Hot as Hell
Part Two

"You wanna what?" This, of course, was Rachel's response to my request that she let me in her head.

"I want to read your mind," I repeated calmly. "It's your own fault. You shouldn't have lied."

"It's not gonna leave me a vegetable or anything, is it?"

"No," I said, slightly offended. "I'm not the bad guy in this; that's would be you." Rachel was one of them, anyway. "Now, relax."

I was squatting in front of her, which put me at a disadvantage if she wanted to do anything to me. I had Sam, Dean, and Bobby behind me at the ready, however, so I wasn't too worried. They had my back.

I grabbed Rachel's hand. "You're going to feel something pushing inside you. Don't push back. I don't wanna have to force myself in, but I will if I have to."

I definitely didn't want to force it. Forcing my soul - or whatever - into hers…would be very intrusive. Almost like rape, it would be a violation of sorts.

I took a deep breath and looked back at the three guys. Bobby was watching, interested it seemed. Dean was more focused on Rachel. And Sam…well, Sam was brooding. Which wasn't anything too earth-shattering. He was always brooding about something.

"Here goes nothing."

I took another breath and reached inside myself for the place my power came from and slowly sent it outward and into Rachel. She resisted at first, but I could tell it was just because she was scared and nervous.

"It's just me. Stop fighting."

She settled after a few seconds and I pushed further into her thoughts.

Tell me about Alex, I said - or, well, thought.

She gasped out loud, but thought, This feels weird.

Well, I'm not exactly bursting into song myself, I thought acidly. This did feel weird. I'd only ever done this with Dean, and her soul or light or spirit or whatever wasn't like Dean's. It wasn't as good or bright or loving.

Okay, okay. I think we both get the point, Rachel snapped.

Oops. I hadn't meant for her to hear that.

Okay. Alex now - tell me about him. Then I got specific. Where is he keeping his sacrifices?

Things got dark then and I thought for a second that she was blocking me, but then I was in a metal cage in a dark place. But…no, I wasn't in the cage, I was reliving her memory.

"I never agreed to this," she said to…Alex. He was beside her, barely visible in the darkness. "I never agreed to kill for you."

"No," I could hear the evil in his voice. "But I have faith in your survival instincts, your self preservation,"

"Hm." Rachel knew he was right. "Where's my cousin?"

Rachel was looking in on about thirteen people, taking in their faces, feeling a weird sense of relief that none of them were Alicia.

"Oh, don't worry. I would never have you kill your family. Not this early in the relationship."

Rachel lost it then and reached out to him. I didn't know what she was doing and he began laughing.

"Oh, do it again. It tickles."

What were you doing just then, I asked.

She grabbed my arm and I felt an intense heat - painful heat - and our connection broke.

"Ow!" I shrieked, standing up, grabbing my arm. There was a blistering handprint there. "What the hell?"

"You asked what I was doing," she answered. "I was just -"

I brought my hand up and smacked her square in the face. It was instinctive, I couldn't help it. Here we were being nice to her even though we knew she was an in-it-for-herself person, and she repaid us by doing this?

"Hey!" she said, and then looked at me shocked.

Dean grabbed me by the shoulders and turned me around. "You okay?"

"Yeah." I was already healing. "Yeah, I'm okay. I saw the…people for the - for the sacrifice. They were in a cage. God, like animals." I turned to Rachel again. "Where are they?"

"The warehouse. The one you found me in. There's a basement."

"We were there and you just let us walk out?"

"Hey, just because you don't have a sense of self preservation doesn't mean I don't."

"Would they still be alive?" Dean asked. "Could we get to them in time?"

Rachel shrugged. "I don't know. If they're alive, he's probably moved them. They were stinking up the place, anyway. Blood, urine, vomit."

How could she be so heartless? Did she even have a soul?

"You know, your cousin was probably one of the ones locked in a cage…somewhere else. She's gonna die, assuming she hasn't already. And, ya know, part of that is gonna be your fault."

"I'm not the one who -"

"That's not the point," I interrupted. "The point is you could've done something to stop this and you didn't." I glanced at my arm; it was completely healed now. "By the way, if you burn me again, I will do more than hit you."

I looked back at the others.

"We should go. If these people are still alive we have to find them."

