I awake with a kink in my neck, something hard against it. I try lifting my head and everything hurt. I was stiff with my hands and feet bound to the chair I had passed out on. Across the room, I could make out Sam. We were in a barn. Musty. Dirty. My ears rang.
"Sam," I whisper when I hear footsteps draw in. "Sam," I try to wake him but he doesn't stir. The footsteps drew closer. I look around frantically and pull against my restraints. "Sam!" I whisper harshly and his eyelids lift, faintly. He does not completely come to, still not realizing what has happened, We'd been abducted, but why? Who was this guy? He walks in through wide doors and gives a sinister smirk.
"Well hello there," he advanced towards Sam and gave him a light pat on the cheek which brought Sam back into reality. His head shot up and he looked around frantically. "you good there, partner?"
"Who are you?" Sam snapped, staring at him as he meandered over towards me. He scoffed and smiled as he stared at me.
"I 'member the first time I was knocked unconscious. My older brother Dave had me ridin' on the handles of his three speed, decided to pop a wheelie. We were lookin' mighty good for a lil bit and then whoop!" he snaps his fingers and turns back to look at Sam. "Ass end over tea kettle boy, hurt like a sonofabitch." Sam lifted his head, his eyes narrowing as he studied the guy. I looked around while he was distracted with Sam, trying to find something to get us loose.
"You're Sam Winchester," he said after a long pause. "I think we can both agree on that." Sam clenched his jaw which forced the man to continue. "Your older brother Dean, well, he and I go way back.
"You're a hunter?" Sam asks. The man thinks briefly before nodding.
"Sure. Yeah, we can go with that. Hunting your brother counts, right?" as the words leave his mouth Sam and I are both taken back. Sam scoffs humorlessly and the begins to shake his head.
"I wouldn't do that." Sam was serious but the man didn't think so.
"Yeah?" he laughed.
"Trust me." Sam insisted. "Look buddy, I don't know who you are, alright? I don't know what you want, or what my brother did, but if you got any sense, I suggest you turn tail and run back to that army recruiting ad that spit you out in the first place." the man chuckled softly. "He's a monster."
"Well, he was." he steps back and looks up in thought. "Yeah, he was... many, many moons ago." he looks down at Sam. "But now he's prey." he leans in and gets real close and smiles deviously. "And I'm the monster now."
"If you're so obsessed with Dean what do you want with us?" I asked and he leaned back on his heels.
"Well he's not gonna come prancing in here, I need leverage little lady." he tells me as he goes through Sam's pockets and hauls out his phone, going through it for a moment before pressing what I assumed to be Dean's contact and lifting it up to his ear. Through the dead silence I can hear Dean on the other line and my heart nearly jumps right out of my chest.
"Well hell, I may just take you up on that." the man responded to Dean. He was actually talking to Dean. Dean was out there, maybe. Unless it was like Sam said and Crowley had a demon parading around in his body. Or maybe he really wasn't human anymore.
"Me? Well I'm karma, brother." a pause. "On your brother's phone." he replied and waited for Dean's response which I could only pick out as mumbles. "No. Not yet. As long as you show up where I tell you to show up your brother and the pretty little lady I got tied up here will be just fine." another moments pause and he turned to Sam. "Speak." he demanded, holding the phone in front of his face. Sam's face flushed with concern flashes from the man to the phone and back to the man again. He showed no sign of opening his mouth and with no warning, the man swings his fist hitting Sam square in the nose. His head flies backwards and he lets out a pained groan. I jump.
"Try that again you son of a bitch!" I yelled, tugging as hard as I could against my restraints.
"Proof of life," he spoke into the phone and turned away from Sam and I. "Got a pen?"
"Dean!" Same cried out, hoping for Dean to hear him. The man scoffs and shakes his head after a moment.
"Well that'll be a cold comfort to your dead brother." a pause and then he begins to look frustrated. "Well I'll be sure to pass that on to him while I'm slitting his throat." It was only a few seconds later when Dean had hung up on the man and he stared at Sam's phone, a little shocked. He looks back at Sam and then begins to wave the phone around before putting it in his pocket and walking around, trying to think of what to do now. I looked at Sam who was staring at me, we both had the same feeling of dread filling up our lungs. It was suffocating.
"I don't know if you caught any of that," he said slowly, still turned away from us. "but Dean just gave me permission to kill y'all," Sam and I stared at each other, hesitantly. I try picking at the restraints that bound my hands but realized he used zip ties.
