(no subject)
It was supposed to be an easy hunt.
Step 1: Research
Step 2: Ask locals to verify research and uncover other things that might not have come up in said research
Step 3: Scout the area where SOB resides (this time, a witch killing off people who had the same features, no matter how small, as her - Sam had gripped about the anomalies, but Dean brushed it off as Sam being obsessive)
Step 4: Plan
Step 5: Prepare the guns, the herbs and candles and whatever else needed for said plan
Step 6: Go over plan again
Step 7: And again, per request of Sam
Step 8: Kill SOB
They never really get to step 8.
Because in the morning, Dean wasn't in the motel anymore.
When Dean woke up, he couldn't see a thing.
He was lying on a cold, hard surface, and it was dark and dank and certainly didn't feel like the motel room he and his brothers were staying in. Gingerly, he picked himself up from the floor. He stood awkwardly for a few seconds, stretching out the kinks in his protesting muscles, then he squinted in the dark and tried to find out where the hell he is.
Hesitantly, he called out, "Sammy? Alec?" When he heard no reply he began to fumble around in the dark, walking slowly, hoping he wouldn't trip on something. As he reached a wall, he felt around it, looking for a door, for a way out of this place. For a while, he feared that he had been dropped in here instead, that he wouldn't find a door, just four corners and all walls in between. So when he touched an object protruding from the wall, he grinned. Then he traced that, feeling bumps as he went along. Hinges, he realized. And hinges meant, "A door. Thank god." Grappling forward, he felt for the door knob and when he found it tried to pry it open. It was locked, naturally, but a guy can try, right?
He fought the urge to bang the door and alert his captors, knowing that he had to collect himself before facing whoever it was that took him. At the very least, he reasoned, his brothers weren't there with him. At least, they were all right. They'd wake up soon and they'd get him out of this place.
Suddenly, he heard a key being inserted in the lock and before he could think of a way to subdue whoever that was, the door was wrenched open, drowning the room with bright light. Dean's eyes, immersed in complete darkness, couldn't take the sudden light. So he closed his eyes shut and groaned. Once he felt it was safe to open them again, he did, slowly, and found himself in a room bare of anything except for a single overhanging light that had been turned on. Then below that light, their witch.
The morning found Sam and Alec frantically trying to search for their brother.
"You think the witch took him?" Alec asked as he packed their meager belongings to their duffel bags.
Sam was doing the same when he answered, "It's the only one left. We've checked everywhere already. And," he said, looking worriedly at the Impala parked outside, "He wouldn't leave without his baby."
Alec laughed shortly. Yeah, Dean and his Impala. Inseparable to a fault. That was the reason why they knew something was wrong.
"But he doesn't look anything like the witch, Sam. She couldn't have taken him."
Sam shook his head, ready to argue when he stopped, then looked at Alec and said, "Maybe you should stay here."
Surprised that Sam would even suggest he stay behind, Alec quickly turned on Sam and yelled, "What?! She took Dean, Sam! I can't not go!"
But Sam shook his head, eyes furious, angry, "That's why, Alec! She took Dean! Dean, your DNA donor! Have you forgotten that you look like him?! So forgive me if I'm worrying but I don't want to lose you, too! If she took the both of you, where does that leave me? I can't, Alec. I can't."
Alec let out a breath, then he slumped in defeat as he sat down on his bed. "Sorry," he said, "But I can't lose you too, Sam."
Sam stopped his packing, then he bit his lip and said, "I know. I'm sorry, too." His eyes locked on Alec's, he smiled shakily, "Maybe we should calm down first, huh? Think things through before we barge in there with guns blazing."
"Yeah," Alec replied, laughing at how everything went down so fast, how the infamous Winchester luck had struck again, "Good idea."
Minutes, hours, days, weeks. He didn't know how long he'd been stuck in the same room with this witch. It's not as if he hadn't tried to get out. She wouldn't even lock the door but somehow, he couldn't make himself move. He's been lucky so far, however. He hasn't been cursed, has all his body parts intact and no spewing of bodily fluids had occurred. She even offered him food for breakfast, then lunch, even dinner. No matter how hungry he was though, he wouldn't make himself eat it. Who knew what was in there? She's been leaving him alone for most of the day, going back to check on him every hour or so. Other times, when he'd asked about his brothers, she would laugh and say they've been taken care of. The first time she said that, Dean's blood ran cold. After giving it some thought, it wasn't possible. She's been with him since he woke up. And judging by the noises outside the room whenever she opened the door, he was trapped somewhere in her house. Her small bungalow of a house. There simply was no room. Unless she's got an underground lair that he didn't know of.
