Live Free or Twihard Part 2

Sam shut the curtains and Angela turned off the lights in the room. Dean held his hand to his head. The regular noises of the city were now amplified in his head.

"Oh my God, what is that sound?" Dean groaned.

"What sound, Dean?" Angela asked softly.

Dean pushed over the lamp and it crashed to the floor. The siren and honking of a passing fire truck got louder. He heard the muffled sounds of the TV in the neighboring room. He pounded on the wall. Every noise was deafening, from his footsteps to the clicks of the light switches. Now Sam and Angela's heartbeats reached Dean's ears. Sam's was steady, and Angela's was quicker.

"Dean…you should sit down…" Sam suggested.

"You sit down." Dean snapped. He sat on the edge of one of the beds and cradled his head in his hand. A passing freight train pounded into his ears. "Of all the ways to die, I never thought I'd be going out like this."

"Dean, nobody is 'going out'," Angela assured.

Dean heard a loud, mechanical ticking sound. He looked over at the nightstand and watched the alarm clock flip over to 11:11. He got up. "Is that…"

"What?" Sam asked confused.

Dean roughly ripped the clock's cord out of the wall, which caused sparks to shoot out. He faced Sam and Angela.

"Samuel is gonna kill me when he gets here," Dean said.

"No, Dean, don't say that!" Angela pleaded.

"Yes, he is, 'cause I'm gonna ask him to because you two won't do it," Dean replied.

"Okay, just hold on a second…" Sam started.

"For what, huh?" Dean snapped. "Look at me!"

"We can figure this out!" Sam replied.

"How?!" Dean yelled. Dean was now picking up on how calm Sam's heartbeat was. "Why aren't you freaked out?" he asked suspiciously.

"Of course I am!" Sam defended.

"Really?" Dean raised a brow. "'Cause I can hear your heartbeat, and it's pretty damn steady. Angie's heartbeat isn't that steady…it's not steady at all."

"That's 'cause I'm…I'm trying to remain calm," Sam lied. "Dean, look—Samuel will know what to do."

"C'mon." Dean scoffed. "I'm a monster, okay? This is not a problem that you spit-ball. We gotta deal with this before I hurt somebody."

There was an uncomfortable pause. Dean held his head again and groaned.

"How's it feel?" Sam asked suddenly.

Angela looked over at Sam, almost disgusted that he would ask that.

"Now?" Dean raised a brow. "Now you wanna talk about my feelings?"

"No, I mean…physically," Sam replied.

"How do you think it feels?" Dean snapped. "Not good!" He added before he crossed towards the bathroom.

"Where are you goin'?" Sam sighed.

"Bathroom, okay?" Dean replied. "News flash, Mr. Wizard: vampires pee!" He snapped as he stormed into the bathroom, slamming the door.

Sam sighed and noticed Angela staring at him. "What?" he asked, confused.

Angela shook her head. "You let him get turned." She accused.

Sam scoffed and rolled his eyes. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"You're sick, Sam." Angela shook her head. "Something is wrong with you."

In the bathroom, Dean splashed some water on his face, the looked at his reflection. He lifted his lip with his finger to reveal that his fangs have already grown in. He hung his head and closed his eyes in absolute despair. After a moment, he turned the water on again. In the main room, Sam was about to get a glass of water and Angela was pacing. Suddenly, she heard a noise coming from the bathroom. She knocked on the door.

"Dean?" she asked. Angela opened the door to find that Dean had escaped through the bathroom window; the blinds hung askew. "Crap."

~/~\~

Dean stood in Lisa's bedroom, watching her sleep. A barking dog woke her; Lisa saw Dean and sat up, startled.

"Dean." She breathed.

"Hey." He replied.

She turned on her nightstand lamp, and it blinded him. He looked away. He could hear her heart beating.

"Hey," Lisa mumbled sleepily. "I wasn't expecting you for a couple of days."

"Yeah, yeah…" Dean nodded. "I wanted to see you." He sat on the bed.

"What's up? Are you okay?" Lisa asked.

"Listen…" Dean started.

Lisa started to catch on that something was wrong. "What's going on?"

"It doesn't matter." Dean shook his head. "But I need you to know…you and Ben…just, uh…Thanks. Okay? For everything."

