The Beldam (A Supernatural Fan fiction)

THE GAME

Sam crawled through the tunnel slowly and cautiously. When they crossed the portals threshold, the cat was able to speak again.

"You know you're walking right into her trap," the cat warned. Sam didn't even look over. He kept his eyes focused on the other door.

"I have to go back," he said. "They are my family." The cat was quiet for a moment, strategizing how to save Sam from his own foolishness. He had seen the Beldam play enough tricks over the centuries to know what was about to happen. Suddenly a thought came to him that he realized no child had ever tried before.

"Challenge her then," he suggested. "She may not play fair, but she won't refuse. She's got a thing for games." Sam took this into consideration. The Beldam did offer to play games with him a lot. The cat did have a point.

"Okay," Sam said. The door on the other side opened and a cold breeze rushed past Sam and the cat. They braced themselves for any kind of attack from the monster on the other side.

"Sam?" John's voice called. Sam's heart stopped at the sound of his father's voice. He looked ahead to see John crouching down in the doorway.

"Dad?!" Sam shouted. When his eyes adjusted to the dark, he was sure that what John Winchester looking down the tunnel at him. He started to crawl faster toward him. When he reached the other side, Sam hugged John. He was relieved for only a moment.

"Why would you run away from me?" John's voice distorted. Sam pushed himself out of the hug and looked up at John. His father's face and body morphed into the Beldam, button eyes and all.

"Where are my dad and brother!?" Sam demanded.

"Oh gosh! I have no idea where your old family is," The Beldam replied. "Perhaps they've grown bored of you and run away to France!"

"They weren't bored of me! You stole them!" Sam accused her.

"No don't be difficult, Sam," The Beldam warned him. "Have a seat. Won't you?" One of the insect chairs crawled up behind him and forced Sam to sit down. The Beldam walked over to the little door and clapped her hands down at the opening. One of her rats came leaping out of the tunnel with the key from the other side. She took the key from the rat and closed the door, locking it. The giant beetle-shaped wardrobe moved in front of the door and for good measure, The Beldam swallowed the key.

"Why don't you have your own key?" Sam asked.

"Only one key," the other father mentioned. Sam looked over to notice him for the first time since his arrival. The outer skin of the other father appeared to be melting and he was taking on the shape of a pumpkin. The Beldam pulled on one of the vines that held his mouth shut.

"Shhh!" she hissed at him. "The garden squash need tending, don't you think pumpkin?" The Beldam dragged the other father out of the room and into the hallway. Sam was left alone in the living room. There was an echo and Sam's attention was pulled toward the mantle above the fireplace.

"Dad? Dean? Where'd she hide you?" Sam asked out loud, but only in a whisper so The Beldam wouldn't hear him. A ringing bell distracted him.

"Breakfast time!" The Beldam called from the kitchen. Sam took a deep breath and walked into the other room. She was standing over the stove, just the same way he found her on the very first night. This time she didn't look like any resemblance of Mary. He took a seat at the table with a place setting only for him. The Beldam hummed to herself as she cracked eggs and flipped bacon in the frying pan.

Sam looked down at the place setting on the table and noticed the gift box she had given him with the buttons inside. It sat there in front of him waiting to be accepted. He knew he had to do something and quick. He remembered the cat's suggestion back in the tunnel. Then he wondered where the cat had gone.

"Why don't we play a game?" he said. The Beldam's humming cut off and she became almost rigid. All Sam could hear now was the crackling of the frying pan. "I know you like them."

"Everybody likes games," The Beldam responded. "What kind of game would it be?"

"An exploring game, a finding things game," Sam replied.

"And what is it you'd be finding?" she asked. Sam could hear her strumming her fingers again on the countertop.

"My real family," he answered.

"Too easy," The Beldam said.

"And the eyes of the ghost children," Sam added.

"Heh, what if you don't find them?" The Beldam asked. She turned around and served him the food she had been cooking.

"If I lose, I'll stay here with you forever and let you love me," he said. Sam paused as he looked over at the box with the buttons in it. He cringed for a moment. "And I'll let you sew buttons into my eyes." The Beldam grinned, now intrigued by the challenge.

"Hmmm, and if you somehow win this game?" she asked.

"Then you let me go," Sam said matter-of-factly. "You let everyone go. My real father and brother, the dead children, everyone you've trapped here."

"Deal," The Beldam said. She reached out her hand, or claw, for a shake. Sam frowned at her offer.

"Not till you give me a clue," he insisted. The Beldam pulled back. Her patience was wearing thin, but Sam would not break.

"Oh right," she said. "In each of three wonders I've made just for you, a ghost eye is lost in plane sight."

"And for my family?" Sam asked. The Beldam looked down at him and chuckled while she tapped on her right button eye.

"Fine! Don't tell me," Sam said. He turned forward in his seat, taking a moment to weigh his options. At least he got this far. He turned back to The Beldam. "It's a deal." But when he turned to seal it with a handshake, she was gone.

Behind the curtains of the window over the sink, Sam noticed something glowing outside. He parted the curtains and saw that the garden was beginning to light up the way it had on one of his visits.

"In each of three wonders," he said out loud. The Beldam's clue made sense almost immediately. There were three ghost children and three wonders. The garden, the circus, and the theatre. Sam knew where to go now and he was going to start with the garden outside.