Soul To Steal: Sam Winchester

Chapter 15: Livin' On A Prayer

We got Sam down the stairs and into the room. He started to come to just as Bobby was closing the door to latch it. Anger flashed in his eyes as he lunged for the door. He began slamming his fists against the door and it caused me to jump back. "Don't worry, he won't be coming out there until his soul is back." Bobby trudged up the stairs. Sam stopped fussing with the door the moment Bobby was gone. With the slot open we made eye contact in silence for a minute, blood trickled down his head. "You've gotta let me out Alex." "I'm sorry Sam, I don't think that's a good idea." He wiped the blood from his forehead and gave me a chilling grin. "You wanna come in here and finish what we started?"

I backed away as Bobby returned. He began shoving an article of clothing through the slot. "Simmer down and put a shirt on boy." I glanced at him one more time before following Bobby back up the basement stairs. "I won't do it Bobby!" Sam yelled as he punched the bolted door angrily with his fist. Bobby grabbed us a couple of beers and we sat in the living room talking for the next couple of hours. He returned to his chair and slouched down, covering his eyes with his cap. I grabbed a blanket from the back of the couch and curled up under it. Now almost 4 o'clock in the morning, I drifted off to sleep. For the next hour I tossed and turned, haunted by my dreams.
A little after 5 am I began to wake up to what sounded like a conversation in the kitchen. Was that Dean? That couldn't be right, it had only been 12 hours or so. I cautiously walked towards the voices and peered around the corner. Death sat casually at the table eating food while Dean stood above him, a look of confusion in his eyes. He pulled an object from his pocket to place on the kitchen table. The look on his face was that of defeat. My heart sunk, he'd lost the wager. I wanted to cry out but managed to hold my breath, straining to hear what was being said. I couldn't really make anything and started towards the kitchen in frustration. Death didn't appear to be gloating that he'd won. His body language didn't seem to indicate at all that he was about to walk out, leaving Sam soulless.

Suddenly Death disappeared and Dean came running into the room, panic in his eyes. "Bobby come on!" He yelled. The old man jumped with a start and they both took off down the basement stairs. I stood there for a moment in total confusion. What the hell was going on? I snapped out of it and rushed to the stairs to catch up. I could see them standing in the open doorway of the panic room. Sam began yelling. "Stay away from me! Dean, don't let him do this." I ran up behind Dean just in time to see Death at the bed leaning over Sam, a bright ball of light in his outstretched hands. He started shoving it into his chest and Sam threw his head back to scream in pain. I gasped and stepped forward between the two men. Dean had a look of concern in his eyes but held me back. The light was blinding but it was all over with in only a minute or two.

Death made eye contact with Dean and nodded before disappearing. Sam lay there unconscious and his brother ran to him. He put two fingers to his neck to check for a pulse. He searched his face with concern then looked back at Bobby. "He's still alive. Bobby, what do I do?" The old hunter took a few steps into the panic room and examined Sam up and down. "He probably just needs to sleep." Dean took one last look at his brother and headed back to ascend the basement stairs. I immediately ran to Sam and sat next to him. It was the strangest thing but after all that he just seemed to be sleeping peacefully. I suppose he may be tired after not sleeping for an entire year and being locked in the cage with Lucifer. I brought my hand to his forehead and ran it gently through his hair. My eyes began to water and I silently prayed he would wake up later and be Sam again.

I ran up the stairs to retrieve a warm wet washcloth from the kitchen. Sitting back down next to Sam I began to clean the blood from his head. I scrounged around and found a blanket then covered him up. Sitting in the chair, I watched him intently. I was determined to be there if something should go wrong. I heard footsteps slowly make their way down the stairs but I kept my eyes on Sam. I saw Dean's boots out of the corner of my eye as he came up behind me. He ran his hand across my back and placed it on my shoulder. "He'll likely be out for awhile Alex. Go get a little more sleep." I turned to look up at Dean and produced a half smile. Rising to my feet, I quickly embraced him. I buried my head in his neck and fought back tears. "Thank you Dean." As I made my way to the bedroom, I was convinced I would never be able to sleep until I knew Sam was definitely safe. That emotional exhaustion will sneak up on ya though. No sooner had my head hit the pillow, I was out.