Cursed Dawn [Supernatural Fanfiction)

This is War

The light clip-clop of River's cowboy boots descended down the cellar's stairs. Her hand trailed down the railing in a manner that meant she was in no hurry. She even stopped on the steps at one point to pull her hair back.

When she reached the bottom, she went over to a light switch and flipped it on. A faded fluorescent bulb flickered on and revealed Sam confined in a small cage. Had he been smaller, the cage would have given him only a slight shoulder ache, but since he was six feet and four inches, he was bound to crawl out with severe back problems.

"Comfortable?" Rivers prodded with a smirk as she pulled up a chair. She flipped it around and straddled it so that her arms draped over the back rest.

"I'll send you to Hell," Sam seethed as he adjusted his cramped shoulder.

"I'm sure you will. But you won't because you don't know the reason behind all this." Rivers stood up and whipped one of her legs gracefully over the back of the chair so that she stood beside it. "Those chain letters were only to get you boys here. Dean is exactly where we want him. And you? You just made everything better."

"What do you mean?" Sam growled. He turned his face as far as he could before the bars pressed against his cheekbone.

"You were supposed to die in the car. You know just as well as us that Dean is the only brother we care about." Rivers knelt down beside the cage and wrapped her fingers around one of the bars. "Dean was the only bartering chip we had for our woodland friend. He said he'd stop kidnapping our children if we trap Dean."

"Children? As in spawns?" Sam asked. "You know how dangerous the Slender Man is. You know you can't make a deal with him."

Rivers smiled slyly and stood up. "Oh Sammy, this is war now. The Slender Man is the prize. We just want him on our side."

Sam's face crinkled in an unsure smile. "Are you saying the Slender Man is a weapon? You can't win him over."

Rivers laughed and shook her head. "Well, neither can your overwhelmingly-charming brother. Dean Winchester could hardly win his family's affections, let alone a creature like him."

"People can surprise you," Sam said under his breath, trying to shed some hope on the unraveling plan.

"You're right," Rivers said. Her face softened and, for a moment, she looked human. "As long as I've been here, humans have never been really predictable."

Seeing it a chance to connect, Sam stared at her with pleading eyes and spoke in the desperate tone so many people gave their attention to. "Why don't you help me? We can help Dean, please. And whatever the Slender Man took from you, I can help you get it back. Please, I've lost too much to lose my brother."

Rivers regarded Sam thoughtfully. Her mouth twitched and her eyes periodically looked at the floor. She toed the pavement and bit her bottom lip. "I've lost my salvation. What more can someone lose?"

"Leave the girl alone. She doesn't need to be any part of this." Sam closed his eyes and wished he had a Devil's Trap so that he could exorcise her. Perhaps he could lure her to him and grab her hands? If he could hold her still long enough, he may be able to save the human inside. "Rivers, listen, you obviously don't want to be helped, but you can't kill Dean. You cannot let Dean be killed, you understand?"

Rivers raised an eyebrow and a simper curved her dark red lips. "Don't try and blind the wolf, Sammy. They always bite."

"I'm not. I'm just asking you to keep him alive. He has our dad's journal. And inside, is has every possible spell--,"

"Cheap magic, Sammy, really?"

"No, listen. It has a way to communicate to the Slender Man. Really, it does. If you send me over--,"

Rivers cocked her head, telling him he was stepping over a boundary she would not agree to.

"Listen. I'll give it to you. He won't let anyone else touch it but me. I'll do it in trade of Dean. You have my word."

"Okay. I'll let you go." Rivers said cautiously. Keeping both eyes on him, she walked over to the cage and began unraveling the chain.

As her hands worked it loose, Sam tried to analysis the situation. He saw a knife peeking out from the back of her jeans and a radio hooked to her belt. Calculating the distance between her hands and his, he decided to risk his one and only plan to escape. Twisting from the torso as far as he could, he grabbed her fingers and then her wrists. In perfect recitation, he began the exorcism.

"Exorcizamus te, omnis immundus spiritus omnis satanica potestas, omnis incursio infernalis adversarii, omnis legio, omnis congregatio et secta diabolica. Ergo draco maledicte et omnis legio diabolica adjuramus te. Cessa decipere humanas creaturas, eisque aeternae Perditionis venenum propinare."

The demon's head snapped, dipped, and shook as the words drove against its human vessel. Rivers face contorted into hate and her mouth gaped in a low, beastly grown.

Sam continued determinedly, his nails scraping into the girl's wrist to keep her still. "Vade, Satana, inventor et magister omnis fallaciae, hostis humanae salutis. Humiliare sub potenti manu dei, contremisce et effuge, invocato a nobis sancto et terribili nomine, quem inferi tremunt!" His voice heightened the more the demon fought against him. He could feel both spirits of good and evil clash inside of him like roaring lions. "Ab insidiis diaboli, libera nos, Domine. Ut Ecclesiam tuam secura tibi facias libertate servire te rogamus, audi nos. Ut inimicos sanctae Ecclesiae humiliare digneris, te rogamus, audi nos."

The demon gnashed her teeth at him and bit at his knuckles, but Sam withstood the pain. With gathered strength in his wrists, he jerked the girl closer to the cage and then, having a firm grip on her wrists, he yanked her forward, banging her head against the bars. Her eyes rolled back and her groans became whimpers.

"Terribilis Deus de sanctuario suo. Deus Israhel ipse truderit virtutem et fortitudinem plebi Suae. Benedictus deus. Gloria patri!" With those last words, Sam watched in both surprise and relief as Rivers' head threw back by a force not of her own, and the rolling clouds of black smoke exploded from her body. When it had disappeared in the air, Rivers slumped against the cage, her eyes closed.

"Rivers?" Sam tapped her hands and poked at her face, hoping she would wake up to let him out. Seeing his prodding wasn't doing any good, Sam pinched his lips together and his hands drooped in frustration. He looked over at the lock that was too far away for him to pick loose, yet close enough to drive him insane. "Great."