Lisa slid out from under the covers and moved closer to him, her heartbeat quickening a little. "Dean, you're scaring me."

Dean could smell her blood now…never mind the fact that she wasn't wearing all that much. He clenched his jaw and tried to ignore it. He rose and took a few steps.

"Oh, God, I'm Pattinson…" Dean mumbled.

"What?" Lisa asked, confused.

"Nothing." Dean shook his head. "I…I gotta go…"

"No, you can't just show up here like this and—

"Believe me, I wish it was different." Dean interrupted.

"Just stop and explain to me what's going on out there." Lisa pleaded.

Dean paused and shook his head miserably. "Lisa, I can't bring this crap home to you."

"You're talking about your work?" she asked.

"I'm talking about my life." He corrected. "It's ugly…and it's violent…and I'm gonna die—soon."

Lisa was visibly upset now. "Just tell me." She pleaded. "Just tell me what the hell is going on…"

Lisa grabbed Dean's arms. Dean stared at her, listened to her heartbeat, and couldn't stand it any longer. He grabbed her shoulders and pressed her against the wall roughly. Her heart rate skyrocketed. Dean's eyes narrowed as he moved in close to Lisa; her chest started heaving. His mouth started to stray slowly towards her throat, but he pulled himself away and faced the other direction. His new fangs descended.

"Dean?" Lisa asked, confused.

"I gotta go…" Dean replied.

Dean fled into the hallways, covering his mouth with his hand. Ben emerged from his room, rubbing his eyed.

"Dean…?" Ben asked, confused.

"Ben, just stay there," Dean said.

"I thought I heard you—Ben started.

"I said stay back!" Dean snapped. Dean pushed Ben away and into the wall before tearing out of the house.

Lisa quickly pulled Ben to safety and stared at Dean.

~/~\~

Sam, Angela, and Samuel entered the room. Samuel carried a large duffel bag.

"Can't keep track of Dean now?" Samuel looked at Sam and Angela.

"Well, we didn't think he'd just—Sam started.

"He's not himself, Sam." Samuel interrupted. "He's a monster and he's hungry. You two gotta be prepared to do the right thing."

"I told you he'd kill me when he showed up," Dean said suddenly.

Sam, Angela, and Samuel looked over to see Dean hunched against a cabinet, in the dark. Sam and Samuel quickly drew their machetes.

"Did you feed?" Samuel asked.

"I went to say goodbye to Lisa…which, for the record, was a lousy idea," Dean replied.

"Dean, answer the question," Samuel replied sternly.

"You can relax, I didn't 'drink' anyone," Dean replied.

"Thank God." Samuel sighed, relieved.

"But I came close," Dean said, removing his jacket. "Alright. Do it."

"Okay…if you insist…" Samuel trailed off. "Or I can just turn you back."

Dean and Angela went wide-eyed, surprised. "What?" they both asked.

"What?!" Sam asked, acting surprised.

Samuel gave Sam an odd look but turned his attention back to Dean.

"I didn't drive all this way to kill you, Dean—I'm here to save you," Samuel said.

~/~\~

The four hunters sat at the table. Samuel opened his journal and slid it to Dean.

"That's my grandfather's journal," Samuel said. "Cure's an old Campbell recipe, kind of like the soup. No one's tried it since God knows. What I hear…this stuff is a bad trip."

"Awesome," Dean muttered.

"Hey—the cure is good," Samuel assured. "But a lot of this is one you. You drink, you're done. It won't work. I'm talking one drop of human blood—

"I got it." Dean cut him off.

"Do you?" Samuel asked. "Because you will feed. It's a matter of time."

Dean slammed the journal shut. "What else do we need?"

"Some stuff we got, some we gotta get," Samuel replied. "Trickiest thing on the list: the blood of the fang that turned ya."

"That guy was huge," Angela replied.

"There's nothing in the recipe about 'easy'." Samuel retorted.

Dean stood up. "I can get it."

"You're gonna walk right into the nest?" Samuel raised a brow.

"Well, I'm one of them, aren't I?" Dean shrugged. "So all I gotta do is get in there, get the guy alone, and…shoot him with so much dead man's blood that he'll think he's rushing a fraternity."