"Yeah, well, what do we do about Miss Firestarter here?" Dean asked. "We can't leave her here alone, and we can't take her with us."

"Well, you guys go. I'll stay here with her."

"I don't know, Aly." Dean glanced at Rachel. "She's dangerous."

Duh. I was pretty sure the look I gave him let him know I knew exactly how dangerous she was. I had been burned already.

"Well, I'll stay with her, if you want," Sam said. "Or, well, both of them."

"O…kay," Dean said reluctantly. "Okay, we'll make it fast."

After giving Dean the address, he and Bobby left, and Sam began talking. I soon found out what he'd been brooding about earlier.

"I didn't know you could read minds," Sam said, and he sounded a little angry that he'd been kept out of the loop. "When did that start?"

"Oh, um…for a while. It was, um…" Why was this so hard? Sam was like a brother to me, so why was it hard to tell him? "It takes physical contact. I can't just look at you and read your thoughts."

I sat down at the table and ran my fingers through my hair.

"Do you remember that time I shot you?" Sam nodded. "Well, Dean and I had to connect so I could heal you. I had to draw strength from him. It was shortly after that I realized I could read his mind. Until now…I didn't use it one anyone but him. It was just…kinda…ours."

I didn't tell Sam that Dean could feel what I was feeling when he touched me. Or I was assuming he still could - he hadn't said anything about it in a while. Either way, it was Dean's secret to tell.

"I could try with you if you wanted."

Sam seemed hesitant. "I don't know. It's…weird, isn't it? For you I mean, it's weird?"

This time it was me who hesitated. "With Dean it wasn't. With Rachel, yeah. But, with Dean, it was just another way to be close. He didn't mind it. Because we are…we were us." I began playing with the ring on my left hand. "I told him I wasn't gonna push anymore. I'm gonna…make it easier for him. I'm not gonna lie, it's gonna hurt me. To be so close to him and not have him. But I can't force him to be with me."

Rachel, who had just been listening to us talk, said, "That's stupid. With as powerful as you are you could have anything you wanted. Want, take, have."

Want, take, have?

"Yeah, well, I actually have a soul, so…Besides, I wouldn't want Dean with me if it wasn't his choice." It would be wrong, and like I'd said…I couldn't force Dean to change his mind. Even if it did sound tempting.

"So, did you wanna try?" I asked Sam, not really caring one way or the other.

"Maybe later. I'm more worried about what Dean and Bobby are up to."

"Yeah. So…" I looked at Rachel now. "World domination, huh? How does he plan on doing that? All by his lonesome?"

Rachel shook her head. "No. No. His followers are supposed to like some kind of army."

"Does Alex thing that humans are just gonna sit down and take this?" I asked incredulously. "I mean, most humans don't like being controlled."

"People learn quickly. The more people who rebel, the more Alex will kill."

"People might not learn," Sam said. "Maybe they'll just get pissed off."

I smiled at that because I'd been thinking the same thing. It seemed Sam and I were on the same wave length on this: Alex Thompson was seriously underestimating the human race.

"You said before that he maybe wasn't human," I said to Rachel. "What did you mean?"

"Oh, he's definitely not human. The human visage is just a disguise."

"Show me."

She did the oddest thing then. She shrunk away from me and shook her head frantically. "No. I don't want to relive that particular memory."

"You're gonna have to tell us or show me. You'll have to remember, either way," I said.

"He has snake eyes. They're red. His face changes. Becomes longer. He has fangs. Like a vampire."

"Movie vampire?" Sam asked. "Or real ones?"

"I've never met a real vampire," Rachel snapped. "The point is, he changes form sometimes."

So he was a creature of some sort. A creature that was immune to her fire power thing. Did that mean he would be immune to my abilities, too? But, no, Rachel had said Alex was scared of me. And then there was the question of whether Alex was really Alex. Had he been born different, or had he been born normal and had changed over time? Or was this even Alex at all? Maybe, probably, hopefully, it was a creature impersonating Alex Thompson.

I glanced at my watch and realized Dean and Bobby should be at the warehouse now. I hoped they were okay, that the sacrifices were okay, that Alex wasn't there and that we stopped whatever he was planning to do.