And then after offering him dinner, she started talking to him, about little things, normal conversational things, like they were having a friggin' tea time. Pissed and frustrated at himself, he couldn't help the biting and, most of the time, childish remarks that would come out of his mouth. She hadn't minded at first, just continued as if Dean hadn't said a thing. And then, after hours and hours of talking and after hours and hours of Dean bitching to her, she stopped, stared at him and said, "You seem to relish acting like a child, boy."
Dean's brows raised but he kept his mouth shut. From their conversation, albeit one sided, Dean knew this witch was nine kinds of crazy, even more than the others. The way she killed, it had seemed there was a pattern, but Sam, again, had been right. The anomalies did count. Sure, she killed people who looked even a little like her the most, but she also killed on whim, hence the anomalies in their research. She was just that, crazy. And putting it plainly, that was terrifying. Witches were crazies to being with. This witch was crazy on top of crazy! Dean can deal with normal witch crazy, they were still human after all, still had the same desires, the same needs; they were easy to read. Witches like this, witches whose normal had been so fucked up that they've gone mental in their own minds... they were different. Like psychopath killers, they had no pattern, no way for Dean to base his assumptions on. So when she said she had 'taken care of' his brothers, he couldn't tell if she was lying or not.
Said witch tutted, circling him, a small amused smile glinting on her face. "Do you wish to be child?"
He frowned, a little weirded out, a little unsure how to answer. She doesn't wait for one, though, just slinked in and out of the overhanging light, eyes sinister, staring at Dean standing rigidly, tense with apprehension for his brothers.
Then she stopped. And asked again, "Do you wish to become a child again, boy? Do you wish to relive that phase you've lost?"
He doesn't know if he should humor her with an answer or remain silent so instead he asked, "What did you do to my brothers?"
Her eyes crinkled merrily at him, then she giggled and said, "Who knows? They might be frolicking happily in the sun without you and forgot about you completely. You should just stay with me, boy. Just stay with me."
Dean did not like the look in her eyes. This was not supposed to be happening to him. Sammy, he could believe, yeah. Every supernatural chick would fall head over heels over the guy. But Dean? Never. He so did not want to start now. Chuckling, he began to scan the room again, desperately looking for a way out, "Look, lady. I'm single by choice. So no offense, but I'm not staying with you. Like, ever."
She laughed, all out now, as if what he said was the funniest thing she's ever heard. "Silly boy. That's not what I meant."
Dean frowned and chose not to say anything. He didn't think he'd like the answer. So he asked again, "Where are my brothers?"
"Why do you care so much about them? You don't even trust them with you car. Surely, they aren't that important to you?"
Surprised, he raised a brow then, "How the hell would you know about that?"
She looked at him as if the question was absurd then said, "Remember, this is my town, boy. How you thought you could kill me here was beyond me, with your supposed knowledge about the supernatural." Then she stopped pacing, stared at him with madness in her eyes and said, "But you can stay with me, Dean. You didn't have a chance to be a child, did you? But you wanted to, desperately. You still want to. I can feel it. Deep within you there's a wish to experience that innocence that was taken away from you. And I," she said, looking strangely human as longing swept across her face, "I wanted to have a child. They let me have one. And I held him in my arms when he was born and he was the most beautiful thing ever," then suddenly it was gone, replaced by that madness again, anger in her voice as she yelled, "But they took him away! They took him away even before I could give him a name, even before the child could see his own mother! They took him away and they never let me see him again! And it hurt, and I hated myself, hated how I had been so weak to allow them to take my child, hated myself so much that I wanted to die."
Dean didn't say anything. He knew how that felt, after all.
"They didn't let me either," she continued, softly now, that human sadness back again, "They didn't let me die. They wouldn't let me. Every time I tried, they brought me back. Every time I found a curse to undo what I've done to myself, they would stop me. Do you know how that feels, boy? To continue this pathetic life when everything you loved had been taken away from you?"
He felt himself begin to nod but stopped himself. He was sympathizing with a witch! What's next? Be drinking buddies with a werewolf?
Then suddenly, everything clicked into place. The anomalies were probably because those poor bastards angered her enough that she killed them. And killing those that looked like her? It was because she wanted to die herself, but couldn't, so she killed the next best thing. Witches were still people, no matter how powerful they become. The unable to die part though, Dean wasn't sure about that. She was human, right?
"Lady," he began, willing himself for the nth time to move so he can get the hell out of this place, "If you want to kill yourself, go ahead, be my guest. But I don't want to join the party, okay? And leave other people out of it, too for that matter. None of them deserved what you did to them. They had a life, they could have had families, they could have had children! I'm sure you hate whoever did that to you, and what you're doing? Exactly like them," he waited for an outburst from her, but it never came. She was looking blankly at him though. Dean hoped she fell asleep or something. Maybe it would release whatever spell she placed on him? Ha! He wishes. "So please, okay? Let me go. Let my brothers go and just stop."