"Angie and I should come with you," Sam said.

"No." Dean shook his head. "You two reek. You're like walking hamburgers. I gotta do this solo."

"Yeah, except—we haven't been able to find him yet," Sam replied.

Dean put on his jacket. "No problem." He shrugged. "I can smell him. Two miles east of town. You guys get the other crap and meet me there." He added before heading towards the door.

Sam, Angela, and Samuel stood up.

"Dean." Samuel held out a large syringe filled with blood. "It's dead man's blood. Now, there's enough there to drop a linebacker, and then some. Good luck, son."

Dean took the syringe and left. Sam and Angela started packing up supplies. Samuel eyed Sam warily.

"What the hell's wrong with you, Sam?" Samuel asked.

Sam stopped. "Whaddya mean?" he asked innocently.

"You knew about the cure!" Samuel snapped.

Angela looked up at Sam, frowning. "Sam…is that true?"

"What?" Sam scoffed. "Of course it's not true, Angie."

"Sam, we talked about it months ago," Samuel said.

"Sam, what the hell—Angela started.

"Not me." Sam cut her off, looking at Samuel. "Must've been Christian or something."

"Huh," Samuel said. "That's strange, 'cause if you had known, it'd be almost like you let him get turned. Get a man on the inside. Help us find the alpha vamp we've been looking for?"

Angela looked at the two men and opened her mouth to say something, but she was cut off.

"Are you serious?" Sam glared at Samuel. "You think I'd do something like that, risk my own brother? What's wrong with you? How dare you and Angie accuse me of that!" he snapped. "Look, I'm just relieved we can fix him." He finished gathering their supplies and walked out of the room.

Angela shook her head. "Something's wrong with him. Seriously wrong." She looked at Samuel. "He prevented me from helping Dean." She admitted. "He just…watched as it happened."

~/~\~

The vampires' black SUV was parked in front of a warehouse. Two vamps exited the building through a metal-grate door. As it started to swing shut, Dean attached a rope to it, keeping the door open. He avoided the vamps and snuck into the building.

~/~\~

Dean started to sneak through the hallway of the run-down warehouse when his way was suddenly blocked by Rober.

"S'up?" Robert raised a brow.

"Hey," Dean replied, trying to be cool. "I'm…"

"The guy Boris turned outside the bar, right?" Robert asked. "Said to look out for you."

"Yeah." Dean nodded.

"Well." Robert smiled. "Glad you made it, man! Follow me." He led Dean through the hallways. "So you must be starving."

"Uh…" Dean trailed off.

Robert walked up to a fridge full of blood bags. He slid the door open and selected a bag. Dean was unhappy with this new temptation.

"Here ya go." Robert offered.

Dean paused for a moment. "I'm okay." He shrugged slightly. "I killed so many people on the way over here, so…"

"Yeah, uh, about that…" Robert started. "Company line is we, we don't just kill people anymore…But you gotta tell me what that's like."

"Yeah." Dean nodded. "Yeah, first chance I get, I'll…I'll show you myself."

"Sweet." Robert grinned.

Robert ripped the stopper off the bag and took a swig. Dean eyed the blood bags once more but forced himself away. He followed Robert down a flight of stairs, through a crowd of more vampires.

"Don't worry about them," Robert assured. "They're jealous. The recruiters get to bang all the chicks. That's you now, bro."

"Recruiters?" Dean asked.

"Yeah. Big man'll explain."

Dean now found himself in what looked like the main room of an old bank. Seated at a desk, in front of a laptop, was a newly-turned Kristin. Boris leaned over her, a hand on her back.

Boris raised a finger. "Be with you in a minute." He said. He turned his attention back to Kristin. "Your skin is the black velvet of the night." He dictated to Kristin. "Nice." He chuckled. "Stupid bitch'll eat that up, she'll be dying to meet."

He leaned in closer and took a long sniff of Kristin's hair, and she recoiled. Dean looked and saw several newly-turned female vamps locked in cages, sucking down blood from bags.

"Go get yourself some blood, sweetheart," Boris instructed. "Then march that little ass back here, okay?" he smirked as Kristin walked off. He looked at Dean. "Thank goodness. Thought those hunters chopped your pretty head."

