"That's just not possible, Dean." Austin asserted with certainty.
"There is no such thing as vampires!"
"Oh yeah?"Dean would normally have been amused, but considering the dire circumstances he was just on the verge of pissed off.
"Haven't you noticed that Dmitri never gets sick? He doesn't eat food, or if he does, it's very little?"
Austin wrinkled his brow a little.
"Well. Now that you mention it, it was a little weird that when Sam was sick with the flu, Dmitri waited on him hand and foot and he never got so much as a sniffle. I steered clear of Sam for a week and I still got sick."
Dean tried to push away the image of a vampire playing 'nurse' with his baby brother and to keep his focus on the task at hand.
"Yes. And I'll bet you he has his own personal fridge; in his bedroom no doubt; the closet, maybe?"
The young college student paled.
"Yes… it has a padlock on it. I thought that was weird."
Dean rolled his eyes. "Okay, well that's where he keeps his supply of blood; in secret where no one can see it."
"I still don't believe you."
"You want proof?" Dean started for the stairs before calling out, "Bring a pair of bolt cutters, will ya?"
...XoXoXo...
Sam knew he had to think fast. And he had to keep calm. If he betrayed too many feelings, he could find himself with an open wound to his carotid artery in a matter of seconds.
"This was your idea, Dmitri?" Sam asked the vampire who had spent the last several months with.
"It was. I've wanted it ever since we dated in high school. It's perfect, Sam. This way we can be together forever, and I don't have to worry about hurting you."
"Are you sure you're not just rushing things because Dean's in town? You know you have nothing to worry about. He and I aren't together anymore." Sam lied expertly.
But Dmitri saw right through Sam's lie, and it brought him a little closer to realizing that Sam's compliance was all a strategy for escape.
But he didn't fully know that yet. Sam just had to play his cards a bit more carefully.
"I love you, Sam." Dmitri whispered in a grave tone.
"I've always felt a unique connection to you; and it's never faded. I know we're meant to be together. This has nothing to do with Dean except for the fact that I will never let him have you."
Sam nodded; he already knew what Dmitri was going to say. He was just stalling at this point.
"I'd like some time to think about it, baby." Sam could only give a nervous smile.
"It is a permanent undertaking, after all. Would you give me a few hours? Do we have time for that?"
Dmitri could not hold back his look of disappointment in his eyes, but he agreed anyway.
"That's fine, love. It's only fair; I did spring this on you rather abruptly."
...XoXoXo...
The word to describe Austin's reaction once Dmitri's secret stash was revealed would be nothing short of complete and utter shock.
He could say nothing for a solid thirty seconds while he stared at the containers and bags filled with a dark red liquid that he knew was blood.
"A-A-Alright." Austin's voice shook with emotion.
"I guess I believe you now."
"Good; because I'm going to need your help to rescue Sam." Dean stated grimly.
"Me? I mean… just the two of us, take out a vampire?"
"No." Dean shook his head in thought. There was no way it was just one vampire. It was probably a whole nest. They were going to need more than just two people wielding machetes.
"I think it's time to call in the cavalry."
Dean spent an hour calling his resources and getting them to agree to a meeting place. Most of those who could help were only a few hours away. It was a lucky break, but even then Dean wondered if it would be too late.
...XoXoXo...
The large pool hall and bar Dean picked out was perfect for the kind of meeting they needed to discuss Sam's rescue. Dean spotted two drug deals going down in a matter of one little glance around the place. This meant they had no need to be worried about looking suspicious here.
Austin's nervousness was palpable, standing three feet from him.
"Hey kid, calm down. This is the easy part." Dean tried to soothe in his Winchester way.
"Easy for you to say. I've never met vampire hunters before."
Dean rolled his eyes. "Well you've met me and Sam, so that's two. And these guys are nothing to worry about. It's the vampires you should be scared of, and you've already been living with one for a while. So put on your big boy pants and try to look a little more confident."
