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

Interlude II.

Sam wakes to the sound of screaming. It's distant, slightly muffled, but the voice is disturbingly familiar. It cuts deep through the fuzziness in his head, making him inwardly flinch though his body is too leaden to respond. Distress tightens his chest, curls in his gut as his mind recoils. He knows that voice...

Suddenly it cuts off then begins again, the same screams replaying to his more lucid brain. His heart lurches as he realises it's Dean.

The haze plaguing his mind starts to abate as he forces his consciousness to push past. Eyes flicker open to find themselves staring towards an array of TV screens. Only one shows movement as Sam squints, trying to discern what he's seeing or where he is. There's the shape of his brother on the floor, some creature on top of him, a blade at his throat...

"He's quite the screamer, isn't he?" a cold voice says behind him.

"What?" It's what Sam tries to say. All he manages is a grunt.

"It's such a shame, really," she continues, replaying the video again so that Sam's fists try to clench. "Your brother was doing so well, but I think he maybe saw just a little more than he should have on that computer. He shouldn't have gone snooping. Now I have to cut our game short." Something cold and hard – a hand? – runs through his hair, and he tries to twist away. Even when he gets past the lethargy dragging heavy on his limbs, he finds his wrists and ankles are bound down. A cramp-like pain twinges in his arms.

There comes a sigh sounding close to his ear, yet he feels no breath to accompany it. The touch on his head withdraws, and footsteps sound soft behind him before a figure emerges in his line of vision. It's too dark for him to make out any detail, yet he's certain she looks human and at the same time, not.

"Get a good look at your brother," she says. "This will be the last time you see him."

The feed on the monitor suddenly changes, showing a cable car ascending up a foliage-covered hillside. Another screen flickers to life, apparently showing the interior as a blurry figure paces, panicked, and again Sam realises it's Dean. There's just enough time for him to be puzzled before he sees the wire suspending the car snap, sending the second screen into a blur of distortion as the car plummets into the trees below. This time, there's no sound.

He groans, fear churning in his gut as he wonders what happened to Dean. His head pounds in time with his heart, the pressure painful behind his eyes. The shadowy figure crosses back to him. Hands reach up to a space above his head where he can't quite see, and he hears the faucet from earlier drip faster. It makes him nauseous.

"Don't worry, Sam, I won't rush. Unlike your brother, you can die nice and peaceful."

He fights to hold onto consciousness as he feels the little strength he has draining again. Dean's out there somewhere, hurt, and all Sam's doing is lying here weak and useless...

His determination alone isn't enough. Before the darkness takes him again, the last thing he thinks he sees is a figure on the screen dragging a body from the wreck of the car.