FIC: Weapon of Choice: Chapter 19
Oct. 2nd, 2007 05:47 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
xantissa
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owzersWeapon of Choice: Chapter 19
Fandom: Supernatural
Author: xantissa
Summary: A case turning out to be a set up. Sam taken away from him. An enemy he can’t identify. Father that struggles to understand. Dean, alone, fighting to save his brother from power no one can really understand.
Genre: Slash
Pairing: Sam/Dean
Rating: 18+
Warnings: incest, slash, demon possession, violence.
Disclaimer: Supernatural and all it’s characters belong to WB. I do it just for fun, no profit being made from my writing.
Spoilers: Mild for Asylum, Nightmare tiny ones for probably most of the first season.
Thanks for beta to
plutogirl10Chapter 19
Damn that damn house again and again.
Dean cursed as he reached the last step of the flight of stairs he just climbed. Before him, he could see another long corridor, three sets of identical doors on his right, and at the end another flight of stairs.
It was the sixth flight of stairs he climbed already. And the cursed house was only two stories high!
Damn that cursed vampire and his fucking charmed house.
Slamming his fist into the sedately brown painted wall, Dean reached for his phone. It was embarrassing, really. To call for his dad. But for some reason, the freaky house just refused to accept him. Even John learned how to move in this hellhole of a building within the first two days. Three weeks later, Dean still got horribly lost.
The house looked terribly mundane when they arrived. Just a wooden, two story building. Clean, nice but not really worth a second look. Nothing out of the ordinary. Of course if you ignored the pack of two-fucking-dozen Hellhounds patrolling the grounds. Dean didn’t even want to think what kind of power was needed to keep so many of those creatures so perfectly obedient.
And that was even before they entered the simple house. As soon as the door closed behind them, there was a slight feeling of vertigo and then they were standing in a freaking marble hall with miles and miles of corridors leading into every direction and dozens of staircases. Hid dad called it a charmed house. It seemed the building was as big or as small as they needed it, and would change and shift to fit to their needs. And had other people currently staying here. It still freaked him out. Where did the house store them when Dean wasn’t looking? Since they came here on Marakaj’s invitation the house would listen to them too. Or it should.
“Just think of you destination, and the next door you open will be the one you wanted.”
Like hell it did.
John and Sam seemed perfectly at ease with the thing, always ending up where they wanted.
It was just a pity that the damn building hated Dean’s guts and kept him walking the damn stairs for hours. And after the first few episodes, he even started to knock on the door because he wasn’t ready to die just yet.
“Hey Dad. Pick me up, okay? The House of Horrors is making me traipse around like fucking Alice in Wonderland. Again.”
Thank God the phones still worked.
Right on clue, his vision became blurry for a split second and instead of a staircase there was now another set of doors in front of him. With a silent click they opened and his father stepped out.
John looked good. Much better than either of his sons to be frank. Good food, quiet and a huge library with books that were supposed to be destroyed centuries ago. Ever since the oldest Winchester found the incredible library he was spending his days in there copying the arcane spells and wards, finding things that would gave them that much advantage over the supernatural they were hunting.
In the three weeks they were coped up in the house Sam got better, now almost no traces of his condition were left on his body. No scars, the sickly thinness. He actually looked better than ever before, his body achieving the peak of physical condition and health without him doing anything. John suspected it was because of the Weapon, even if it was asleep.
But that’s as far as it went. Sam changed so much, that Dean couldn’t even recognize his own brother any more. In some ways he even thought that the Weapon was better than this... nothing.
He was quiet and meek to the point he didn’t seem to have any personality at all. He didn’t speak to anyone, didn’t raise his eyes from the floor if he didn’t absolutely have to and never, ever looked anyone in the eyes.
He ate when told to eat, he washed, he dressed himself and took his clothes to laundry. But nothing more. He didn’t turn his computer on once, didn’t take a book into his hands even though John kept bringing him some stuff almost daily. Didn’t watch TV. He didn’t even turn the light on after the sunset.