Austin gulped, and straightened his posture, just for a moment, before slowly shrinking back down into a near huddle when he heard the front door open with a little tinkle of a bell.
Three hunters moseyed into the pool hall, instantly recognizing Dean and making a beeline to where he was leaning against the bar.
The hunters ordered whiskeys, and once they had their drink they looked ready to talk.
"Do I even want to know how your baby brother ended up gettin' kidnapped by a vamp?" The man in a torn leather vest and white shirt asked with an obvious southern twang.
"No." Dean advised gravely.
"Alright. Well I talked to Denny, and by the way he sends his regrets for not being able to make it here. But he said he's been keeping an eye on a nest on the south side of the city. He's been too chicken to take on the whole nest but he's picked off a few when they left the herd. It's in an industrial area; you know how much they love abandoned warehouses, it's like a fly to honey."
Austin looked like he might go sick, all of this casual talk about killing vampires. It was so new to him that his mind was still having a hard time comprehending it.
One of the quieter hunters piped up, "I heard that they've got about twenty in their nest right now. Vince took a thermal image through a window last week."
"Yeah and where's Vince?" Dean already knew the answer.
"He uh… didn't make it. He called me with the info before he… expired." The quiet hunter became even quieter at the end of his statement.
"I'm sorry about that. But I am glad we know where these bastards are. The sooner we can get our team together, the better. Time is of the essence."
The third hunter, a large, burly man with frizzy hair and a lumberjack beard said, "I want to kill these vamps just as bad as you. And I don't want to be crass, but in all likelihood they've drained your brother dry already."
Dean shook his head, "I know this sounds like I'm in denial, but Sam knew the vampire that took him. Um…. Personally. They were close. I suspect the vampire took my brother to turn him and make him a part of the pack. Now if I know Sammy, he's been stalling and making time for us to rescue him."
"I hope you're right." Mr. Southern Accent said warily.
"By the way… who's the twink?"
"Oh, him?"
Dean smiled a little teasing smile, and winked in Austin's direction.
"He's bait."
...XoXoXo...
Sam knew he was out of time. He had to make his decision. He already knew what it would be; he was simply trying to buy time. But now he had none. Dmitri came into his little prison cell of a room and sat on the cot with him.
"Are you all done thinking, Sam?"
"Well, not really. But I don't want to be unfair to you." Sam tried ever so hard not to tip this unspoken, precarious balance of persuasion and force that hid behind their every move.
"It's okay. I really shouldn't have sprung this on you so quickly. I mean… most people stay engaged for months before getting married. And bonding is a different matter because we vampires are immortal; I guess I should have left more time for you to think about it."
"I don't want to hurt anyone, Dmitri. If I became one of you… I don't know how I could fight my instincts like you have. I'm not as strong as you."
"You're not, Sam." Dmitri said firmly.
"You're even stronger than I am."
Sam frowned slightly and closed his eyes. The moment he did, he felt a hand on the back of his neck and lips close to his.
"Please let me be with you Sam. My family won't let me date you anymore unless I turn you. They don't trust humans."
"I know." Sam let Dmitri kiss him. It was a small, tentative kiss. More like a test than anything else.
"Well…" Dmitri leaned back so he could focus his eyes properly on Sam's reactions.
"Sam will you marry me?"
Sam took a deep breath, knowing what he had to finally say.
"I can't."
A darkness like Sam had never seen before crouched just behind Dmitri's eyes; like his consciousness decided to flip a switch and turn from sweet and persuasive, to downright evil in just a matter of a second.
Sam stayed perfectly still, not making a move while he watched the cloud of rage pass over Dmitri's countenance like a wave in the sea.
Dmitri had visibly calmed by the time he finally spoke. But this time he couldn't hide the sinister intent in his voice.
"I'm afraid this time, my love, I can't take no for an answer."