"So what're you waiting for?" Sam asked him but he didn't respond. I pull and pull against the zip ties but nothing I tried was making them budge. The silence that sat in the barn with the three of us was deafening. I had to break it.
"What did Dean do to you?" I asked. He turned slightly towards me, acknowledging that I had spoke but held his tongue.
"It was June 21st, 2003." he said quietly. "I awoke in the middle of the night to a loud banging and my daddy, he was pleadin' for his life. My daddy was the strongest person in my life, the most courageous and strong man I ever knew. I haven't met anyone like him since." he pauses and turns to face us, sitting down in a chair.
"So what happened?" I wondered, trying to stall, give Sam and I some time to think on how to get out of here.
"I heard some more banging as I got out of bed, I got to my bedroom door and I could hear him crying while someone pounded into him. I was shakin' in my skin as I tried walkin' down the hallway, the crying got louder and the punches landed harder. I got to the top of the stairs and there was so much goin' on her down there that the pictures on the wall were rumblin'. I crouched down and began to creep down over the stairs, I could see blood stains on the carpet... and then, my father. He was lying in a pool of blood, throat slit ear to ear. I ran down over the stairs and slipped in his blood when I got the bottom, I caught myself on the railing and froze for a minute, just starin' at him, not able to believe that it was my dad. I crawled over to him and shook him, tryin' to wake him up, but he was gone." I swallowed, hard, my knee bouncing as I became enraptured in his story. "And while I cried over his body, a man walked up behind me, holding a long knife covered in my daddy's blood. That was the night Dean Winchester murdered my father and that's," he stopped for a moment. "that's why he's going to die." It sank in for a moment, all of us quiet.
"I'm sorry." Sam says genuinely.
"I'm not looking for your sympathy, Sammy." he responds, hands on his hips as he swaggers over. "I'm looking for your brother. So, why don't you tell me where Dean-o is and I'll let you go," he gives him a pat on the shoulder.
"That's not gonna happen," Sam told him, watching as he circled around him.
"Really? Ya know your brother gave me the green light to put one between your eyes, right?"
"Dean... Dean isn't Dean right now. Now look, I don't know who you are-"
"Name's Cole," he says and Sam gives a slight nod. "Listen Sam, every night, since I was 13 years old, every night, I close my eyes," he closes his eyes and inhales deeply. "and all I can see is your brother... and all that blood... and my daddy." he sighs and takes Sam by the back of the neck. "Now, I know Dean's family and all, but he gave you up. And you have no reason to protect him--none. So help me, please." Sam furrows his brown and shakes his head.
"Look, I'm sorry about your dad but whatever happened... Dean had a reason. I don't know how to tell you this,"
"Sam don't," I try to stop him, knowing where he was going.
"There are monsters out there," Sam continued, ignoring me and trying to explain to Cole that his dad was some sort of monster.
"You don't think I already know that?!" Cole snapped. "I did two tours in Iraq! Special Ops, Darfur, the Congo. I've seen suicide bombers and child soldiers so hopped up on speed that they could barely talk! But they could sure as hell still shoot an AK-47," It was quickly becoming evident that Cole's definition of monster and Sam and I's definition of monster were very different.
"Not that kind of monster," Sam says but can hardly get the words out and Cole is yelling again.
"Don't tell me about monsters! Cause I've met my share!"
"I mean vampires! All right? Werewolves! Monster monsters!" Cole could hardly believe was Sam was getting on with and just shook his head. "Look in my bag," Cole turns towards it on the floor. "go on, take a look it's right there." Cole walks over and peers inside, scoffing at the first thing he pulls out.
"I guess even psychos need to hydrate," he says, pulling out Sam's flask of holy water.
"It's holy water." Sam tells him and Cole stares at it.
"Holy cow."
"Look, I'm not a psycho. I'm not lying." Sam says, offended and bitter.
"Well you see, that's exactly what a psycho liar would say, so, see my dilemma?" Sam heaves a sigh and shakes his head, I try to think of another way to get through to this guy but I watch as he walks towards his own bag and pulls out a pair of gloves, hauling them on.
"I guess we're just going to have to do this, the other way." he says and simultaneously, Sam and I inhale sharply, watching as he pulls out a hammer.
"Hey, hey, hey, wait," I speak up, stammering across words. "he's telling the truth. Sam and I are hunters, we hunt vampires and werewolves and ghosts and all sorts of other fucked up shit,"
"Wow," Cole says. "two psychos found each other in an interesting twist of fate."