"They'll be okay," Sam said, reading my face. "Whatever it is, they can handle it."

"I know," I said. "Just…waiting sucks, ya know?"

"Oh, yeah," he agreed emphatically.

When Dean and Bobby got back from the warehouse we found out it had been a bust. No sacrifices. There had, however, been cages, and the floors had been stained with blood. And there'd been a body of a teenage boy - a follower of Alex, maybe - who'd had his throat ripped out. Literally.

"Courtesy of Alex Thompson?" I asked Rachel coldly. I vaguely wondered if the boy had been alive when I'd been there earlier. Would I have been able to save him if I'd have known he was there?

I felt a pang, but focused on the task at hand.

"Probably," Rachel answered my question simply.

Sam and I went through what Rachel had told us - the whole creature thing and the world domination thing.

"So, basically, if he gets the sacrifices he needs…we'll have a full scale war on our hands," Bobby said.

"Basically exactly," I said. "I think he thinks people will just fall in line."

Dean glared at Rachel. "When is the sacrifice supposed to take place?"

She shook her head. "I don't know. Soon, I think. I really don't know."

I could tell she was telling the truth. Telling us the truth now would save her life, so why would she lie?

"Where else would he keep them?" I asked. "You said the teachers were in on it. The school, could the sacrifices be at the school?"

Rachel grimaced. "Maybe. The teachers don't know he wants to sacrifice anyone, so…maybe."

"Well, let's go," Dean said. "Let's stop this thing."

After forcing Rachel into the car - with much complaining from her - we began the ride to the high school.

"I don't know why I have to go. I can't help you."

"Oh, I don't know, you seem to have no problem burning people," I said. "So you'll come in handy. Just don't kill anyone unless you have to."

"I'm just saying…I'll probably get in the way."

"Probably," Dean agreed, seeing right through her excuses. "But there's no way we trust you enough to leave you alone."

"Yeah, yeah."

It was nighttime when we reached the school. The lights were on in the parking lot, the lights were on in the school. That wasn't too suspicious. Maybe janitorial was in doing their job. Or maybe Alex Thompson was there holding one of his evil meetings or recruiting new followers or making his sacrifices. And suddenly I was thinking I had too many ors too think about.

"So, say we come across a room full of his followers," I said, trying to sound nonchalant but coming across as nervous. "What's the plan?"

"Fight hard." Bobby shrugged. "Don't die."

"Hm." Dean chuckled. "Very basic. Not hard to remember. I like it."

We parked the car and got out. Dean popped the trunk and handed each of us a gun and a knife. Excluding Rachel, of course. Of course, if Alex's followers were willing to die for him, the weapons wouldn't do that much good. We'd run out of ammo long before killing everyone. Killing everyone, killing humans. God.

"Dean…" I started. "We don't even know how to kill this thing." We didn't even know what this thing was.

"Well, I thought we might try violence," he said. "Besides, this is strictly a rescue mission. If the people are here, we get them out to safety."

"Yeah, okay."

"Well, whatever we're gonna do, we better do it fast because the cops will respond pretty quickly," Sam said.

"Right. Because school's have security systems now."

"That's assuming money hasn't changed hands there," Bobby said. "Chances are this Alex character has them on his payroll."

We reached the door, Rachel in tow, and began picking the lock. I couldn't believe I was breaking into a school; I'd worked so hard to get out of school and now I was breaking my way back in. When we got inside we saw a welcoming desk, an office, and a guidance office. The computers in the office were off, of course, it being night and all. Off to the left was the nurse's office and a couple classrooms. Then further down was a cafeteria. To the right was an auditorium and a gym and then further down was an exit. Right in front of us was the door to the library.

"If they're here…they'd be in the basement, I think," Rachel whispered. "Or below it."

"Below it?" Sam asked. "You mean the tunnel system?"

"Yeah."

"Well, where's the basement?" Dean asked.

In hindsight, we probably should've gotten the blueprints for the building.

"Do you wanna split up?"

"No way," Dean said firmly. "This Alex Thompson guy is a loose cannon, so we're sticking together."

"Oh, good. I was hoping you would say that," I said, because I hated when we split up.

The basement access was near the cafeteria and it was unlocked so we went inside and let our eyes adjust to the sudden darkness.