Just sat on his bed or in the armchair by the window, with his knees pulled high to his neck. He was like a living zombie. And no matter what Dean or John did, it made no difference. Sam retreated so far into himself it was as if he wasn’t even there.
“Dean.” His father greeted him quietly. His eyes softened at Dean’s slightly haggard appearance. It ate at him, that he was so fucking powerless to do anything for his brother. And it was his brother. His baby brother. Sammy. Dean did everything to forget that it wasn’t quite right. He did not want to remember that for over two weeks they were something much, much more.
That belonged to the past.
“Hey Dad. Take me to Sam? This freaking house is playing tricks on me again. I really fucking hate it.” He complained, letting a little whine slip into his voice. He really, really hated this place. It gave him the creeps. And the fact that both John and Sam were so eager to accept it was creeping him out even more.
* * *
Marakaj closed his eyes and took a deep breath, inhaling the herbal scent of his cigarette and let his eyes drift partially open to look at the silent boy sitting with his knees under his chin in the leather armchair, his silhouette barely touched by the cold moonlight.
He was still, frozen solid in his grief and pain, trying desperately to escape his memories. And at the same time tormenting himself with everything he had done, believing in the need for punishment.
Silly, silly child.
Marakaj snorted silently.
So stupid.
So human.
Something he had done himself before life taught him better.
Regret was a waste of time, waste of emotions. Living by anyone’s rules, other than your own, was a stupidity that demanded it’s price in blood and tears.
The boy didn’t move. Didn’t really react to Marakaj’s presence at all.
For some reason he kept coming back to Sam Winchester’s room almost every night. Sometimes talking, sometimes just smoking and listening to the despair that poured off the boy in waves.
It was really hilarious. Ironic, but funny as hell. It wasn’t even the deaths he caused. Or the pain and suffering his victims went through before he finally killed them that tormented the boy. It was something much more simple.
It was the fact that he had his love in his grasp, could taste it, touch it, fulfill it. For it only to be taken away from him after barely few weeks.
Marakaj wondered if Dean Winchester even realized that was killing his baby brother? Every day, every minute was a reminder of what he had and what he lost.
Maybe that was why Marakaj felt drawn to the boy? After all he was once in love too. With the only person he should never have feelings for. He was so much younger then. No one told him that vampires of his blood never forgot. Never distanced themselves to memories. No one told him, that once he let himself fall in love... he would be in love with that person until he died. There was no forgetting, no moving on. Just an endless misery of memory like shards of glass cutting into a naked, unprotected flesh.
More than two and a half thousandth years, and he could still sometimes see her just in the corner of his eye, smell her warm blood on his hands, see her eyes boring into him even as her life drained from her body rapidly.
Marakaj tilted his head back, letting his long, black hair spill loose over the white wall and melt into the shadows.
It was such a great plan, a perfect opportunity to take out both his enemies at once. A perfectly planned, perfectly executed, logical and insightful plan. He managed to foresee movements of every key player months in advance. His carefully orchestrated plan was flawless. Both the new threat and her died in the final confrontation leaving him to collect the spoils. Leaving him as the most powerful being in his world. A God.
But there was one thing he never even considered. One thing that seemed so trivial then. His feelings for her... he never knew it was love. Not until he heard her heart stop and her saw her eyes loose any expression, that he felt pain. For the very first time in his life he felt pain. He loved her. But he realized it only after he killed her. Life was so ironic. So, so ironic.
“You can’t run away forever, you know? You can either deal with it or let it go completely. No middle ground.” Marakaj pushed himself away from the wall, the cigarette burning forgotten in his hand. “Unlike me, you have a choice. I was never given that privilege.”
Sam didn’t move but he could sense the shift in attention. It surprised him, how good the boy was in following his train of thought. A very intelligent human. One that saw far more of what Marakaj truly was than anyone, especially after knowing him for such a short period of time.