"No."
Well, it was worth a try. Sammy had always yammered that they could talk to these bitches, make them see reason. So much good that did. So not listening to Sam next time.
"Come on, lady. I don't look like you. My brothers don't look like you--,"
"It is enough," she suddenly said, that blank look gone from her face.
Dean didn't know what 'enough' meant. He didn't have features that looked like a girl's right? Right? However, some chicks would, sometimes, tell him he's too pretty for them. And sometimes, sometimes they tell him his eyes are much more gorgeous than any man or woman they've ever met. He's usually put that to good use but never really put much thought into that, till now.
Well, shit. He couldn't actually gouge his eyes out now, can he?
"Lady, whatever you saw, it's not what you think." Dean almost laughed, 'it's not what you think' never actually worked before. Then he froze, remembered Alec. Because if she saw something in him and saw that it was enough and she saw Alec... then, holy shit. But, hasn't she already seen Alec? Because it's 'her town', she said. Then if Dean was enough, how come she didn't take Alec too?
And then, all of a sudden, extreme pain. Surprised, he gasped as he bit out a yell. He dropped on one knee, one arm clutching at his chest, the other on the floor preventing himself from hitting the ground. He raised his head painfully to look at her, saw her staring at him, mouthing words in a language he didn't recognize. Pain flared once more, this time encompassing his entire body. Heat was coming from within him then from outside, heat burning him, making him sweat, making him pant for a breath he couldn't catch. It felt like he was melting. Pain rose once more and he shut his eyes and bit his lips tight, trying to stifle the yells that were threatening to come out. He coughed, choked on the sharp breaths as he tried to breathe. He found himself panting more and more, tears beginning to leak out as the pain increased.
With the pain, there was extreme heat. Heat so intense it felt like his entire body was burning. His arm gave out and he dropped to the floor. Immediately, he curled into himself, trying to keep the pain at bay. He tried to breathe through the pain, tried to take his mind away from it, tried to calm himself down enough to think of a way out. But he couldn't. When the heat and pain increased, his world began to spin. It was too much, it was all too much.
Unable to stop himself, he yelled, then let himself go.
With unparalleled determination, between the two of them and Bobby, they managed to dig up every information possible on their witch. They should've known it wasn't that simple from the beginning. Because the witch wasn't even a witch, she was a hundred plus plus old lady who once was a part of a hundred plus plus plus year old cult that was hell bent on building paradise on earth by eradicating impure humans, meaning, everyone but them. Why the cult was dormant was anyone's guess but apparently their witch fell off the face of the earth about a hundred years ago and had been thought dead. Until now.
"How do we kill a hundred plus plus year old witch?" Alec asked, incredulous. "I thought witches are human beings, too? How had she lived for so long?"
Sam, of course, didn't have an answer. They certainly haven't faced anyone like this before. But Bobby did. Found, again, in his eclectic collection of books of the occult. So now they have a ritual, gotten in less than a day since they called Bobby. Alec would've been amazed at their efficiency. His mind, however, was too occupied at the moment. So instead, he prepared the things they needed, using abilities only transgenics had, and they suddenly found themselves ready to go.
"You ready?"
Alec looked determinedly at Sam, then tersely nodded.
They were gonna get their brother back. It didn't matter if there was a hundred plus plus year old witch to stop them. This is a fact. They are gonna get their brother back.
She knew she made a good choice.
There were many who were better than this one, but there was something about the way he saw himself, something about his selfishness that underlain something more, something deeper that held root in his beliefs. She hasn't seen anyone quite as conflicted as this one. There were so many contradictions in the young man that interested her enough to take a chance.
She hadn't been disappointed.
All throughout the day, she watched him, watched how he paced around the room, thinking about his brothers. There was something special with their bond, something more than the usual. And frankly, it intrigued her and she wondered if she could have that bond as well. So she took him, because he seemed like the one who started threading the three of them together.
She took him because though he was content with spending the rest of his life with his brothers, deep within him, there was a deep-seated wish to turn back, to have the kind of childhood others take for granted. Though the wish was small and hidden so deep that it was almost inconsequential, it was enough. So she took the chance, and she took him.
His brothers were as interesting, though. She could feel it, their grim determination to find this young one with her. She knew she couldn't hinder the other two's plan to retrieve him, knew that she couldn't stop them from gaining all the information they need to kill someone like her. She still hoped, though that they couldn't, that she'd be able to get a family she longed for a long time.
It wasn't meant to be, however.
As she saw him fall under unconsciousness, she felt it. Two presences in her home. And they were doing something to her and she knew, knew that her time was up.
