This Ain't a Scene, It's an Arms Race - Part Two
Fandom: Supernatural
Characters: Sam, Dean, John, Bobby, YED, various Special Children
Disclaimer: Supernatural is not mine.
Warnings: kidnapping, emotional and physical trauma, profanity, twisting of canonical events, very little happy parts, minor character death
TWO
The black eyes of the demon followed Sam warily from the chair in the corner of the room. Sam circled it slowly outside the safe barrier of the spray painted devil's trap on the concrete floor, watching the thing's throat working convulsively, its wrists gripping and twisting under the ropes that held them tight. He could feel the energy building beneath his skin, crawling and making him stronger with each pump of blood circulating through his beating heart.
"That's it, Sammy," the Boss said. He viewed the lesson from the corner of the room, smiling patiently. "Concentrate. Yes ... good. Very good."
After a couple revolutions of his target, content with his examination, Sam stopped. He raised his right hand, holding it out in front of him palm forward like a shield, and pointed it at the demon that was bound to the chair.
"Good, Sam ..." the Boss murmured. The yellow orbs of his eyes were the brightest thing in the darkened room. "Now, just like I showed you."
Sam closed his eyes and willed the thing towards him; yanking, tugging, finding the small cracks and weaknesses in the demon's meat suit where Sam could grab on to it and pull. For a long moment nothing happened, and then the demon choked, his face falling forwards as a mass of thick black smoke wafted from its mouth. It curled for a second in the air between them like a snake's tongue before slithering back down the man's throat. The demon laughed as it lifted its head, and Sam gasped as his own eyes flew open.
"I'm sorry! God ... shit ... I'm sorry."
Yellow Eyes stepped forward so that he was between Sam and the demon, his fist snapping out so it caught the laughing thing in the jaw and stopped its ruckus instantly. "Enough." Then he turned to Sam, placing one gentle hand on the teenager's trembling shoulder. "Breathe, Sam. Try again. You're the best, and you've worked so hard. I know you can do this. It's so important that you can do this one small thing."
Sam nodded. He wished he could say how he wasn't sure that he could; that this new task seemed impossible ... insane. He wished that he could tell the Boss how he wasn't even convinced that he should do it even if he could. But that kind of talk would get him nowhere far except for a hard beating fast.
"Again," Yellow Eyes said.
With a deep breath, Sam raised his hand again. He willed the demon to move more than he ever had before; he could see it in his mind's eye, the thing coming toward him, and he tried to project that image until it became reality. There was a buzzing growing in his ears, and he blocked out everything except for himself and the black-eyed demon until he could feel its essence as well as he could feel his own. And then he pulled harder and tighter than he ever thought was possible ... and finally, finally, he felt it come to him.
Sam's nose was dripping blood, warm and metallic against his lips. His head was pounding and he wanted nothing more than in that moment to grab at it, just forget what he was doing, and make the torture stop. But he kept going, because the energy was building, and at the same time it was such a rush to do this. Now he truly understood why Lily had been so pleased at the end of her last lesson - this feeling was amazing; he could do anything!
Finally, the last of the black smoke escaped the demon's mouth, giving off one final choking wheeze as the host's head fell to his chest, and disappeared through the fiery hole that had opened beneath its feet. Sam's eyes opened and somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew that his knees had given out and he was kneeling on the dusty floor. His nose was bleeding profusely and his head felt like he'd just gone ten straight rounds with one of his brothers, and yet, Sam was sure that he had never felt so well in all of his life.
Yellow Eyes hunkered beside him, a clean white towel in one hand. He looked happy too, very happy. He helped Sam sit down properly on the floor and then waited until Sam had his breathing under control.
"How did that feel?"
"I ... I don't really know," Sam answered. And it was true - should he feel happy that he had just exorcised his first demon, or horrified that he was even capable of such an act?
"Exhilarating, isn't it?" said Yellow Eyes, smiling. "You did great, kid." He patted Sam's back. "Much better than I was expecting, I'll admit - the last girl didn't quite manage it; but I should've known, with you. I really think we'll be able to go far with a few months' hard training; kick our schedule ahead of the pack. How's that sound, Sammy?"
But all Sam heard was 'a few months'. Yellow Eyes thought they would be ready to fight in a few months. Would he even be here in a few months? None of them had ever tried to leave before. Sam felt sick. "Yessir," he choked out, and Yellow Eyes beamed.
