching eyes on her, praying she would see that he wasn't all the things the Father claimed him to be.

"Really?" The Father chuckled. "Cause that's not what you brother told me. Said you were a selfish bastard who only thought about yourself. Said he begged you to stay when you left to have your own life. Never cared about anyone but yourself, have you?"

Sam vehemently shook his head, then gagged, his stomach churning violently at the sudden movement. "Not true," he managed to utter between gags.

"Your brother told me that you are one who always likes to be in control of everything. Manipulators usually are like that. Control is everything to them." He laughed even harder saying this as he unlocked the cell to enter it. "In fact it was his suggestion to drug you, said he thought it would be good for you to be the one not in control for a change."

"Dean would never say that."

"The Dean who was controlled by you would never say that, you mean." The Father smirked as he knelt beside Dawn and handed her the needle. She wavered momentarily before taking it from him, and he gently caressed her cheek. "However, the Dean who realizes how truly evil you are, was more than happy to see that you suffer for all that you have done. He despises you. Thinks you deserve to suffer. Wants you to suffer."

"Don't b-believe you . . . Dean wouldn't . . . he's my brother."

"Correction, was your brother." The Father nudged his head toward the syringe, and Dawn reluctantly jabbed the needle into Sam's arm, silently mouthing an apology to Sam. "He's my child now. You have no one. You will die here alone and unloved. It's no more than you deserve."

"Yer brother laughed at you when he came here an' saw ya all strung out," one of the Father's men said as he came to stand beside the cell, resting his hand on the metal bars. "You actually thought he was Dawn here," he gestured to Dawn who lowered her head as Sam turned to look at her, "when he shot you up with heroin."

"D-Dean wasn' 'ere." Sam shifted restlessly, his legs and arms twitching uncontrollably as he jerked around.

"He hates you . . . wishes you were dead," the short bald man taunted, "said he can't wait to see you die."

"Na . . . n-no' true." Sam shivered and squirmed, feeling bugs crawling beneath his skin. Digging at his arms, he tried desperately to get to the wriggling creatures that had burrowed their way under his flesh. He flinched, rubbing his head against his shoulders as the bugs crawled their way up into his hair and gnawed at his scalp.

"It is true, Sammy," came a voice that Sam instantly recognized as his brother's. "How long did you think I would go on bein' your freakin' puppet? Doin' everythin' you said . . . an' for what? So you could leave me?"

"Dea . . . . " Sam blinked rapidly, trying to clear his blurry vision, and saw the hazy image of his brother enter the cell, followed by two other men. "Godda . . .needa . . . haveta gid oudda 'ere."

"Why would I want to leave my family?" Dean asked as he gripped hold of Sam's hair and jerked his head backward so Sam was forced to look him in the eyes. "An' more to the point, why the hell would I wanna help you." His green eyes narrowed as he glared at Sam, not even the slightest hint of mercy in them for Sam. "You're a selfish bastard who only ever cared about yourself. You deserve this . . . deserve to die."

"Pl-please . . . Dea . . . ." Sam begged amidst the jeering laughter from Dean and the other men. "Gonna die in 'ere." He twitched and jerked some more, his veins turning into writhing snakes slithering through his body. The sounds of their hissing inside his body filled his ears, and he shook violently as they wrapped themselves firmly around his brain. "Ther' in my brain . . . ." Raking his fingers through his hair, Sam turned panicked, fearful eyes to his brother, "godda gid 'em oud . . . Dea . . . gid 'em oud."

Dean quirked a brow, a smirk settling on his features. "No. Suffer, you selfish sonuvabitch. It's no more than you deserve. Just look what you did to Jessica." He gestured to his right, and Sam slowly shifted to look where he'd pointed.

Sam abruptly pushed himself backward, sliding away from the sight of Jessica's burnt flesh hanging off her blackened bones. What few strains of hair she had left on her head were charred black. Her once beautiful face was now scarred and burned beyond recognition, blue eyes sunken into her head. She lightly caressed his face with her scarred bony fingers, and he flinched, recoiling from her touch.

"You did this to me, Sam," Jessica's smile twisted into a hateful scowl. "You killed me. You're evil and deserve to die." She narrowed lashless eyes on him, glaring at him in contempt and hatred. "You should be dead instead of me."

"S-sorry, Shheshica." Tears welled in Sam's eyes and slipped down his cheeks. "So damn sorry."

"Sorry's not good enough, Sammy," Dean snarled, drawing Sam's attention back to him. "Admit you're evil. Admit you're a selfish freakin' bastard who only thinks about himself. You know it's true, jus' freakin' admit it."

"Not tr-true." Sam shook his head, and felt a snake slither down from inside his brain to coil around his spine, and winced as his arms and legs went limp and useless. "'S not true."

"Huh, not gonna admit it." Dean gave a curt nod, and then motioned for the men around him to haul Sam to his feet. "S'okay, Sammy, didn't expect you would."