"Um, you guys are gonna hate this idea," I began my voice barely about a whisper. "But we have to hold hands."

"What?" Sam and Dean breathed out harshly.

"It's dark, we can't turn on a light - it'll announce our presence - and we could lose each other easily. This place probably goes like a maze."

With much grumbling from the two brothers I placed myself between them. We went in single-file: Dean, myself, Sam, Rachel, and then Bobby. Dean had insisted on going first, and one of us had to be the tail-end to make sure Rachel didn't run off.

"I wish we had a light," Dean complained. "I can't see a damn thing." Translation: he didn't want us getting lost down here.

"Yeah, maybe we should announce our presence. It'll make this quicker."

"Fine," I agreed. They both had a point: we couldn't see anything and it would be quicker if we had a light.

I was taken by surprise when a ball of flame began floating in front of us and I froze for a second. Had Rachel done that?

"There," she said quietly. "Now we can see."

"Huh. A'right, that's pretty awesome," Dean said. "Even if you are a heartless bitch."

"I am not a -"

"Enough," I said. "Can we focus, please?" My ire was directed at Rachel mostly and she stopped talking almost immediately. I felt gratified.

We went on through the basement and it was like a maze. The ball of fire led the way. Eventually we reached a wall and a dead end. Nothing.

"Well, this was a waste of time," Dean said.

I stomped in frustration. Stomped, literally. I leaned against the wall and crossed my arms over my chest…and fell through. I lost my balance and oomphed as my bottom hit a stone floor. Ow.

"Hey," a male voice said frantically. "How'd you get here?"

I looked around - it was dark here, too - but could only see the outline of the guy. I realized then that I was cold…it was cold here. Freezing, almost.

"Aly?" Dean's voice, whispering desperately. "Are you there?"

"I'm here."

Since I couldn't see him, I reached out my inner self to find him. I grabbed his hand and made sure he was…well…him.

A light flashed on and I saw that we were all here. Me, Dean, Sam, Bobby, and Rachel. Rachel looked spooked.

"Rachel?" The male voice from earlier. I could see him now. The guy was a normal teenager. He had a college T-shirt on, so I assumed he was that age.

"Eric…" They embraced quickly. Was this good? Or bad? They obviously knew each other.

"What is this?" I asked.

Rachel looked at me. "Eric is sort of a guard." She smirked his way. "Nice job with that, by the way."

He shrugged. "Whatever. You know I'm only here because I have to be."

"Are the sacrifices here?" Dean asked, and his tone clearly said don't lie to me.

Eric flinched at the authoritative voice. "No. But Alex is. Who are you?"

"They can help," Rachel said. "They're them."

Eric's eyes widened. "Them? Sam and Dean and Alyson?"

How did everyone know us? Were we really that popular?

"You've heard of us," Sam said.

"Well, yeah, you guys…let's just say the underworld hates you."

"That's because we always kick their ass," Dean said knowingly, and maybe a little smugly.

"Where's Alex?" I asked, focusing on the case.

Eric pointed to the left. "That way. But I wouldn't go if I were you. He's expecting you. And he's not very happy with you, Rachel."

She frowned and I saw the fear in her eyes. I felt a little bad for her even if she had brought it on herself.

"Okay, let's go," Dean said. This was one of those times when Dean was pretending to be brave but inside he was terrified.

God, I was terrified, too. We didn't know what Alex was, we didn't know how many other people were here. We were probably outnumbered.

"Oh, God, we're gonna die, aren't we?" I said without actually meaning to.

Dean looked at me weird. "Okay, General, way to inspire the troops." Then to Eric. "Lead the way."

"What? But -"

"Lead the way," Dean repeated.

Eric gulped and did as he was told.

The farther we went, the colder it got. I could see my breath in front of me, it was so cold. I had started shivering and Dean had had no choice but to pull me close. It kinda went against his no-touching rule with us, but he didn't want me freezing.

I still didn't understand how we'd come through the wall - a glamour, maybe, or an illusion.

We heard…something. Chanting maybe. People chanting 'Alex' over and over again.

"Where're we going?" I asked quietly.

"Hell, probably," Rachel said seriously. "Gonna be crowded down there."