"Nah." Dean shook his head. "I got away. Sorry, what's a hunter?"

"You'll see if they find us," Boris replied. "You'll see them inside out." He laughed. "You eaten?"

"Yeah." Dean nodded.

"Good. You'll need your strength." Boris replied.

"For?"

"Robert didn't tell you?" Boris raised a brow. "How old do I look?"

Dean paused. "Thirty-three?"

"You're off…by about…six centuries?" Boris replied. "And these are the best days in the last six hundred years to be a vampire." He laughed. "Dracula? Please. These stupid little brats are so horny they've reinvented us as Prince Charming with a Volvo. They…" he reached through the bars of one of the cages and grabbed a girl by the hair. "Want a promise ring with fangs, so I give it to 'em. You—you go out and you get them, and you bring 'em home to me."

"So what's with the cages?" Dean asked.

"Oh, that's just, y'know…till they're compliant." Boris explained. "Eventually these girls will go out, and they'll fetch me boys like you, and around and around we go…"

"Gotta say, I'm impressed," Dean replied. "This whole system, it's…it's all you?"

Boris laughed. "No, no, no, no…I just…implement, y'know?" he shrugged. "Make sure you all fall in line." He added. He pointed to the ceiling. "It's his…our father's…"

"Your father's?" Dean asked curiously.

"Aren't you the curious one?" Boris smirked.

"Oh, you don't know the half of it," Dean replied.

Boris leaned in closer. "In due time." He whispered. "You…you want the private tour, don't you?"

Dean swallowed thickly, slightly disgusted. "Thought you'd never ask."

Boris stepped away and made a beckoning motion with his finger. He turned his back on Dean and started to walk the other way. Dean reached into his pocket, withdrew the syringe of dead man's blood, and uncapped it. He raised it, ready to plunge—but one drop leaked out and hit the floor. Boris heard it and quickly turned. Dean tried to stab Boris with the needle; Boris grabbed Dean's arm, moved behind him, and twisted his arm behind his back. With his free hand, Boris grabbed Dean in a chokehold.

"You playing games with me, boy?" Boris snarled.

He squeezed Dean's arm until Dean was forced to drop the syringe. Boris began laughing in triumph. But suddenly, Boris' eyes were drawn upwards. He released Dean, and after a moment, fell flat on his back, eyes wide open. Dean looked on, highly confused, then heard the caged vampire girls dropping limply to the floor. Dean fell to the floor as well, a series of visions flashing through his mind.

Dean blinked his eyes and came out of the vision. He rolled over onto his back. He stared up at the stained-glass ceiling, which was blurry. He looked around and suddenly realized that Boris was up and releasing the vampire girls from their cages. Dean rose and started running. One of the vamp guards rushed down the stairs and attacked him, but was quickly brought down after Dean injected him with dead man's blood.

"Go get him!" Boris ordered the vamps.

Dean hightailed it up the stairs; he was attacked by another vamp guard when he reached the top. Dean made quick work of him and tossed him down the stairs and into the crowd of advancing vamps. He quickly beheaded Robert with his machete. The crowd of vamp girls swarmed, and Dean started swinging.

~/~\~

Sam, Angela, and Samuel drove up in Samuel's van, parking in front of the Impala.

"This must be the place," Samuel said.

"Shh…" Sam whispered.

Something landed on the roof of the van. A vampire suddenly peeked out on the driver's side, smashed the window, and reached towards Samuel.

~/~\~

Dean returned to the upper level to the main room. Another vampire guard climbed the railing and attacked; Dean slicked into his stomach, then hacked away at another before decapitating both of them. A third guard started advancing.

~/~\~

Samuel and Angela exited the van; Sam was already out and had taken care of the vampire. The corpse slid down the windshield and left a bloody streak in its wake.

"So much for undercover," Angela muttered.

"Let's go," Sam commanded.

~/~\~

Dean took advantage of his vampire abilities and leaped straight over the railing, landing deftly on the ground below. The nest was quiet—he's killed everyone…almost everyone. His eyes darted back and forth, looking for Boris.

"You've stopped nothing, you know that?" Boris stepped out into the open. "This is much bigger than you and me."