His head was swimming and he was finding it harder and harder to focus. His eyes drifted up to the slumped figure of the dead human the demon had been possessing and was forced to look away before he lost all of the meagre contents of his stomach. He stared down at his hands from which so much power had just been released and then abruptly the world tilted. The last thing he remembered feeling was his face as it hit the floor.
-
When he opened his eyes again he was back in the basement room. He heard raised voices somewhere behind him, but he couldn't turn his head to see exactly where they were coming from. Two indiscernible blobs were hovering inches above his head and as his vision cleared, he recognized Ava and Andy looking down at him with worried expressions on their faces.
"Oh, you're awake!" Ava shrieked dramatically when she saw his eyes blink open, and Sam cringed as the pounding in his ears protested violently.
"Lower it down a few octaves, sis," said Andy, but he was smiling. "It's about time you woke up, you lazy ass," he directed at Sam, "Things around here were starting to get a bit dull."
"It doesn't sound like it," Sam rasped, struggling to pull himself into a sitting position upon the couch he found himself lying on. His limbs were stiff and unresponsive, as if he'd been there for a while. "How long was I out?"
"A few hours," Andy shrugged. "Boss dropped you back down here about ten last night; left you at the bottom of the stairs. Everyone else was asleep."
"We were so worried!" Ava cried. "You've never passed out before!" She flung her arms around Sam's neck, cutting off all passage of air into his lungs, until he had to pull back from her before he choked.
"Where is everybody?" He could hear what sounded like a large group arguing, but he still couldn't see them.
"Over there," said Andy, pointing to a spot over Sam's shoulder. Sam turned. When he spotted the large crowd that had gathered, he thought that maybe a rematch of the previous night's scuffle had been picked up until he realized that the shouts he heard weren't the results of physical hurt, but of two of his siblings attacking each other verbally as others occasionally added their own two cents to the mix.
It was Jake and Lily, the two at the center of the fight, and they looked about ready to come to blows. Ansem stood to the left of Jake, his arms crossed against his chest and his stare fierce, as another dozen kids stood in a semi-circle behind them. Only about half of that number stood behind Lily.
"No!" she was shouting, "No way!" Her deadly fingers flexed from within their protective gloves. "I cannot believe all of you!"
"Why are you so blind, Lily?" Jake shot back. "What has he ever done to earn so much trust from you, so much loyalty?"
"What has he not?" Lucas asked gravely.
"All he's ever done is help us!" Lily cried furiously. "He taught us how to control our powers, showed us that we aren't freaks for having them! Has he warped your head so much, Jake," she glared accusingly at Ansem in indication, who just watched undisturbed, "that you can't even be thankful for that? Now I can choose what these kill, instead of having them choose for me!" She thrust her hands towards them.
"Tell them to stop," Sam tried to say. Ava and Andy were still hovering over him on the couch. But all that came out was a pathetic croak.
"Are you even hearing yourself?" Jake asked, disgusted.
"Tell them to stop," Sam whispered again, louder this time. "Tell them ... I need to ... make them stop!" he begged. If he didn't stop them, they would only end up hurting each other, or worse. He tried to stand but his legs were too shaky and he had to grip onto the arm of the couch to remain upright.
"Whoa, man, take it easy!" said Andy. He and Ava tried to push him back down, but he refused their attempts, getting up again and slipping past them as he stumbled over towards the fight.
"Sam, wait!" Ava yelled.
And bless Ava, but they all finally shut up. Twenty incredulous faces turned to look at Sam, blissfully silent and alert. He could tell they had thought that he wouldn't hear them while he was passed out on the couch. "Stop," he said again. His right leg trembled, his knee locked in place, and he began to tip over, bending towards the floor. The unforgiving concrete came forwards to meet him and Sam brought his arms up, sure he was about to hit the ground face first. But then he felt a solid presence beneath him and he was pulled straight again; it was Andy, and he was holding Sam up like a crutch.
"I told you to take it easy!" he scolded.
"Let me guess." Sam lowered his voice, painfully aware of the thin walls and the houseful of demons residing just feet above them. He leaned on Andy, who bowed under Sam's much taller frame. "Lily wants to stay?"
