To The Beat Of The Devil's Drums [Supernatural]

Digitalis

Breathe.

Dean stumbles, hands grasping for support against the garishly painted façade of the Fun House. His head is pounding and shadows blur his vision with each pulse of his heart, making each step unsteady as his struggles to stay conscious. Blood seeps out of the cut on his arm, throbbing painfully as it steadily drains what little energy he has left.

Come on, breathe. You gotta get away from those things back there and calm down...

He tries to steady the shaking of his chest, fighting to even out the heaving, irregular gulps as he sucks down air, but his muscles won't co-operate. Each breath feels like razor blades tearing at his throat, painfully refusing to even out into the deep, slow breaths he needs to steady his heart.

Focus, Dean! She's gonna bleed Sam dry if you don't get a handle on this.

From somewhere above him, breaking through the deafening pounding of his blood, he hears a crackle over the park's loudspeakers as they spring to life again. "Did my pets frighten you, Dean?" The voice is cold and taunting as it blares at him through the silence. "Your poor little heart sounds so scared..."

"Fuck you!" he snarls back, the words tasting of blood in his mouth. Fuck the monstrous little bitch. When he finds her, he's gonna rip her limb from limb and tear her own rotten heart out...

A laugh sounds over the speakers, chilling him to the bone. "No you won't, Dean." For a moment, he wonders if she can hear his thoughts now, just like she can hear his heart, but then he realises he shouted it out loud. "I don't have one."

Nausea creeps through his gut as he once again wonders what the hell he's dealing with. What kind of monster is capable of this? What is it that's captured Sam? "I'm still gonna tear you apart," he growls defiantly, but it's made infinitely less threatening as his knees give out from under him and he collapses to the floor.

She tuts at him. "Poor Sammy's not looking too hot here, Dean. If he loses any more blood, I think his heart might just stop."

"Please!" He loathes having to beg; despises it with all his being, but he's so out of his depth he doesn't know what options are left. If he can't get his heart rate to slow down she's just gonna bleed Sam faster and faster until there's nothing left, and he's too exhausted and terrified to get the muscle in his chest to co-operate. "I just need more time, alright? Please, stop bleeding him. My heart just needs time to slow down."

"Oh, I don't think it's going to be slowing for a while."

Dean swallows heavily, a fresh wave of horror sweeping over him as he stares down at the blood seeping from his arm and realises. "You poisoned the blade?!"

"Yep." She sounds positively amused. "Not enough to kill you, but I suspect you're going to be feeling ill for a bit. Your heart will definitely be racing for some time."

Anger bubbles up inside him, threatening to boil over despite his exhaustion. "That's fucking cheating!"

"It's my game, Dean; I make the rules."

"Look...please." He's desperate now. "If you're gonna do this, just take me, alright? I can't win now anyway, so please just take me and let Sam go."

A sigh rings out through the air. "No, Dean, you're not getting it. I don't want you. I just want a beating heart I can play with, and yours has been pretty fun so far. If you're a good sport, your reward is that I'll let Sam go. So how about instead of quitting on me, you keep playing the game?"