I glanced at Dean. It would be crowded in hell, if only because Dean would be there. My gut twisted uncomfortably and I had to swallow back the bile I felt rising.

"So, why did you join?" I asked, changing the subject.

"Me?" Eric asked. "It was the only way I could protect my family and myself."

We reached a room - even darker and colder here - and peeked in. There were about one hundred people, still chanting. But everything fell silent real quickly. Did they know we were here?"

"We have visitors," the voice from Rachel's memory said. Alex Thompson. Crap. "The three are here."

Then, without even time to respond, I felt a sharp pain at my side and then it was lights out.

When I woke up I couldn't move much. I was chained to the wall. I pulled as hard as I could and I realized I had maybe a foot of slack. My head was pounding and the chains were loose enough for me to grab where it hurt.

"God." It really hurt.

"Aly?"

Dean. Oh, God, Dean. He was here with me. I didn't know if that made me happy or worried.

"Dean," I said, looking in the direction of his voice. He was chained, too, and Sam. "Sam."

"We're here," Dean said. "Are you okay?"

"My head hurts. What happened?"

"I think we were tasered," Sam said. "That's what it feels like."

"Oh, great."

"Can you get us out?"

"I dunno, I'll try."

I centered myself as best as I could considering the circumstances, but when I pushed the chains burnt me much like Rachel had earlier.

"Ow!" Son of a bitch.

I stopped pushing and the chains stopped burning.

"Hurts, doesn't it?" A door opened and that repulsive voice - the one that belonged to Alex - filled the room. And we were in a room…a dungeon type room. The floor was stone and it was freezing in here. "I made those with a very special material. As long as you're in them you're powerless."

"Where's Bobby," Dean demanded. "What'd you do to him?"

"Oh, don't worry, he's still alive. For now. He's been moved with the other sacrifices."

Bobby as a sacrifice? Oh, God.

Sam, Dean and I all struggled against our restraints at the same time.

"Oh, don't get your undies in a twist. He's got it way easier than you guys. You guys - I actually need something from you." Alex's smile - evil smile - filled his face. "I lured you here. I knew the missing people would do the trick."

"What do you need from us?" Sam, ever the inquisitive one, asked.

"Well, I need your blood," Alex said to him. "I'll need to bleed you dry." His focus turned to Dean. "I need your heart, but don't worry, you won't feel a thing." I clenched my jaw as he turned to me. "And I need you, period. Your strength and abilities, anyway."

I scoffed. Who did he think I was? "I'm not like Rachel. I won't kill for you. I won't kill innocent people."

"Innocent people?" Alex seemed fascinated by my terminology. "There's no such animal."

Why couldn't I feel him? What was he? A shapeshifter? Had to be. He looked human, but underneath it all he was a creature.

"Besides, I don't need you to do that for me. I'm extracting your power center. I'll use it myself."

He couldn't do that. Well, he could, but he wouldn't be able to use it. Not himself. It would kill him first, right? Bad things couldn't take me over so it made sense that my power couldn't take over something bad, right?

"If you need us…let the others go," Dean said.

"Oh, no, they're needed. They're the beginning, then Sam's blood, your heart, and Alyson's power center. In that order. One each day. You have until tomorrow morning. The sacrifices are being killed as we speak. You'll know when it's done…the earth will shake."

An earthquake… We were in way over our heads.

An hour later I had my wrists bleeding and slick. They were raw and it hurt badly when I pulled at them. I had bitten through my lip a few times to keep from crying out. Alex wasn't here at the moment and I didn't need him alerted to what I was doing. The muscles in my shoulders were tired and they trembled as I continued using them.

As the blood coated my fingers my hands slipped through the shackles. I felt like whooping with relief, but I didn't. Now that my chains were off I could get Sam and Dean free. So I did.

We quickly made sure we were all okay to go. Dean checked my wrists, which were still sore but already healing.

"We have no weapons," Sam said. "How're we gonna fight these guys? How're we gonna get to Bobby?"

"I am a weapon," I said, glancing at Sam. "And don't worry about Bobby. He'll be fine. He has to be." Because he was Bobby.

"Are you up for it?" Dean asked.

"I am." I didn't really have a choice, anyway.