"The twins let us in on their plan," said Max. He stood with the group on Jake's side of the room. "They don't think it's necessary." He gestured with his chin to Lily's side where behind her, Lucas, Brittney, Paul, and a handful of others stood.
"How can you all be so cold?" demanded Lily, crossing her arms and appearing on the verge of stomping her foot in her anger. "Nobody else cared for us; nobody cared when he took us in and raised us. And now you want to what? Stage a ... a siege on him? Run away from the only place we've ever been wanted in our lives? I suppose you gave them the idea, oh fearless leader!" she spat, turning on Sam wildly.
Before Sam could defend himself, Ansem scoffed, "He 'raised' us in a basement, Lily. Now, I admittedly don't know much about the outside world, but that doesn't sound like father of the year material to me. He took us in as solders. Yeah, he trained us, but what else has he done, really? Training is the only time we get to see him! And what's he going to do until he's ready for us - keep us locked in the basement for another seventeen years?"
"Months," Sam corrected before he could stop himself.
"Excuse me?" Ansem turned on him. Everybody else did too.
"Months," Sam repeated. "Boss told me we'd be ready for the army in a few months ... kick the plans ahead of schedule. I did it," he explained to their baffled faces, "I exorcised a demon - sent it back to Hell with my mind - and now he thinks we'll be ready to fight in a matter of months. There are no more years."
There was a moment of stunned silence and then everyone started talking at once. Some sounded almost excited, and Sam was shocked. Lily seemed surprised, too. But mostly, there was just a lot of swearing and a great deal of dark looks that were exchanged.
"So it's now or never then," said Sam. He focused his gaze on Lily's wavering group. "You guys in, or not?"
"But how?" asked Kelly. She was a thin girl, with long brown hair that she held away from her face with the use of an old rubber band, and as she spoke she bit down on her bottom lip, making her look fragile and very young. "I mean ... the demons have us locked up down here tight; once you enter the house, you never leave it, not unless you're Yellow Eyes yourself. And say that we do find a way out that door," everybody turned to look up the stairs as one, "how do we get past the dozen or so demons that have permanent residence up there?"
"We'll fight our way out if we have to," argued Jake. "And if we have to destroy a few of those S.O.B's to do it - the more the better, I say."
"They're powerful, no one's denying that, but so are we," said Ava. "I think it's at least worth a shot."
"We probably have a better arsenal on our side than they could ever dream of having without us," agreed Max. "Besides," he shrugged, "Sam passed out exorcising a demon. Lily, you came back from your last lesson with a bleeding nose just about passed out yourself. And this is only the start: it's just going to get worse and worse for all of us the longer we stay."
"And if this crazy, half-cocked plan actually works?" asked Lily. "What are you going to do then, where will you go? To join the hunters?" she laughed coldly.
"Of course not!" objected Sam.
"Anything and anywhere we want," said Andy promptly.
"I don't like it."
"Then stay," said Ansem. "Nobody's making you come."
"What, and let you guys leave me here so I can answer their questions about how you got out and why I didn't go with? No, thank you. I still don't think we should go, but I'm not going to be left behind like some misbehaving child either!"
"Fine," Sam replied shortly. "But when push comes to shove and things get hairy, don't got turning tail and then run. 'Cause we're gonna need all the help we can get to pull this thing off." His eyes scanned the dim room, taking in each and every one of them surrounding him carefully. "He trained us to be soldiers, so let's be soldiers."
-
The basement room was completely silent for once, but from his place in the middle of the line-up, Sam could observe the expressions on all of their faces and he knew that they were all just as anxious as him. Andy and Ansem stood to either side of him, Ava a couple of spots down beside Jake, and Lily and Max were stationed on the ends with all the rest of them in between. Grinning widely, Andy nudged Sam's ribs and whispered, "You ready?"
Sam grimaced, envious of his friend's ability to overlook all that could possibly go wrong in the next several minutes. "Do I have choice?"
Andy opened his mouth to answer, closed it, and tilted his head in thought. He had just opened it again to speak when there was an audible click and the creak of a rusted door hinge from above them. At once, Sam was standing taller and he knew without looking that everybody else was too.
"I guess not. Here we go," Andy breathed, bouncing on the balls of his feet.
