"Couldn't get to it. The whole thing -- it was located in the middle of a devil's trap. Made out of iron and steel..."
He shakes his head, and for a moment both wonder and admiration are visible in his eyes.
"It was the railroad. Over a hundred years ago, the way they laid the railroad lines -- they used the tracks to make the seal. And that fucker couldn't cross it."
"Remember how I said Yellow-Eyes wanted just one of us, in the end?"
He doesn't look away. He can't let himself, no matter how much he may want to.
"It was a competition. He made it a competition. Whoever survived would win."
Sam's hands clench, resting taut and white-knuckled on his jeans-clad legs.
"She killed them. All that time... five months since she disappeared, and all that time, she was killing them, one after another. Using her powers to control demons, and sending them after people."
"You have no idea... the switches that just flip in your brain--"
"Lily was first. Later, the rest of us were sticking together -- we'd sealed the room with salt, so everyone would be safe-- she hid, and when Jake and I went to look for her, we left Andy there..."
"I found her by his body. She'd broken the salt line to let her demon in."
"It... she was calling a -- it's called an Acheri demon. It's what she'd been using, anyway. It's a pretty nasty thing, real fast and with long claws and stuff. But if you can get in the first blow with iron, then..."
He can't hold Andrew's eyes; not with him looking that way, not while he tells him this. Sam lowers his gaze to the floor and says, haltingly,
"So I -- I'd found an iron poker earlier, and -- it was gonna, I had to be ready to take it out, or -- but while I was focusing on the demon, Jake came up behind her, and he -- before I could stop him -- "
Sam swallows, hard.
"He broke her neck. It was over before she -- she never even saw him."
He shakes his head, and for a moment both wonder and admiration are visible in his eyes.
"It was the railroad. Over a hundred years ago, the way they laid the railroad lines -- they used the tracks to make the seal. And that fucker couldn't cross it."
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He doesn't look away. He can't let himself, no matter how much he may want to.
"It was a competition. He made it a competition. Whoever survived would win."
Sam's hands clench, resting taut and white-knuckled on his jeans-clad legs.
"She killed them. All that time... five months since she disappeared, and all that time, she was killing them, one after another. Using her powers to control demons, and sending them after people."
"You have no idea... the switches that just flip in your brain--"
"Lily was first. Later, the rest of us were sticking together -- we'd sealed the room with salt, so everyone would be safe-- she hid, and when Jake and I went to look for her, we left Andy there..."
"I found her by his body. She'd broken the salt line to let her demon in."
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(Well, that can't be right, says a calm, reasonable voice somewhere in his head. There's some mistake.)
He doesn't say a word.
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"I know how it sounds." Sam keeps his voice level; steady and quiet. "I didn't want to believe it, either."
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"How did you --"
Some mistake. He hardly recognizes the sound of his own voice.
"How do you know she ...?"
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He shakes his head.
"I knew Andy -- I knew he wouldn't, wouldn't have--
A beat.
"So I confronted her. Asked her flat-out."
"Had you going, though, didn't I?"
"And she told me."
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"Told you."
The room tilts, and he puts out a hand to steady it.
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Andrew's bracing himself with one hand against the wall by the bed, and looks like he's in danger of passing out.
And it's too late for Sam to do a single damn thing about any of it.
"I'm sorry, man. I'm so fucking sorry."
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(this isn't supposed to be happening anymore!)
"But she, she was --"
Something new rises in Andrew's eyes, and what little color was left in his face starts to drain away.
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And then Andrew's expression changes, and a sudden cold wariness rises in him.
"-- what? What is it?"
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Did you --
He stares at Sam in dawning horror, and can't make a single sound.
No. Please no.
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The only question is, just how bad is it gonna be?
"Andrew. C'mon. Talk to me, man."
Sam's leaning forward a little now, toward him, almost unconsciously.
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His voice is scraped down to a whisper, and it still shakes. "How did she die?"
(It's as close as he can come to asking did you kill her.)
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Does he think--?
Then he shakes his head, and says, quietly,
"It... she was calling a -- it's called an Acheri demon. It's what she'd been using, anyway. It's a pretty nasty thing, real fast and with long claws and stuff. But if you can get in the first blow with iron, then..."
He can't hold Andrew's eyes; not with him looking that way, not while he tells him this. Sam lowers his gaze to the floor and says, haltingly,
"So I -- I'd found an iron poker earlier, and -- it was gonna, I had to be ready to take it out, or -- but while I was focusing on the demon, Jake came up behind her, and he -- before I could stop him -- "
Sam swallows, hard.
"He broke her neck. It was over before she -- she never even saw him."
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Again he tries to swallow, and can't.
(Andrew, what if it is me? What if this is ... me?)
"She was trying to kill you."
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Sam nods. He looks back up at Andrew.
"I'm sorry, Sam... but it's over."
"Yeah. She was."
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