She stared longingly at the limp form of the elder brother, hidden beneath layers upon layers of clothes. She frowned, feeling another presence somewhere in her home. This was familiar however, someone she didn't want anything to do with, someone she vowed to kill if they so much as stepped within her boundaries. She couldn't do that now, however. They probably sent someone because they felt her essence dying, wondered if they can bring her back again.
And that was one thing she should be grateful of. Because no matter what they would do short of selling their souls to the devil, they wouldn't be able to. For a while, she let the curse do its work, ready for that single burst of light that would signify her death. But that other presence, she could still do something about that, still could exact revenge on the people who made her do this to herself.
Apologizing to deaf ears, she knelt in front the boy then whispered her final spell.
Before it's over, the door banged open and in came his two brothers, guns raised, ready to shoot to kill. As they took in the situation, she looked behind them, looked straight at that shadow watching her silently. Finishing the spell, she raised her head high, smiled triumphantly and said, "You will regret the day you took what should have only been mine. You would do well to remember this day, as this is the beginning of the end." She kept her gaze to that shadow, was satisfied when she felt fear from it. And then, before vanishing, she swept her gaze back to his brothers, saw the fierce protectiveness in their eyes, eyes that promised pain upon those that have hurt what is theirs.
She smiled at them, sadly, apologetically. In these last moments, there wasn't anything she could do to take what she took back. But she knew, if there was anyone in the world capable of braving what she knew was about to come, it would be these boys and the love they have for each other.
In a flash of bright light, Sam and Alec felt the witch burst into non-existence.
For a moment, they stood still, assessing the situation, trying to gauge if a threat was still present. Finding none, they spared a glance at each other, each conversing at what had transpired mere seconds ago.
The witch looked like she was apologizing to them. But for what?
"Did you get what she said when we came in? Something about regretting what's hers?" Alec asked, trying to make sense of what just happened.
Sam shook his head and shrugged, "Well, whatever that means, she's gone now. Let's get Dean and get the hell out of this place."
"Agreed," nodded Alec, eyes skimming over the room, looking for their missing brother.
Sam did the same, stopping near Dean's pile of clothes where the witch was kneeling over a moment ago. He frowned at it, hoping that his brother isn't tied up somewhere bleeding his guts out. "You think he's here?"
Alec turned to him and, with worry lining his features, answered, "He should be. Sam, I smell him all over the place. There's no where else he could be." Crossing the room to stand beside his brother, he frowned and said, "Maybe there's a hidden room somewhere?"
Sam nodded, felt dread beginning to bleed into his body. They were so sure Dean was here. He stepped forward, away from Dean's pile of clothes, unable to look at it because it meant his failure. Moving towards the walls to feel for a bump, for a hidden doorway to, hopefully, where Dean was, he stopped when he heard Alec mutter an, "Oh my god, Sam."
Slowly, fearing the worst, he turned back towards his brother, found him kneeling over the discarded clothes. In quick strides Sam was behind Alec, Alec who was on both knees now, cradling the clothes in his arms. Whatever it was that Sam was expecting, it wasn't this. Because in Alec's arms, hidden and dwarfed in the clothes Dean had worn, was a child.
"It's not possible. These things, they happen in fairy tales, in urban legends and campfire stories! Sam, come on! You can't honestly believe that that's--,"
Sam didn't know what to say to that. In all the strange things they've encountered, and all the curses and spells and rituals they've witnessed and were victims of, this one seriously beats the rest.
"Sam," Alec said, whispering, "This can't be real! I mean, sure, maybe the witch was that powerful. But come on!"
Looking down at the sleeping boy in Alec's arms, Sam shrugged, "He looks like Dean when he was that age. He has his clothes, too."
"Yeah, Sam," Alec bit, teeth clenched in frustration, in worry, "I can see that. Kid looked like he friggin' shrunk in the clothes!" Cursing, Alec stared at the kid in his arms. Then he sighed and said, "Can we go now?"
Sam nodded, saw Alec tighten his hold around the child, then carefully stood up. The kid never stirred. Sam frowned, worried, but for a different reason this time. He stepped beside his younger brother, brushed his fingers on the child's forehead then sifted through the smooth strands of golden hair. He sighed, "His hair was blond before, then it darkened like it is now."
Gently stepping outside the house, Alec squinted up at Sam in the sunlight. Two days. It had almost been two days since they lost Dean and now... "We'll take care of him," he said, final, resolute.
Sam started at the firm determination lacing Alec's voice, not really surprised at how fast he, they've become protective of the young boy sleeping in Alec's arms. For the first time since Dean went missing, Sam smiled then laughed. "He won't want it, but he can just try to stop us."
tbc