Just because Sam didn’t make a sound, didn’t speak or respond outwardly in any matter, didn’t mean he wasn’t paying attention.
“What? Surprised that I loved someone too? Unlike you humans, vampires like me have it so much worse.” He took a step to the small table with a carafe of whisky and poured himself a healthy portion.
“Humans can forget, can move on. Can love more than one person in their lifetimes. We? We can only ever love once. And that feeling never fades, never lessens. The memories, emotions, desires are always as fresh as the first time, the first day.” He gulped down the alcohol and poured himself another glass. This time a full one. He wished he could get drunk. He really, really wished. “I’m not from this world. Not in the Underworld sense, or Hell, or whatever you think vampires come from. But in the alternate universe sense. A different Earth, a different humanity.”
Sam still didn’t move, but Marakaj could definitely sense faint curiosity from him.
“By the time I was thirty I had already seized the leadership from the former Emperor. I was much smarter and much, much more powerful than any vampire in existence then. Just like you saw, most, almost all, vampires don’t possess any power, magic at all. Just the enhanced speed and strength, ability to morph certain body parts. Like claws and the teeth. Magic users, like me are very rare. Right now there are only few that could come anywhere near me. The strongest one is the one who controls whole of the Asia continent. He controls fire. A very, very powerful individual. There’s another one in Australia, also controlling the whole continent. His powers are a little like telekinesis. Other than those two, there isn’t a single individual capable of opposing me in the vampire world. Back in my homeland there wasn’t anyone. Not among the vampires anyway. There was one human however. A woman to boot. She was intelligent. Very intelligent, but not really at my level. Yet she could beat me in brute strength.” He smiled bitterly. “Let me tell you, I did not like that fact one little bit. It drove me nuts. So I started a war with humans. It was fun. I slaughtered her cities, she slaughtered my warriors. And so it went. Everyone was happy, everyone had a purpose, knew his place in the grand scheme of things. I wasn’t bored. Idyllic life, really.” Marakaj said sarcastically and stopped for a moment, remembering his old companions. Remembering how much fun it was to make plans and strategies. How challenging she was in her odd ways. Mostly she couldn’t really see though his plans. Not completely any way. But she got such wonderful instincts and every time she wasn’t sure what was going to happen she just did something outrageous and unexpected and created chaos.
“But then, suddenly, fun times were over. A new threat appeared. A threat to humans and vampires alike. A demon. A huge and powerful one, too. Neither me, nor her could do a damn thing alone. So she decided to cooperate. It was her idea, her risk. She came to me. Without protection, and offered the deal. To work together against the new threat.”
Marakaj swallowed another shot of whiskey.
“She wasn’t beautiful. Pretty, but kind of ordinary. She was smart, but not really any comparison to me. But she was so incredibly strong for a fragile human, and so damn brave. From the moment I first saw her with my own eyes, I wanted to know her secret. To know just why such an ordinary person could make me so damn irritated. For all her strength I should have outwitted her years before. It was desire to understand, fascination that drove me to make her my lover. We worked together surprisingly well. For all the differences, we made a surprisingly effective team. We created a spell that, if performed correctly, would elevate us onto godlike levels. Pray you never see the kind of power we invoked. If performed wrong the power of the spell, would have ripped the very structure of universe apart.”
“It took us months to create it, hundreds of plans... thousands of little things that had to be perfectly prepared. I took most of the planning, my talent for logic and careful deduction far surpassing her abilities. She took on herself the most magic. For some reason her body and mind were able to sustain levels of power that would have burned me to ashes. I must admit I was jealous.”
Marakaj put the alcohol away. It wasn’t helping him. It still felt like yesterday.
