Chapter Sixteen

Dark, raw, bloody. Hopeless.

The Cage.

Adam woke again to unceasing darkness, and he didn't have to be able to see to know that he wasn't with his brothers anymore. A sinking feeling settled in his gut, as slowly his senses were returned to him.

He was resting on a cold, hard and uneven surface – which he knew from experience went on forever. It was still dark but now he could see – rust and blood and metallic death everywhere. He knew without looking that somewhere nearby, if he went close enough, he would find Sam's clothes, shredded and bloodstained.

Then came the sound.

The sound was always much, much worse than the sight, because Adam could always choose not to see. He couldn't, however, choose not to listen, no matter how hard he tried. Every time it was the same thing, the soundtrack to his life – death? whatever – in the Cage.

The sound of Sam's screams.

Logically, Adam knew there was no way he was back in the Cage. He knew that physically, he was sleeping in a motel room, his brothers in the other bed. He knew that he had escaped his torment, and there was no going back, simply because his brothers wouldn't let it happen.

So why was it so difficult to wake up from this nightmare?

His brothers had already chased away the remaining vestiges of the one he'd had a few hours ago. He knew they were tired and under a lot of stress, and they needed their rest. It was unfair of him, he thought, to ask them to have to look after him too.

But the screams still went on, and it got harder and harder to believe that Sam wasn't asleep but was, in fact, being ripped to shreds somewhere nearby, with Lucifer enjoying every moment, and Michael doing nothing to stop it. And Adam knew that in agreeing to go through it everyday for the rest of eternity, Sam was ensuring that Adam would be unharmed.

"Stop, please," he begged, to whoever could hear. "Please, just stop, don't hurt him..."

But no one listened, and Adam could feel his hope dying. There was no one here but them, two angry Archangels, a man who'd given himself up for the world, and a boy who was nothing but collateral damage.

Sam's screams continued.

Adam sat up with a jolt and looked around, his eyes flying over to where Sam lay curled under his sheets, Dean a tangled mess next to him. His breathing was heavy and fast, like he had just run a 10k marathon, but try as he might he couldn't get himself to calm down. Sam was safe, safe and alive, and Dean was still there, he wasn't going anywhere. Adam repeated that to himself until it sounded believable, and then he leaned back against the headboard and closed his eyes.

Not to sleep, though. Sleep was light years away from him.

He glanced again at his brothers a few meters away, and absently noticed that Dean's amulet was off, sitting on the side-table. Maybe it was uncomfortable to sleep with, he thought.

Sam's cell phone was next to the amulet, and Adam wondered if he could use it to distract himself. He was sure Sam wouldn't mind. Slowly and silently he got out of bed and tiptoed over, taking the phone and making his way back.

The charge level was 86%. Satisfied, Adam began playing Temple Run, hoping to keep his mind far away from Lucifer, and the Cage, and Sam's screams still ringing in his ears.

He didn't know how long he sat there, playing games and occasionally surfing the web for cat pictures and boring bits of celebrity news. It was the most mundane thing he could think of, and in a previous life he would have scoffed at the idea of sitting in a motel bed in the middle of the night, reading all about Kim Kardashian's love life. But it helped keep his mind busy, and that was what mattered.

Seriously though - what kind of a name was North West? Adam thought of the name with a particularly sarcastic tone.

Sam stirred when the first rays of sunlight broke through the window. He propped himself up on his elbows to see Dean still asleep, but Adam wide awake and reading something on his cell phone.

"You all right?" he asked.

Adam started, before blinking at Sam sheepishly. "I'm fine," he answered. "Woke a bit early." He was surprised at how easily the lie came to him.

Sam looked suspicious but to Adam's relief, chose not to comment. "If you say so," he said. "What do you want for breakfast?"

Adam shrugged. "Anything," he answered, wondering if his sleepless night showed on his face.

Sam looked closely at him once more before getting out of bed and opening his bag, evidently looking for clothes. Adam watched him for a few moments before asking, "How long till we get to Kevin?"

"Not too long, I hope," Sam answered, still rummaging through his bag. "We should be there by tomorrow."

Dean blinked and sat up, and Adam noticed immediately how his hands flew to his neck. Following his fingers, Adam noticed an angry-looking welt that Dean was gingerly prodding. "How'd you get that?" he asked. "It wasn't there last night."

"Yeah, good morning to you too, sunshine," muttered Dean, untangling himself from the sheets.