The demon guard at the top of the stairs began to slowly close the door behind it and at the same moment Sam gave his signal discretely to the waiting twins: a quick nod of his head up and down. Immediately, Andy's hands reached for his temples, his eyes squeezed shut, and the movement of his lips spelled out the command, Don't lock the door, over and over again.
The demon descended the stairs, leaving the door unlocked behind it. Ansem closed his eyes, too, and Sam knew that in his head, he was chanting, Come down. Do not alert the others. Come down. Do not alert the others, in that voice so few could refuse.
Silent and quick, the demon came to stand in front of the long line of teenagers. It waited for its next orders, stupid and vacant. Sam almost wished that they had voted for exorcising the thing after all, even if he knew it wasn't practical. He'd barely done it the first time, let alone anybody else.
It seemed he wasn't the only one either who felt an almost perverse pleasure at the sight of the demon being the one with no say in what it did, instead of the other way around. Several of his siblings smirked and Ava covered her mouth with a hand to hold in her giggles.
Stand inside the trap.
The demon walked a ways away and obediently stepped inside the devil's trap that'd been crudely scratched into the floor.
Sam could see the demon's eyes staring at their smiling faces in fear as it realized what was happening, and yet it couldn't break the hold that Andy and Ansem held over it. It tried to yell to alert the remaining guard upstairs, but no sound would come out of its enraged mouth. Sam found himself smiling too, almost against his will; everything was happening too perfectly.
Jake strode forwards and smashed his closed fist into the thing's nose and then kicked its feet out from beneath it so that it fell hard upon the floor.
"Much more satisfying than an exorcism," he exclaimed, resuming his place, "Quieter too."
"Bind him, just in case," instructed Sam.
Kelly and Scott rushed to place the ropes around the demon, and that's when they heard the voice call down the stairs and they all froze.
"What's the holdup down there?!"
Ava started to panic, fluttering her hands wildly; Lily looked around smugly as if to convey that she'd known all along that this was going to happen and they were all idiots. In warning, Sam put one finger against his lips in a silencing gesture until everybody still. One glance at Paul was all the explanation the other boy needed and at once, he began to transform.
His legs grew taller, his arms stretched longer. His shoulder-length blonde hair seemed to be disappearing backwards into his head until it was no longer than military-length, and black. Then his eyes darkened, his nose and mouth became fuller, his stomach rounder and more prominent, and his voice, usually light and good-natured, became gravelly and deep. "All good!" he replied in the voice of their imprisoned demon.
The footsteps retreated. They all let out a collective breath of relief as Paul transformed back into himself. The demon at their feet moaned and struggled harder.
They waited another minute, listening to the noise behind the door carefully, and then Sam waved them behind him and started up the stairs. He stopped on the topmost step and pressed his ear to the door, listening; no sounds could be heard from the other side. Very slowly, he turned the knob and they stepped over the threshold, into the hallway that they'd only ever walked through with a guard as company before. Faint voices argued with each other at the other end of the house. He crept forwards, praying that they wouldn't hit any creaky boards in the old wooden floor and alert the demons to their presence.
Now Jake came up beside him and nodded, letting Sam know that he was ready for the next stage of the plan. He gestured to most of the kids behind them and they re-formed into a small cluster around him. The twins, Max, and Ava grouped around Sam and they watched as Jake's larger group spread out to check the other rooms lining the hallway before Sam led his towards the kitchen.
The voices became louder as they approached, until the five of them were standing nearly right outside the door. The two, no ... three demons inside were arguing over some order that Yellow Eyes had apparently given them that morning; something none of them were very pleased about. Sam placed his right foot carefully on the next floorboard as he prepared to enter the kitchen, and it made a slow squeaking sound under his shoe as he tried to adjust his weight.
They all froze again, and Sam's heart leapt up into his throat. The demons on the other side of the door did too, and the one speaking cut off mid-sentence as another hushed at it. Fear rushed into all of their faces and Sam tried to say sorry by his eyes alone, but he could tell the damage had already been done.
He opened the door.
They were waiting for them when they entered, standing facing the entrance way. Five against three, but Sam didn't think that that would matter much if the demons decided they wanted to hurt them.
"Whatcha think y'all doin' now?" the one closest to Sam said, a touch of amusement lacing his words. There was no surprise in the tone of his voice.
"Looks like we've got us some runners," a different one replied, rubbing the tips of his fingers together greedily.