“She never noticed you know? Never realized that I wasn’t going to honor our agreement. I planned very carefully, more than aware that the demon was much too great a threat to ever think of taking on alone. But I was never going to let her survive the final confrontation. I made sure, manipulated the events so that she would die along with the demon. I was a little angry at myself for being fascinated with such an... ordinary person. Well except her talent for magic. Other than that she behaved like any other woman. She fell in love with me quickly, and never noticed that I didn’t ask nor want her feelings. She meant nothing to me. But every time she told me she loved me, she always added ‘remember’ at the end. Just another of her quirks. I didn’t really care enough to notice.”
It was all still so fresh in his memory. As long as he was alive, those memories would hunt him.
“Everything went perfectly. Exactly according to plan. She was the bait and it was her job to keep the demon occupied until I finished the incantation.” Marakaj closed his eyes feeling the bitter taste of memories fresh on his tongue.
“What happened?” Sam’s voice was rough, unused, but he felt drawn into the tale, into the pain now so clear on the usually smirking and condescending vampire.
Marakaj smiled, but it was just a grin that stretched his lips. No feeling behind it at all.
“She was too busy fighting the demon to notice the tiny change in the incantation. By the time she did, it was already too late.”
Marakaj stopped, letting the heavy silence fill the room. He stared at Sam, but the boy doubted the vampire saw him.
“I held her while she was dying. I figured she deserved that much. I did plan to kill her, but I wasn’t going to be cruel about it. She was sad and in pain, but she wasn’t surprised. She was dying and she knew whose fault it was. I expected anger, recriminations... but as usual she surprised me.”
Marakaj closed his eyes narrating the memory as if it happened a just now.
“We are both fools.” She said gently, her face surprisingly calm even though her blood was escaping through the hole in her chest with deadly speed. “You...” She reached up to touch his face, but her bloodied fingers didn’t make it. He watched as the hand fell to the flood again. “... because you wouldn’t recognize love even if it bit you on the ass.” Her voice was becoming weaker with every second. She looked more resigned, disappointed than scared or angry. “And I am a fool too... because I believed...” Talking was becoming a difficulty. The pauses between words became longer and longer. “I believed that a wolf... would not... be a wolf.”
“You...” For the first time Marakaj grew uneasy.
She smiled at him almost gently.
“I almost pity you, Marakaj.” She whispered. “I always knew the price I would have to pay for my foolishness.” This time, along with the exhaled air, blood left her mouth. Marakaj cleaned it away with his fingers. Somehow, he didn’t like the sight of it against her pale skin. “You however... have yet to pay.” Her eyes closed, she no longer had the strength to keep them open “One day... I’ll see you... again.”
The last of her life left her, leaving only an empty carcass in his arms.
“It was ironic, really. As I felt her die I realized something. I loved her. Like I haven’t loved before or after.”
“Why are you telling me this?” Sam asked after a long pause. It was disturbing, to hear something so human from the vampire.
Marakaj smiled that infuriating smirk again. “Many reasons. One of then is to show you that I understand.” The vampire looked Sam straight in the eye. His gaze seemed to burn right into Sam’s soul, seeing all the secrets Sam so desperately needed to hide.
“I know what it’s like to feel regret. To loose something you never really expected to have. I know how it’s like to hate yourself so much you want to claw at your body until there’s nothing but bone left.” The oddly beautiful, navy blue eyes completely commanded Sam’s attention.
“I can understand you on a level that your bother will never be capable of.” The vampire’s voice turned low, husky, seductive. He tilted his head to the side, letting his black hair fall over one shoulder in a glossy waterfall of pure darkness. “I know what you need. What you want.”
He closed the distance with the smooth grace that defined him from the very beginning. The vampire stopped so close to Sam the boy could smell the expensive cologne and the underlying musky tang of a predator.
Marakaj leaned down, one of his hands finding purchase on the back of the armchair Sam was sitting in, barely inches from the youngest Winchester’s neck.
He smiled, his face beautiful but cruel at the same time.
Sam couldn’t take his eyes off him. He knew it was dangerous, but it was like staring at a train wreck in motion. No chance of turning away.