"Says the one who abducted us!" I snapped. "Put the hammer down Cole and listen, let us go."
"Are you gonna tell me where to find Dean?" he asked. I said nothing. "Didn't think so." He punched Sam again, hard in the face. I jump in my chair and cuss him out, but he ignores me.
"Where's Dean, Sam?" he snaps at Sam who was groaning in pain. Sam didn't respond and he punched him again, harder. "Where's Dean?" Sam's head swung as he tried shaking off the dysphoria brought on by multiple strikes to the face. "Where's Dean?!" he yelled and hit him again, and then again.
"Stop it!" I screamed. "Stop!"
"Where is he?!" he yelled as Sam hunched over in his chair. Sam breathes heavily, holding back his cries in pain and pants, look up at the ceiling. Cole punches him again.
"Cole you bastard! Stop this!" I cried out and bounced in my chair. Cole grabs Sam by the next and takes wrist, bending it side ways over the chair. Sam groaned and we both jumped as we heard the first crack. That didn't stop Cole as he kept going. Another crack. Sam was in so much pain his face turned purple, but he kept a strong façade.
"Shove it up your ass." Sam spat and Cole let go of his wrist and took a step back, both of them out of breath.
"Okay. Okay." he pants. "Okay, okay. I guess it's time to crank up the volume then." He turns and grabs the hammer from the table and waves it around, taunting Sam.
"Don't Cole, don't." I said and watched as he placed it against Sam's knee cap.
"No," Sam tries pulling away and breathes deeply and quickly, preparing for the metal hammer to come down upon his knee cap.
"Right there," Cole tells him and gets ready to swing when a phone starts to ring. A harp ringtone breaks through the tense air and he sighs, laying the hammer down and taking his phone as Sam shook. "Ain't you lucky, boy?" he removes his gloves and answers with a sweet voice and a pretty smile. "Hey darlin', no, I'm good." he turns and walks away, deep into the barn. When he's out of ear shot Sam lets out a deep and broken sigh.
"Sam," I whispered and he shook his head. "you can't take much more of this Sam, just tell him."
"I don't know where he is, Scar." he whispered back and watched as Cole walked out of the barn. "Wait, he dropped his keys." he said, staring at the a few keys and a pocket knife on the ground. Without another seconds thought he lunged forward and knocked himself over, taking the pocket knife and just barely positioning his hand in the right way to slice through the zip tie. He works quickly and frees himself before stumbling over to me.
"Hurry," I usher him and he does, in another ten seconds I'm free and we're fleeing out a back door of the barn. We run through the woods, deeper and deeper, faster and faster, every step I feared that Cole was right behind us, gaining on us. Sam led the way and I could only hope he knew where he was going because I didn't have a clue. I turned back a few times, checking to see if Cole had been following us, but he wasn't. Not that I could see anyway. We kept running and it felt like my lungs were on fire.
"Sam," I panted, "I think we're okay."
"Just a little bit further," he said and so I kept running, trying not to fall too far behind. Suddenly, I could see a road through the trees and we ran out of the woods onto the main stretch of road. We stopped once we got there, panting heavily. Sam hunched over and I walked over towards him, my legs feeling like spaghetti. I rubbed his back and he straightened up. The narrow street was surrounded by thick woods on both sides and I stared into them, hoping not to see Cole arise.
"Are you okay?" I asked him, turning his face to reveal black and blue bruises. "Jesus,"
"It's fine, Scar," he tells. "come on, we need to keep walking. Do you still have your phone?" I nodded and took it out of my coat pocket, handing it over. He dialed Cas and waited impatiently as we walked quickly down the street, looking behind us every few seconds.
"You need to get to Beulah, North Dakota--now." Sam spoke into the phone. "Yes, Crowley and Dean were there, we need to pick up their trail." a brief pause before he stopped walking. "Yeah, uhm, not so much. Cas, Dean's a demon." I stopped beside him and watched him speak. "The mark, I guess, I guess it just messed him up, I don't know. Right. Now Cas, listen, I know you're not feeling so hot but this is kind of an all hands on deck situation here, so... yeah." Sam lowered the phone and hung up. He didn't say anything to me and just continued walking. I followed behind him, my little legs having to work overtime to keep up with his long strides.
"Is that really what you think?" I wondered. He looked down to me.
"Is what really what I think?"
"You think Dean's a demon," I clarified and he nodded. "okay." I wasn't sure what else to say. There was nothing else to say.