"D-Dean," Sam cried out as the bald-headed men roughly gripped hold of his bruised arms, and dragged him out of the cell. They pushed him against the cold cement wall then chained his wrists and ankles in sturdy metal shackles.

Looking back over his shoulder, Sam saw the blurred vision of his brother stalking toward him, carrying a chain whip in his right hand. A glimmer of hatred lit Dean's green eyes as he drew closer to Sam, a malicious smirk twisting on his features. Fearfully, Sam's gaze was once again drawn to the linked chain whip in his brother's hand, and his heart skipped a beat, then set off at a frantic gallop. The sharpened edges of the iron links caught the light from above, and even in his drug induced haze, Sam realized their sole purpose was to elicit as much pain as possible.

"Pl-please, De — " Sam's breath caught in his throat as the chain-links ripped through his flesh, burning three separate bloody trails down his bare back. Tears stung at his eyes as he trembled uncontrollably. "Pl-please, don't — " The chains cracked hard against his back again, and Sam's knees buckled, his arm muscles burning and straining against the brunt of his full weight.

"Admit it, Sammy," came Dean's cold and calculating voice, and he laughed when Sam screamed as the chains struck hard against his back once more. "Say you're a selfish evil bastard who deserves to die. Say it an' I'll stop."

The chain's clinked ominously as they sliced through the air and then sliced through Sam's back again. Another scream ripped from Sam's lips as blood dripped down his back from the riddling wounds. His vision blurred, darkness edging inward to greet him and release him from his pain, but someone threw a bucket of freezing cold water on him, and the welcoming darkness retreated.

"Why you doin' this ta me, Dean." Tears cascaded unchecked down Sam's cheeks as the whip ripped through his back again. "Don't make me . . . pl-please don't h-have me s-say it. I'm beggin' ya."

"Say it, you manipulative bastard." Dean strode over to Sam, leaned in and whispered, "It's the only way I'm gonna stop. Say it or I'm gonna keep this up until there's nothin' left of you. An' that's a promise." His sardonic laughter filled the room, and was joined by the sounds of laughter coming from Dean's new family. "Be a man for a change and take responsibility for your actions."

Sam's heart shattered to nothingness, hearing the hatred in his brother's voice. Dean didn't care how much he'd hurt him, didn't care if Sam died, wanted him to die. Swallowing back any fight he had left in him, Sam's face crumpled as he muttered, "I -I'm a . . . a s-selfish bastard," he squinched his eyes tightly shut, trying to block out the pain of hearing his brother's increasing laughter, "I — I'm evil an' deserve to die."

"Louder, Sammy," Dean taunted, to the jeering approval of his new brothers, "louder an' for God sakes try not to stutter like a freakin' baby when ya say it this time around."

The words caught in Sam's throat as tears continued to cascade down his cheeks. He swallowed hard as he turned back to look at his brother once more, hoping he would find a glimmer of the old Dean, but his brother was gone, and with him he'd taken Sam's heart and soul. "I'm an evil, selfish bastard who deserves to die."

"Hmmm . . . always thought so." Dean grinned as he raised the whip and struck Sam across the back again.

Darkness gathered around Sam, and welcomed him into it's warm and safe embrace, and for a moment he was free. And as he fell further into the blackened abyss, he wished more than anything not to have to return.

XxXxXxXxXxXxX

The Father handed the chain whip to one of his men, and motioned for Dawn to come to him. Dawn slowly took a step forward, and although she schooled her features as not to show sympathy for Sam, her heart broke for the beaten man, who in her eyes had done nothing wrong. She turned to stare at the cruel man who deemed himself her Father, and her beautiful smile gave nothing away of the rage that was building inside her.

"You see, Morning Dawn, he is exactly what I said he was." He gently caressed her cheek, and she made a conscious effort not to cringe at his repulsive touch.

"You're right, Father. I'm ashamed that I doubted that evil lurks within the hearts of certain men." Her smile widened as she tried to calculate a plan to save the young man who had opened her eyes to the evil the man in front of her represented. "Never again will I doubt in my heart when I believe someone is truly evil as they stare me boldly in the face, whisper lies into my ears and smile to hide their wickedness."

"That's my girl." The Father smiled at her, his pale blue eyes shining with such love and affection for her, and inwardly Dawn cringed, hating him all the more for his cruelness. "Stitch and clean his wounds, don't want him dying before I've finished learning everything I can about his gifts."

"I will, Father." Dawn breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that she would be able to stay with Sam, instead of one of the Father's men who wouldn't care how badly they treated him.

"An' make sure you keep him drugged, understand?" The Father's stern gaze strayed briefly to Sam, watching as his men unchained and threw their captive into the cell, then returned his attention to Dawn. "He could be dangerous if we allow him to regain his strength. We have no idea what other abilities he might possess."

"I understand."

"Good girl, I knew I could count on you."

Dawn plastered on her sweetest smile as she lightly kissed the Father on the cheek. "Always, Father."