“I can give you what you need.” Marakaj’s face was so close Sam could even smell the scent of his skin. “And I could make it hurt.”
Sam’s breath hitched and he turned his face away.
Marakaj smiled, mocking and victorious.
“Let me guess. You promised your brother you wouldn’t hurt yourself anymore, right?”
Sam’s whole body stiffened.
Bulls-eye, thought Marakaj, barely containing his mirth. Humans were such predictable creatures.
“But you want it so much right now. To be punished...” The vampire whispered, pressing his lips to the exposed neck, enjoying the flinch Sam gave. “To be punished for all your sins. To be hurt.”
Sam remained silent and still, but the vein under Marakaj’s lips was pulsing madly.
“So loyal.” He mocked again, enjoying how the boy struggled to stay calm and unaffected. Sometimes words were even worse tan actual torture.
He let his teeth grow. Then he pressed the sharp points into Sam’s neck. Very gently. Careful not to actually break the vulnerable skin there.
“But there’s no need to feel guilty, though.” The vampire let his tongue travel a slow path up over Sam’s neck tasking tendon and veins under the thin layer of skin. So much life in such a fragile packaging. It aroused and pleased him to feel how the boy flinched half in fear, half in something completely different, something much more twisted. “After all, it’s not like you could actually stop me.”
This time Sam’s eyes returned sharply to the vampire.
“But I did. In the car.” He reminded softly his voice scratchy and damaged from the lack of use.
Marakaj smiled not bothering to retract his fangs, his face just inches from Sam’s.
“Ah... that was just a minor miscalculation on my part. One I will never repeat again.”
The vampire waited for the miniscule contraction of Sam’s pupils and the subtle change of scent that signified that the Soul Weapon’s power was seeping into the boy and then moved. Within a fraction of a second he was away from the Winchester boy and was drawing his hand back for a blow. Letting some of his own, carefully constricted power out, he backhanded the young man.
Then he just stood there, watching as Sam coughed and spit some blood, sprawled on the floor where Marakaj’s blow knocked him to.
“I’m old, you see.” Marakaj pushed his hair back, enjoying the weight on his shoulders. He came closer to the slightly stunned Winchester. The vampire wondered just how much of the Weapon’s power Sam used consciously. “You are of no more threat to me than an ant is to an elephant.” He crouched by Sam, wove his fingers into the messy brown bangs and pulled, forcing the boy into a more upright position. “I’m so old I created a whole bloodline of vampires in a world that wasn’t even my own. I can do to you whatever I damn well please.” Marakaj’s voice was gentle, almost sweet, seductive and scary at the same time. “… and there’s nothing you can do about it.” With that Marakaj bit down on the exposed neck. The moment his fangs went in, Sam stopped struggling and only gasped helplessly in pain.
Marakaj took only a few mouthfuls, enjoying the agonized sounds coming from the Winchester boy. It was so obvious he never had to deal with pure blooded vampire before. Especially someone as powerful as Marakaj. He let go of Sam and the boy slumped to the ground barely conscious and still shivering in pain.
The vampire licked his lips.
“Delicious.” He murmured watching with a pleased smile as the little mark scabbed over and the faded completely in a barely few moments. The blood tasted of pain, power and forbidden love. A heady mixture.
There was always a price to be paid for ignorance. Sam should know it better than others.
The vampire tsk’ed at the boy and scooped him up, lifting his big frame effortlessly. Then he deposited Sam into the armchair he occupied before.
“You see Sam, pure blooded vampires are not only infinitely stronger than the fallen kind you dealt with before. They also have all sorts of fun abilities. The ability to control what out chosen victim experience is one of the basic ones. I can make you feel unbelievable pleasure that’ll make you feel dazed for days while I feed from you.” Marakaj took Sam’s chin in his hand, smirking at the prickle of short stubble there. He pulled the boy’s face up, waiting till the pain hazed eyes focused properly on him.
