Chapter Fourteen

“…all of them.”

“Where are they?” Sam Winchester demanded after hearing those words, dropping all pretext at being an FBI agent because Scheckly’s smug explanation didn’t just reek of any impending doom yet to happen but rather of one that had already taken place. His explanation of the Razor Realm was too much like Purgatory for Sam’s comfort and if that’s where Dean and Buffy had been sent, the younger Winchester had no damn idea how to get them back. Worse yet, he'd just gotten his brother back. Sam didn't know he could take another of Dean being gone, trapped some place that he could never reach.

“Who?” Scheckly’s eerie smile seemed to grow broader even though he was feigning innocence at any complicity in their disappearance.

“My brother and his friend,” Sam snapped, his hand reaching for the sawn off under his jacket. “They came to your store this afternoon. They haven’t been heard from since. You’re telling me you don’t know anything about it?”

“Haven’t a clue...” Scheckly replied smugly. “Young man and a pretty girl like that, they could be anywhere.” He emphasized the last word with a sneer.

Sam’s patience broke at that moment. Jumping out of his chair, he was on Scheckly in a minute, stamping a foot against the man’s chest, his shotgun aimed squarely at Scheckly’s face. “Where are they?” He demanded, more than prepared to shoot if he wasn't answered appropriately.

Scheckly’s eyes narrowed with wicked malevolence. “Where do you think? I gave them to the Razor Realm. My master demands fresh meat for the grinder and your brother and his slut were very tasty indeed. I'm sure they've masticated him by now and her, so many moist places to explore and tear...”

Sam jammed his foot harder against Scheckly’s chest at the sickening thought, until he heard bone crack but he wasn’t about to pull his punches if this asshole knew where Dean and Buffy were and more importantly, how to get them out of this so called Razor Realm.

“How did you send them there? Did you use the cube? Where is it?”

“You know nothing about the cube. It’s a nexus between the soft places of creation. Even brief contact with it allows the Razor Realm to invade your reality.” Scheckly crowed while straining against Sam’s boot but showing little sign of fear perhaps because he knew Sam wouldn’t harm him if he wanted Dean and Buffy returned.

Not that Scheckly was intended to do anything of the kind of course because the boy was under the mistaken impression he was helpless.

He was not.

“That’s what happened to Benson and Sherman?” Sam demanded again, taking the opportunity to learn as much as he could about this place he'd never heard of before. The Razor Realm. “We touched it and it opened this…this…nexus to the Razor Realm?” He thought about the dust they’d found at each of the sites where the victims had been killed. Benson was waylaid by whatever horror that frightened him the most in that alley while Sherman was murdered by his fear of spiders in his own office. Even Buffy and he had been violated in seemingly impregnable locations.

The monsters hadn’t come after them; they’d invited the things in.

“You’re smarter than you look boy,” Scheckly sneered, “but that’s not going to help you now.”

“Oh yeah…?” Sam returned and pushed down his foot against the man’s chest even harder but Scheckly didn’t seem to notice it and in a second, neither did Sam.

Scheckly's skull started to expand and stretch like someone inflating a beach ball. Blisters came to life beneath his increasingly elastic skin, stretching to its limit as his bones continued to grow. His eyes turned black before his eye balls began to bulge out of their sockets. His pupils vanished into the sickly dark of compound eyes and his flesh tore to reveal the dark green hide of something monstrous.

He started to smile again, maintaining the same unperturbed façade that infuriated Sam to no end and made him want to blow the son of a bitch’s head off. However, Sam knew to do that was to risk losing Dean and Buffy to whatever craziness Scheckly had sent them into.

As Scheckly’s mouth widened, Sam saw the corners of his mouth started to tear when his skull outgrew the mask of flesh he was wearing. Rivulets of blood rolled down the ruined skin, revealing triangular white teeth that were inches long and resembled fangs. A slithery pink tongue snaked through the razor sharp points as Scheckly slapped a hand on Sam's ankle and hissed. "Now perhaps you understand you’ve bitten off more than you chew.”

With that, he shoved Sam with such force that the younger Winchester was flung through the air, slamming into the wall so hard that the dry wall he landed against cracked, creating a small crater where Sam’s shoulder had impacted. Sam felt something buckle and was immediately assaulted by exquisite agony when he felt something pop out with a sickly squelch. The agonising pain forced him to release the shotgun and he knew he'd dislocated his shoulder. Maybe Dean was right after all; the trials were ensuring that he was no longer in any shape to keep hunting the way he was.