Sam was dragged across the catwalk and down the stairs, bound and blindfolded. His feet were free, but he couldn't see a thing through the blindfold and he knew that there would be no way he could escape successfully.
His mind flashed back to what Kalen said: "some of us get… triggered… when we see someone running and things get a little carried away…"
The young Winchester knew that things have already gotten carried away. His biggest regret thus far was not heeding Dean's warning; both in highschool and in college. He really should have just steered clear of this deep of a relationship with a man he could never truly turn back to a human. When it was all said and done, a vampire's loyalty would always be to the nest.
But now was really not the time for regrets. Now was the time to try and stay alive.
"I see he's made a decision." Kalen's voice hit Sam's ears like a booming drum reverberating off of the echoing walls.
"He has." Dmitri harshly shoved Sam into a kneeling position on the ground, and although he couldn't see anything he knew he was in front of the leader's throne.
"Just like you said, master Kalen; he chose loyalty to the inferior humans over his love for me."
"He does not love you, my son." Kalen spoke with a demeaning tone.
"He never did. He doesn't know the first thing about our kind, so how could he even begin to love you?"
"He shall soon know, Master. I've decided to turn him."
"Good. Will you be turning him with your own blood?"
"Yes." Dmitri reveled in the thought.
"And I will drink his. I wish to save him; in every sense of the word."
"Very well. You may do it."
Sam heard a knife being taken out of its sheath, and he knew what was about to happen. He didn't know why Dmitri didn't just use his vampire teeth to accomplish the task. He supposed it was more ritualistic this way.
He felt the knife poise next to his throat; his skin covering his pulsing vein was very nearly nicked by the knife's edge with each throb.
"I hope you will understand why I had to do this." Dmitri stated coolly.
Sam winced, but before the knife could move, a loud crashing sound resounded from the far side of the warehouse.
Dmitri froze, and Sam froze even more. He hoped that Dmitri would be distracted by the noise, but not so distracted as to let the knife make a detrimental cut.
Kalen shouted, "Lotus! Jacob! What's going on?"
All Sam could hear for a full thirty seconds were the sounds of feet running, the sound of distant scuffle, and then a sound that was unmistakable to an experienced hunter's ears:
The sound of a machete slicing off a head.
And the sound of a head falling to the floor.
Kalen did not move from his throne, or at least Sam never heard him move, until three more fallen vampires were taken in rapid succession.
Kalen audibly growled.
"You…. Human boy. You brought hunters here!" Kalen stomped down from his throne and took the knife from Dmitri, who stepped away out of fear.
Sam couldn't help but feel a little hopeful; now instead of a victim, he may still be useful to Kalen; perhaps as a hostage.
But the hunters laying siege upon the vampire nest were too efficient in their work to let a hostage situation play out. They chopped their way through more than a dozen necks before approaching the throne room, where Sam knelt in front of the vampire leader.
"Sam?!" Dean's gruff voice echoed.
There was another audible fight, and Dean won; Sam could tell by the sound of another head plopping onto the ground and a body slumping to the floor.
Kalen roared with anger.
"You… Monster!" The malice behind the vampire's words was stronger than any anger Sam had ever heard.
Sam winced instinctively, and this time his expectation was met with a sharp, visceral pain in his neck. It spread like a fire throughout his head and his torso, and a quick, warm river flowing down his body made him realize what just happened.
Kalen slit his throat.
Dean shouted something; Sam couldn't hear. His hearing turned into nothing but a white noise as he helplessly collapsed to the floor. His hands were still bound so he was unable to put pressure on his gushing wound.
He vaguely felt like he was floating, for a small amount of time. He heard a voice - presumably Dean's - shouting, screaming, crying. He felt something squeezing his neck, nearly cutting off his breathing, but not enough to make him lose consciousness just yet.
No, that came later. About three seconds later, when he realized that he had probably run out of blood to bleed. There was no more to give.
Sam realized he was dying.
And then there was nothing.