"Dean, what happened?" Sam had stopped looking for clothes, and was now looking at Dean with concern. "How did that happen?"

Dean looked from Adam to Sam. "Honestly?" he said, groaning. "I don't even know. But this little fucker–" he held up the amulet by its string "–isn't what we thought it is."

"What, then?" asked Sam, staring at the amulet. It shone innocently in the sunlight, and Dean had a sudden urge to chuck it at something. That damned welt hurt.

Dean shrugged. "I don't know," he said. "It's beginning to burn, for one. It's all right one second and burns like a bitch the next. Also – and if you laugh I will kill you – it makes faces at me." Dean whispered the last part, like the amulet might be listening.

Sam and Adam simply stared.

"I am completely serious," insisted Dean. "Do I look like I'd joke about something like this?"

There was no answer.

Dean scoffed and made to get off the bed, shaking his head at himself. He should have gathered more evidence or something before telling his brothers, because now it seemed like they thought he was crazy.

Sam stopped him before he could get very far. "Let me take a look at that," he said. Dean regarded him for a minute before handing the amulet over.

Sam examined it for a long while, before giving it an experimental shake. Before he could stop himself, Dean said, "Don't do that, it doesn't like it."

Sam raised an eyebrow at Dean. "How would you know?" he asked.

Dean felt himself flush. "I – er – sorta kinda had a conversation with it," he muttered under his breath.

Sam's eyebrows traveled higher up his face. "You had a conversation with it," he stated deadpan.

"Yes, Sammy, I had a conversation with it," Dean said, more loudly this time. "Sue me."

Sam just made a strange expression and continued examining the amulet. "So you talked to it. Did it answer?"

Dean glared, while Adam just continued looking nonplussed.

"I'm serious, Dean."

"No, not exactly," Dean finally said. "It just sort of... made faces at me."

"It made faces at you."

"That's what I just said, isn't it?"

"This is weird."

"Thank you, Captain Obvious."

It was Adam who changed the topic for them. "I'm hungry," he announced.

Dean stared at him incredulously, while Sam continued examining the amulet. Finally, he said, "Maybe we should ask Missouri about it before we leave."

"I don't know, Sammy," said Dean. "We've already delayed getting to Kevin. The kid could be in real danger."

Sam looked at the amulet for a second more before handing it back to Dean and saying, "All right. We'll come back after Kevin is safe."

"I'm hungry," Adam told them, hiding a yawn.

Sam rapped impatiently on the door to Kevin's bunker, while Dean called "Kevin! Open up, kid!"

There was no response, and Sam was about to knock again when the door swung open and Kevin stood there, brandishing a frying pan. "Oh, it's you guys," he said, obviously relieved.

"What's with the frying pan?" asked Adam.

"Just in case," Kevin replied, letting them inside.

"Just in case what?" inquired Dean.

Kevin looked at them, and in the new light the shadows under his eyes and the exhaustion on his face were in stark contrast with his pale skin. "Crowley," he replied shortly. It was slightly amusing that he believed a frying pan could defend him against anything Crowley had.

"So what were you saying you had to tell us?" asked Sam.

"And can you please put the frying pan down?" interjected Adam, eyeing it nervously. "I keep thinking you're going to hit me."

"I've translated the second trial," Kevin told them, setting the frying pan aside.

There was a silence, before Dean thumped Kevin on the back, making him stagger forward. "Good job, kid!" he said loudly, grinning.

"Awesome," mumbled Sam, looking a little less pleased about it.

"No, it isn't," Kevin said, dodging out from under Dean's arm. "If Crowley's in my head, he knows."

"What makes you think he's in your head?" asked Adam, interested.

"I hear him all the time, and I see things that aren't there," Kevin said frantically, dragging a hand down his own face. "I'm going insane."

"He's not in your head, Kevin," said Sam gently. "You're just over-stressed."

"I think we're going to have to up your anxiety meds," Dean added.

"Trust me, I know what it's like to really have someone in your head. It's absolute shit," Adam assured him, and Sam nodded in agreement.

Kevin looked a little assured, and then Dean asked, "So, what's the trial?"

"An innocent soul has to be rescued from Hell and delivered unto Heaven," Kevin told them, sitting down at his desk and pressing his fingers into his temples.

Dean raised an eyebrow in Sam's direction. "Should be easy," he said sarcastically.

Adam was looking around the bunker, and then asked Kevin, "Where's the other guy? The short, skinny one?"