Unfortunately, as he saw the rest of Scheckly’s human visage shed away from the growing bulk of the creature he was transforming into, Sam had a sneaking suspicion; he may not be around to hear Dean say ‘I told you so’.

*****

When they had gone their separate ways, Faith had continued up the side walk searching for the best way to break into the house while Sam parlayed with Scheckly for information. She suspected that she had very little time to do what he’d asked because the guy had to know someone was onto him already. If he had taken down B and Sammy’s big brother, then Scheckly had to assume someone else would come looking for them and was expecting trouble. If so, he’d be on his guard and Sam’s appearance at his door might be akin baiting the hook with the worm.

Of course, Faith hadn’t told Sammy that when she agreed to his plan. Let him discover that surprise by himself, she sniggered inwardly.

The tall ornamental trees and boxwood shrugs that separated Scheckly’s home from his neighbours also provided enough shadows to allow Faith a concealed approach to the rear of the house. She heard Sam trying to con his way in distantly as she moved soundlessly through the darkness, more than adept at making a stealthy advance after years of sneaking around vampires who could hear better than bats. Once she was passed the frontage, she skirted the far wall surveying each window as she passed it.

Most of his curtains were drawn so other than a glimpse of the crack between them through the dark, there was little she could make out and that added another trace of confirmation that he was their bad guy.  Obviously, he didn't want anyone seeing what he did within the walls of his home. Or he could like privacy, her cautionary voice reminded. The voice which she'd never admitted sounded like Sunnydale's previous mayor, tended to be heard when she felt she might be making impulsive choices.

She was halfway down the path that ran alongside the house when she came across seven foot wooden fence that was no obstacle for her as she clambered over it. Her only concern as she dropped to her feet on the other side was the presence of a dog if Scheckly had one. She liked dogs and wouldn't want to harm one if it threatened to give her away.

Fortunately, no Doberman or Shih Tzu was there to greet her when she entered Scheckly's back yard. It was bare except for a spinning clothes line and a tin shed in the corner of the small yard. The grass was patchy and dry, indicating the guy wasn't much of a gardener as Faith walked up the wooden steps to the door. When she reached it, she found the door was locked and didn't waste any time applying a little slayer strength to the mechanism and destroying the lock with one sharp twist of the knob.

She slipped into through the kitchen which though clean, seemed dated. The Formica and linoleum had taken the stain of age and it all seemed to bleed into a dreary state of off-white. She scanned it for a second or two and proceeded to search the house. She heard footsteps in the other room and paused until they'd gone into the living room before she continued her reconnaissance.

The first level offered nothing of interest, bathroom, laundry, separate toilet and the study. She snuck into the study, surveying the books on the shelves and noted that most of them were in languages she couldn't read and appeared as antique as the objects in the man's store. They were leather bound and had that musty smell which always reminded Faith of the library where Giles had kept most of his books. If Buffy were here; Faith was sure that the Chosen would find it nostalgic, Faith just found it dusty.

Rifling through the contents of roll top desk, Faith found little of interest, papers, a security cam cassette and a couple of knickknacks that had yet to be catalogued. There was no sign of Sam's mysterious cube but then if it was the object that they believed it to be, Scheckly wouldn't keep it out in the open. He'd probably had it upstairs, she thought glancing above when suddenly she heard shouting. Faith's neck jerked up to listen for a moment until a loud crash jolted her into action.

She was racing out of the study a split second after, covering the span of the hallway in a few short strides towards the source of the commotion which was emanating from the living room. Faith skidded across the threshold of the room’s doorway when she saw Sam Winchester picking himself off the floor. Blood was running down his nose and the unusual angle of his shoulder told her that he’d dislocated it.

What had flung all six foot four of him was standing way much taller with a misshapen head that nearly bumped against the ceiling when it straightened up. It looked reptilian except that it was hunched over with a clearly hominid skeletal structure, with legs bent and arms balancing its bulk against the floor. It raised its head away from Sam and Faith saw herself reflected in the facets of his compound eyes. It tilted its head and reared up, uttering a below of indignation at the invasion of its home.