“But I can also make you feel pain; the kind of pain that breaks you apart, leaving nothing more than jaded, shattered pieces.
Still keeping Sam’s chin in his hand Marakaj leaned down and kissed the dazed boy, forcing him to taste his own blood. Using his thumb, Marakaj forced Sam’s jaw open and deepened the kiss. By the time he finished, Sam’s still too bright eyes held so many contradicting emotions even Marakaj couldn’t really make them all.
A knock on the door was such an ordinary, unexpected sound that it shocked both of them back into reality.
“Sam?” They heard muffled calling. “You okay there, bro?”
Sam, still staring at the vampire used the back of his hand to wipe his lips. His eyes weren’t cold or dead now. They were burning with anger.
“Ah... the involuntarily cruel brother is here. When you get tired of his ignorance, you an seek me out.” Marakaj offered with a smirk and headed towards the door. Not bothering to look back he opened the door to reveal an obviously agitated Dean. The look of shock and immediate suspicion on Dean’s face made Marakaj smile crookedly once again.
“He’s all yours.” He purred, drawing out the sounds.
“Wha...” Dean started to ask, but Marakaj just sidestepped him and walked down the corridor, making Dean choose between following him and concern for his brother.
When Marakaj heard the door close, he felt his smirk slip off his face.
“For now.” He whispered to himself. “Only for now, Dean.”
Love is an expensive game to play. Sam is already paying the price. When will you pay yours I wonder, mused Marakaj putting his hands in his pockets and striding down an endless corridor.
TBC
A/N: I know it's been a while. My mom got really sick, then I was looking for a job (got one today!) and the writting just wasn't happening. Hopefully I will finish it soon. I have half of the next chapter done so at least it's a start. Unfortunately it's the ending part. I hate writting things backward.
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no subject
Date: 2007-10-02 05:46 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-10-02 06:47 pm (UTC)Lots of pain for Sam and Dean both in the future. I firmly believe they need to hit rock bottom before they can climb back up. And they haven't reached it yet :) *add evil laugh here*
no subject
Date: 2007-10-02 05:46 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-10-02 05:49 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-10-02 06:48 pm (UTC)and I'm glad to see you again and be posting again!
The faithful are rewarded!
Date: 2007-10-02 06:53 pm (UTC)sexlove.The house would drive me crazy, and I'm still a little perplexed John is so comfortable there.
Re: The faithful are rewarded!
Date: 2007-10-02 08:55 pm (UTC)I'm happy that your skin bristles (sounds wierd) I wanted the Marakaj/Sam scenes to be a little hot and a little disturbing. Unfortunatelly there will be more disturbing scenes with Marakaj :)After all the boys hadn't reached the rock bottom yet :)))
no subject
Date: 2007-10-02 06:55 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-10-02 08:44 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-10-03 01:55 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-10-03 09:05 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-10-04 03:25 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-10-11 07:39 pm (UTC)Glad you're back
Date: 2007-10-04 06:57 am (UTC)Re: Glad you're back
Date: 2007-10-11 07:38 pm (UTC)There will be probably abut three chapters more. I have too many plots going on right now. So most things will be revealed. And as a teaser, I may tell you that Sam already knew abut the bracelet :)))))) and that only makes things more messed up LOL
no subject
Date: 2007-10-08 01:53 pm (UTC)Still, I thought it was a great story and I wanted to say thanks for posting it.
no subject
Date: 2007-10-11 07:35 pm (UTC)I would like for you to continue reading, but it's your decision.
no subject
Date: 2007-10-14 04:18 pm (UTC)I truly appreciate your clarification about your intentions as far as Sam goes, and I will definitely be reading through till the end. Again, I really loved your OC's, I found them intriguing and well woven within the verse (I really want to know more about Sarah and her connection to who she sees in Dean and omg Dean's healing power).
no subject
Date: 2007-10-14 04:47 am (UTC)Hello, hello
Date: 2007-11-07 10:30 pm (UTC)