"Ya really think we didn't hear y'all down there?" the first one spoke again. "Whispering, scheming ... Heard every word, we did. Didn't we Horus? Darius?" he asked.
"Sure did, Stolfas," the third demon sneered. He stood over by the window, his foot tapping an excited rhythm against the traitorous wooden floor. Sam thought he was the one called Darius.
"You really should be more careful whatcha say," said the second, the one that must be Horus.
"Now what, oh what shall we do with you?" They started to circle Sam's petrified group.
"You can all go to Hell!" Andy snapped suddenly. He closed his eyes and began to chant beneath his breath, harsh words that bled and sewed together, and made Horus and Darius pause. Stolfas just laughed as he flung his arms out to one side, and Andy's voice was abruptly cut off as his feet were lifted clean off the ground and he was slammed back first into the wall behind him. He hung there for a moment, his eyes rolling back into his head, before he fell limply to the floor, out cold.
Then Ansem started forwards, his eyes promising vengeance with every step. Sam tried to reach out, hold Ansem back, but he slipped pass him and threw himself at Stolfas and Darius, fists flying, as Sam watched helpless to stop, yet unable to tear his eyes away. Max remained stationary, too, but Sam saw his gaze flickering irately over to the block of butcher knives on the counter a split second before they flew through the air towards Horus, who was still shaking himself free of Andy's trance.
The demon dived just in time, and a total of eight silver knives of varying shape and size came to a halt in the wall above its head, quivering like arrows where they hung.
"Why you little -"
Sam stepped in front of Max and spread his arms. Max tried to push him out of the way, but Sam was bigger and stronger, and he refused to move. The demon stared at him curiously and then smiled slowly and lifted its arms as it prepared to finish him off for good. Sam found that he didn't much care if he died now, as long as one more of the others had a chance at being safe.
"HORUS, NO!" Stolfas bellowed just as Sam had resigned himself to his fate, and the demon advancing upon Sam and Max stopped as if slapped. "REMEMBER OUR ORDERS!"
Horus continued to look at Sam hungrily for a second before turning away, scowling. Stolfas was standing over Ava, who was sprawled on the floor, while he glared daggers at Horus. In the other corner, Darius had paused too, and Ansem had taken the opportunity to rush over to his brother and was now trying to rouse Andy as he dropped to his knees beside him.
"Remember the orders!" Stolfas repeated. "Any but him."
"Why?" demanded Horus.
"Ya know why!"
"But if could be any of them," he hissed, "what makes the Boss so sure?" He turned back to Sam. The wondering expression directed towards him scared Sam more than the hungry stare ever could.
"Horus, just shut your mouth!" Darius snapped.
And then out of nowhere a loud shriek pierced the dead silence. It was coming from down the hall, where Jake had taken the other group. A sound of pure torture and Sam prayed - something he'd never been inclined to do before - that it had not come from one of them because he did not known how much more he could take, and this was not the time to test his resolve.
Ava seemed to think otherwise, though, because in the next second she was on her feet, Stolfas still paused above where she'd lain, as she dashed for the door screaming, "LILY!" at the top of her lungs.
How could she knew that it was Lily, making that terrible noise? It was a girl, that much was obvious, but Sam had several sisters; and Lily was usually so quiet. Surely, she couldn't have that kind of sound inside of her.
As he debated this, Sam's head suddenly exploded in pain. Blinding white flashes of light and sound invaded his mind. He knew what this was but - not now! No, he couldn't be having one now! Sam screamed and keeled over, his knees hitting the wood beneath him. He knew nothing else, could sense nothing else ... everything inside of him was being pulled into the picture that was forcing itself to manifest in his head. He cried out in agony. An unfamiliar demon was squeezing Ava by the throat in a room he didn't recognize, but there was a green couch and a small picture window and the room was the dusty, the clock on the wall ticking, ticking, ticking the seconds away. And then as Sam watched, Lily pulled the demon off, just as Ava was going blue in the face, and the demon turned around, snapping her neck without a second thought.
Sam screamed again, and then he was back in the present, in the kitchen on the floor. Andy, Ansem and Max were standing over him, talking words that Sam in his current state couldn't decipher over the white noise in his ears. Horus, Darius, Stolfas and Ava all had gone. "Lily," he gasped, grabbing somebody's nearby wrist.