It was weird, but we didn't meet anyone in the building. Anyone. Well, this had trap written all over it. When we reached the outside we hesitantly went forward. I didn't feel anything, but that that didn't mean anything. I realized we were still at the high school and we went straight to the car. Nobody tried to stop us. Nobody. This was definitely a trap.

There was a noise that sounded like what I imagined an erupting volcano sounded like. Then I was being thrown into the air. Had there been an explosion? Was this the heat wave from it? I tried to keep my body as loose as possible, and I brought my arms up to protect my head.

When I landed, my whole body protested. I hit asphalt and I felt my skin tear as I slid to a stop. I laid there for I don't know how long, slipping in and out of consciousness. Finally I was able to remain awake when I heard a voice calling out to me.

Bobby? Was it Bobby? How'd he get here?

I managed to open my eyes and two Bobby's came into view. He helped me up and I winced - it felt like rock was embedded in my skin. I wouldn't heal unless it was taken out.

"You're here," I said, relieved. "How're you here?"

"I got out, took a couple with me."

"Sam, Dean. Where are they?"

Bobby shook his head. "I dunno. But we'll find them."

I looked around, surveying the damage. There was debris from the school flaming on the ground. The sign from the school had been uprooted and had landed near me. I realized I hadn't been thrown to far - maybe fifty feet - and I could see the car. The Impala had taken the brunt of the damage, what with things being thrown into it and all. Dean was gonna be pissed.

"Dean!" I shrieked. "Sam! We have to find them. Now!"

"We will," Bobby said, grabbing my arms. "We will. Don't panic."

"No, no, no, you don't understand. Once a certain amount of people die, there'll be an earthquake. So we have -"

Before I got to finish…the ground started trembling. God, earthquakes and fire and, what, was the world ending?

"Oh, my God," I muttered.

"Dean's okay," Bobby said. "They both are." I could tell, though, that it was like I'd reassured Sam earlier. Bobby didn't know they were okay. He probably didn't even feel it. But they had to be.

"Of course they are," I remarked. "They're them, after all."

In the distance I heard car alarms and I was fairly certain I heard screams, and why not? We were having an earthquake in Ohio. Along with the serious heat wave, everyone had to know something was going on. Something weird.

"We need to take cover," Bobby yelled over the noise.

"But -"

"We're no good to them dead. We take cover and find them when everything settles down."

"Yeah, yeah, okay."

With on last glance around I surveyed everything again. What if they were buried in the debris? What if they were burning or suffocating as we were standing there.

"You go," I told Bobby. "I'm not leaving."

"Alyson, you're hurt -"

"No," I almost yelled. "No. If it was me buried in there Dean wouldn't stop until he found me. I have to look."

They couldn't be dead. Dean couldn't be dead. God, he couldn't be.

"They'll be okay," Bobby muttered. "Like you said, they're them. They're survivors."

I nodded shakily and tried to calm myself down. I couldn't do anything if I wasn't calm. But, God, I was shaking. Was I going into shock?

Yes, I think I was. This was too much for me. The earthquake, the fire…I'd been on edge to begin with; add in the apocalyptic events and I was a nervous wreck.

The ground was still shaking a little. What if the ground split apart and we never found the other two? And, thinking of others…where were Eric and Rachel? Had Rachel helped Alex, or had she been killed with the others? What had Alex needed her for?

I moved toward the rubble, breathing heavily and fighting back tears. I was going to find my guys. I had to find them.

Okay, so...I know it's been a while since I updated last, and again I have a reason. I helped my mom and dad move and I got sick from it. I've been writing bits and pieces for the last week and a half or so and here it is. I don't know if you guys will notice it, but I used shorter sections for parts of this chapter. It was all leading up to the part where Aly freaked out. I just wanted to note the fact that she's been internally freaking out ever since Dean made the deal, and she's been letting it build and build and now in this chapter it's started to come out. And then at the beginning of the chapter where she hit Rachel, I kinda had a debate with myself on whether she would've done that or not because Aly is the type of person that thinks things through before she does them, but that one was kinda just instinctive. But then I thought, she's been on edge for a while now and she's had nowhere to place her anger and Rachel seemed like a good target at the moment. LOL Anyway, enjoy.