Dean readied the machete. Boris lifted his hand and made a beckoning motion. Up above, Sam, Angela, and Samuel crept through the carnage, machetes out. Headless vampire bodies were strewn everywhere.

"Looks like Dean has some Campbell in him after all," Samuel said grimly.

They arrived in the main room to behold Dean sitting downstairs.

"Dean, you okay?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, I'm good," Dean replied gruffly.

~/~\~

Samuel squirted a syringe of Boris' blood into a jar that held the cure. Dean was panting, holding his stomach. He heard their heartbeats.

"If this works, you know it's not gonna be a kiddy ride, you know that," Samuel said.

"That's great." Dean muttered. "Light her up."

"So, what'd you see in there?" Sam asked, trying not to sound eager, but failing a bit.

"What?" Dean frowned.

"In the nest—what'd you see?" Sam asked.

"Sam, I can't hear you—your blood is so frickin' loud, okay?" Dean replied. "Just—just back off. Alright, gimme that damn cure." He said as he took the cup. He sniffed it and recoiled. With a grim smile, he lifted the cup. "L'chaim…" he said before chugging the cure messily. Nothing happened. He spit a little bit out. "I don't think it—

Suddenly Dean spun around as he retched, and projectile vomited what appeared to be blood in the waste basket. Sam, Angela, and Samuel watched, concerned.

"Is it working?" Angela looked at Samuel.

Samuel drew his machete. "Either that or he's dying."

Dean finished vomiting and struggled to take a breath. He raised his head, clutched his stomach, and moaned in agony. His fangs had descended, and his eyes were bloodshot. He started to get flashes of the evening, playing out in reverse…

After a little while, Dean's eyes flew open—they were clear. The world was silent again. He tried to process what he'd just seen. He blinked a few times and struggled to sit up. Sam, Angela, and Samuel rushed over to help him. Sam pat him on the chest, but Dean eyed him strangely. He realized that his brother threw him under the bus…

~/~\~

Sam, Angela, and Samuel packed up their supplies. Dean entered from the bathroom.

"Hi." Sam greeted. "So, what'd you see?"

"What?" Dean asked.

"In the nest." Sam clarified. "What'd you see?"

Dean paused. "Um…well, I'm still trying to work through it, but, uh…I'm pretty sure they're not figuring anything out on their own. They're getting their orders from the top…where to go next, everything."

"Top, as in…?" Samuel raised a brow.

"Their alpha." Dean replied. "At least, that's what I think it is. They've got some sort of psychic thing happening. He sends 'em, uh…I don't know—messages?"

"Saying what?" Sam asked.

"Honestly?" Dean replied. "Recruitment drive. Their alpha's building an army."

"Well, that's comforting." Samuel said sarcastically.

"That's not the worst." Dean sighed.

"Then what is?" Angela frowned.

Dean took a deep breath. "We don't scare them anymore."

~/~\~

Dean and Angela were walking to the Impala. Dean stopped her.

"Angie…" he started. "Um…thanks. For trying to save me from getting turned."

Angela swallowed thickly and nodded. "I-I tried, but…Sam…he physically stopped me from helping you."

Dean nodded. "I know." He replied. "I know. Just…thank you."

Angela nodded and paused for a moment. "Something's wrong with him." She whispered. "Like, really wrong. I'm scared of him." She admitted.

Dean sighed deeply. "We're gonna figure out what's going on. Promise. But hey, you and I have each other."

Angela nodded and smiled a small smile. "Yeah. We got each other."

~/~\~

Dean and Angela got to the Impala and saw Sam waiting for them.

Sam looked up. "How'd it go with Lisa?"

"It didn't," Dean replied shortly.

"I'm sorry," Sam replied, though it didn't sound sincere.

"Yeah." Dean nodded. "At least, uh…you got my back." He added. "No matter what happens, Angie and I can always count on you, right, Sammy?"

Sam paused for a moment. "Yeah. Of course."

Dean and Angela didn't believe a word. The three of them got into the Impala and drove off.

A/N: Hey guys! I hope you enjoyed the chapter! During the first half of this series, we're really going to see Dean and Angela get closer as friends, and I'm super excited about that. Also, don't forget about the poll I have on my profile, be sure to check it out! Love y'all. :)

~Emily