"Come on, Sam," said Max, pulling him up. "It's gonna be okay. Come on." But it wouldn't be okay, it wouldn't be okay and Sam didn't know how to tell him that.
They ran back through the kitchen entry and into the hall, following the screams into what appeared to be a living room. It was the room in Sam's vision, and now he could hear the clock for real, counting down to disaster; could see the musty couch and look through the grimy window into the vast unknown beyond. The demon that Sam didn't know was clenching and unclenching its fist as Lily lay writhing on the ground. Just as the boys entered the room, Ava jumped out of the shadows and landed on the demon's back, breaking his focus. Ava rolled off and the demon was on top of her in the next moment, dragging her up by the wavy brown strands of her hair and placing its other hand around her exposed neck. The demon started to squeeze, and Ava choked as tears ran down her cheeks.
Sam moved forwards. He didn't even think about it; all he knew was he had to do something. And then a flash of colour caught the corner of his eye and he stopped. In the deep darkness of the doorway that opened out into the hall, a pair of bright yellow eyes smiled out at him. For the briefest of moments, Sam forgot his vision, forgot about Ava and Lily and the other four demons in the room, and all he saw were the Boss' yellow irises watching him and the curl of his lips cutting through the shadows.
And then Lily roared an unintelligible cry from her spot on the floor. His head snapped back and he tried to yell for her to stop, not to do it, but it was too late; Sam's visions always played out exactly as he saw them. Lily jumped, the demon turned, Ava slumped bonelessly to the ground, and the demon twisted its wrist in one quick motion until Lily was dead, her eyes staring sightlessly up at Sam from where she'd fallen at his feet.
Sam waited for Lily to give them some sign that she was still there: a twitch, a wink, anything. But nothing came, and Lily just lay there, staring blankly. Lily, who was always so mad at everything: their lives, the war, the people who had forced this existence upon them. Lily, who despite that, was so strong. Who never smiled, but she hadn't ever a need to because her eyes did it for her. Lily, who hadn't wanted to escape and no she had permanently. Why did the world not stop the instant she died? Why did time not turn back on itself so that Sam could save her - find some way to save Ava that would spare them both - and even now, she might be smiling at him with those eyes, telling him that their brothers fighting never meant anything because they loved each other?
Sam looked back towards the doorway, dreading what he was about to see. But there was nobody there; Yellow Eyes had gone; had maybe never been there at all.
The four demons in the room paid no attention to them now. They stood still, as if listening to some distant noise. Darius was frowning as he peered out the lone window, and a shadow passed over his face. His eyes seeped black. "They're here."
"Shit. Just in time." said Stolfas, moving to join him. "We should go."
The demon that had snapped Lily's neck rolled her body with one foot so that she was staring at the wall opposite and then proceeded to wipe imaginary from his hand onto his shirt. "Hope it was worth it," he laughed at them, ignoring his companions by the window. "None of you'll last a week."
Sam hardly noticed. Him, Andy, Ansem, Ava and Max stood waiting for Lily to wake up, and Sam didn't care if the demons finished them off here and now as long as she did. Hurried footsteps ran across the hardwood floor and then came to a halt as they reached the doorway. Jake, with the others.
The demons opened their mouths, stretching their necks so far back that their faces were nearly level with the ceiling. Towers of thick black smoke left them and escaped together through a vent in the corner. The one light in the room flickered, and then went out completely. From somewhere outside a grumbling roar was approaching, and it was becoming louder and louder with each second that passed.
Only his family was left in the room now. Somewhere in his numb mind, Sam recognized and appreciated that Lily had been the only one of them not to make it. Ava trembled in Andy's hold as she sobbed into his shoulder. Hot tears blurred Sam's vision. Walking slowly, he made his way to Lily's body, the others forming a protective circle around him, and lifted her gently so she was cradled in his arms. When he was sure he wouldn't drop her, he turned to face them.
They approached the door, Lily's death causing an action that might have been joyous into a solemn parade. Sam was in the middle of the line again, Jake and Ansem in the front; and that was all right. Andy called, "Ready?" over his shoulder, and that wasn't right, not at all, so reminiscent of what had been said right before their plan had been put into motion - when everything was still hopeful, and the world spun straight on its axis.
Nobody made any attempt at an answer, and then Andy reached for the door.
Part Three