"Garth?" Kevin didn't look up. "I don't know. Grocery... or was it dentist's appointment?"

The fact that he said it like it was an everyday occurrence bothered Dean. Before he could say so, Sam asked, "Rescue a soul from Hell... like, actually go to Hell?" He looked less than happy with the prospect, and with good reason. "How the hell am I going to go to Hell, get a soul out and then somehow send it to Heaven?"

"We need an expert," Dean declared into the silence that followed.

Adam's lack of sleep was beginning to catch up with him. As soon as they were back in the car he found himself yawning and sinking into the blanket kept in the backseat, closing his eyes. In the front, Sam and Dean were talking in hushed voices, something about Devil's Traps and demons and crossroads. Normally it would have interested Adam, but he felt too wiped out to care.

He hadn't slept more than a maximum of three hours in the last couple of days. It was easy enough to feign sleep until Sam and Dean were both knocked out, and then he would get up and make himself some coffee, reading or messing with Sam's phone to pass the time. Lucifer was always there, a constant present now, instead of just the occasional hallucination, but Adam tried his best to ignore him. He found that keeping his mind busy helped.

However, the instant his eyes slid shut and he began to fall asleep, Lucifer would start singing or playing some giant imaginary boombox and make enough noise to wake Adam up again. It was beginning to take a toll on him – he felt tired and grouchy all the time. His brothers were concerned, he knew, but he just couldn't bring himself to tell them. He had a feeling Sam knew, though – after all, Sam had been in his shoes a year ago.

"They're talking about getting themselves a demon," Lucifer now said conversationally, sitting next to Adam in the backseat. "Of course, they don't know they've got one in the backseat."

Adam ignored him, wrapping the blanket tighter around himself and resting his head against the window. "They could ask you everything they want to know, but you don't remember anything. So... let's compile a list." He began counting off his fingers. "You're useless, you're practically a demon, you're unwanted, you're whiny, you're dull... I really do wonder why they keep you around."

Adam wanted so badly to tell Lucifer to stick it where the Sun didn't shine, but that would involve speaking. Speaking would ensure his brothers knew what was going on, and he didn't want to interrupt their conversation. There were some things in the world more important than him. Completing trials was one of them.

He was much too tired even to scream or deny everything that Lucifer was saying, and that was saying a lot. Previously, he had kicked and screamed and been hysterical, especially after nightmares. Now... he just didn't have the energy left.

"Maybe it's because they have plans for you," suggested Lucifer, looking for all the world like a lightbulb had gone off over his head. "Maybe they're going to use you to complete the trials somehow. Maybe like a sacrifice? It would make sense. After all, they're always sacrificing others to save themselves – and of course, each other."

Adam just discreetly showed Lucifer the finger. The manner in which he did it was incredibly weary.

Lucifer laughed. "What, you really think they care about you? Come on, kid, I'd thought you were smarter than that! The only reason they would keep you is because you would make a useful pawn. Don't fool yourself into thinking otherwise."

And to his horror, Adam realized that the thing niggling in the back of his head was doubt.

Bit not good, eh?

Okay, first off - I cannot explain to you guys how sorry I am that this is late. My life hasn't exactly been a bed of roses lately - between tension (due to academic reasons), personal problems and some sort of crippling sadness that I seem to be chronically suffering from... I just couldn't. I could have sat down and made myself type, but that wouldn't have been my 100% and that wouldn't be fair to you guys.

I really hope you're not mad at me.

Moving on to the positive things - I've decided to give you a sneak peek of what's to come. The amulet's going to be an important plot device, as you might have guessed. The next chapter will feature the second trial - changed a bit to include Adam's role. Also I'm thinking I might get Adam and Bobby to meet, what do you think?

For those of you who are Linkin Park fans, I've started a thing - Linkin Park on Facebook. It's just something I've decided to do for fun, and can be found at thesocialnetworklp dot tumblr dot com. I've also started a Linkin Park/SPN crossover which I'll add a link to on my profile. Do check it out if you're interested.

Question of the day - are you a coffee person, or a tea person?

Personally I'm a coffee person. I've never really tasted tea, but I think I might prefer coffee anyway. My favorite kind is cappuccinos :) and I can't stand it when coffee's too milky or sweet.

I really love you guys, and once again I apologize. I do hope you'll forgive me.

Feedback is appreciated, and if you're mad at me feel free to yell at me in the reviews.

-Peace x