"You just make life interesting don't you Sammy?" Faith quipped but there was no trace of humour in her voice.

"Don't kill it!" Sam warned as he saw her reaching inside her coat, "It knows where Dean and Buffy are. It sent them somewhere!"

The creature started to laugh as if it found the notion of them sparing it was highly amusing. Considering that it towered above them both, perhaps not an unwarranted conceit, Sam thought.

"I think you over estimate your abilities boy. I will crack your skull and drink you dry before I devour every layer of flesh left!" It spat at them, vicious green fluid splattering about from its distended jaw.

"You’re getting me hot sunshine," Faith retorted and removed the sheath of the knife she had hidden in her coat as the creature closed in on Sam. The blade was a variation of a Malaysian Kris. It had a curvy blade that tapered into a sharp point with a wooden hilt carved with figures of that country’s mythology.

The creature appeared more interested in Sam as it lunged towards the young hunter. Sam leapt out of the way even though movement was excruciating. He let out a groan of pain that had his eyes watering as the creature slammed into the same crater he had created earlier when it had flung him against the wall. Scheckly spun around on his crouched legs, his massive arms lashing out. Sam felt the sharp scrape of sharp talons across his back. The thick fabric of the jacket saved him from having his spine ripped open.

“Hey handsome! How about picking on someone your own size?” Faith jumped on top of Scheckly’s back, locking her arm around his thick neck before plunging the point into saucer sized shoulder blade. It sank through the tough hide aided in part due to the sharpness of the blade and also because Faith was driving it with slayer strength. Scheckly bellowed with outrage and tried to shake Faith off as the ooze that passed for his blood pulsated from the open wound.

“I’ve shit bigger than you,” Scheckly snarled, swinging about violently to dislodge her.

Meanwhile Sam had stumbled into the hall, his arm hanging limply at his side. Face contorted in pain, he sucked in deep breath and braced himself for what came next. Painfully aware of the fight taking place in the next room, he couldn’t be out of play for too long. Stomach clenching, Sam grit his teeth and slammed his dislocated shoulder against the wall and popped it back into place with another burst of white hot agony that lanced through his body. Sam cried out loud, unable to hold it back no matter how much he tried. Almost blinded by the pain, he allowed himself no more than a few seconds to recover before he hurried back into the fight.

Faith was still holding onto the creature and had managed to stab it on the back again. However, Scheckly was still on its feet, trying to tear her off by slamming into walls, until every piece of furniture in the room was near destroyed. Suddenly, Faith saw something sharp began to protrude through his back that wasn’t there before. She had about a split second to realise what it was when the sharp, spinal ridges emerged from his hide, threatening to skewer her.

Faith released her grip but not before one of the spines ripped her t-shirt open, cutting a gash that ran from the top of her navel to her cleavage. It wasn’t very deep but stung nevertheless. She dropped to the floor on her ass, the pain running through her spine as Scheckly turned around and prepared to attack. The blade still in her hand, Faith flipped her body upright, landing on one knee as she swung her arm in a wide slash. The knife caught him across the chest and more black blood splattered across her t-shirt.  In reaction, he lashed out faster than she gave him credit, the blow striking her across the jaw and sending her sprawling

Faith landed in to the broken wreckage of the sofa, reeling from the force of the punch. It took something incredibly strong to disorientate her and as she struggled to regain her equilibrium, heard the beastie hiss with triumph. “I’m going to pull off your limbs like a fly and eat what’s left.”

“Yeah good luck with that,” Sam Winchester declared as he stepped through the door way, armed with a sawn off shotgun and fired.

The blast hit Scheckly in the side and he staggered sideways and before Sam pumped the gun again and fired a second shot. This one caught Scheckly in the leg, bringing him down to one knee. He made another desperate lunge at Sam who pulled the trigger for a third time. This time the blast caught Scheckly full in the face. His grotesque features exploding in an eruption of blood and dark flesh. Sam fired once more, discharging the last shell in the chamber to obliterate what was left of Scheckly’s features. He hadn’t meant to kill the son of a bitch but there didn’t seem to be a choice now.

Slayer or not, Faith wasn’t invincible.

Scheckly staggered backwards once more and then tumbled over. His fall was halted by the wall behind him and upon landing against it, slumped to the floor. There was no reaction from his ruined, featureless face as the bulk of him slid to the floor, unmoving.  His compound greyed over, like the facets of a diamond misting over one at a time. Black blood expanded in a thick, viscous pool where he’d fallen, soaking the carpet and seeping through the cracks of the wooden floor.

Sam let out a sigh of relief, lowering the gun in his hand before wiping the blood running down his nose. He succeeded in smearing it across his face when he turned to Faith.  She was still on the floor, prompting him to take a step towards her with his hand extended.

“Are you okay?” He asked full of concern, taking note of the gash running down her chest. “You’re hurt.”

Faith stared at him for a moment, holding his gaze before dispelling the private thought running through her head at the moment to the ether. “Yeah, I’m fine.” She took his hand and stood up a little shakily before commenting, “Not bad for a civilian.”

“You saved my ass,” Sam pointed out, “Thought I ought to do the same.”

Blood rushing through her veins at being denied the kill and yet feeling some wholly uncharacteristic admiration at how he had come in and saved her, Faith reacted the way she always reacted when someone hit her in the right spots. Without giving him a chance to react, she yanked him down by the shirt and captured his lips in a bruising kiss, pouring all the frustration and adrenalin surging through her veins into that one exchange.

There was liquid fire in her kiss and as her tongue invaded his mouth like the peasants storming the castle, it took a moment for Sam to process what was happening. His head swooned by how incredible she tasted and felt, like the demon blood he used to get high on. It filled with a sense of power while at the same time terrified him. He wanted to revel in her, revel in the kiss but he couldn't; not now. Not with Dean and Buffy missing and not with his body deconstructing one heavenly trial at a time.

"Faith...Wait...." Sam finally gathered enough resolve to pull away but Christ it was hard. At that moment, he'd like nothing better than to let her have her way with him but they had bigger problems right now. "Stop,” he insisted.

Faith pulled back and Sam caught a glimpse of blush on her cheeks that did not belong to the strong confident, aggressive woman of a second ago. She looked like someone who had been caught doing something she shouldn't have been and he felt sorry for making her feel that way.

"Sorry," she apologised, unable to meet his gaze. "It’s a slayer thing."

"A slayer thing?" Sam's brows arched in surprise and his stomach sank in disappointment, realising that the kiss was just the by-product of her slayer physiology and not because she liked him or anything.

"Yeah," She nodded, "post-fight, we get strong urges." She replied, pretending to examine the wound on her chest extra closely so as to not be any more embarrassed than she already felt. "It kind of makes us super horny."

"Oh," Sam said unable to think of what to say to that. Thank God Dean wasn't here, Sam thought. His older brother would have been crowing that he'd hit the fucking lottery. Thinking of Dean made Sam remember their situation and he decided this was a conversation better served for another time. Turning towards Scheckly's dead body, he saw the man's remains and cursed, "I shouldn't have killed him."

As he walked past her, saying nothing more about their exchange and focussing on business, Faith stared at his back convinced with a faint smile that he'd wanted her too. The heat in the few seconds that he'd kissed her back was unmistakable but it seemed, wrapped in that package of courage and intelligence, was also decency. He'd let it go without making some jackassy remark and she liked that; and him.

"Sometimes, it just plays out the way it’s gonna play."

Sam cast her a glance but couldn’t be consoled, "but now we have no way of knowing how to get Buffy and Dean back. He could have told us about this Razor Realm he'd sent them to."

True, Faith thought silently but neither was she about to pin her hopes on a monster who had been prepared to kill them both. "Look, I haven't searched all of this place yet and if we don't find the cube here, we'll put a call to Giles and figure something out."

Sam nodded but he had the sinking feeling that they were running out of time.

***

They'd gotten dressed again and cleaned up without saying a word.

No monster had jumped out at them while Dean had held Buffy for a few minutes in post orgasmic bliss, breathing in the scent of her hair, relishing the silk of her skin pressed against his bare chest. He knew he was so gone. She fucking owned him now and for once he didn't mind. Maybe it was the sex talking but being with her made him start to understand his dad a little more. Life without mom had driven John Winchester crazy, had made him forget he had sons not two hunters in the making. It was the only way he’d been able to cope being without her.

When they started walking again, the tension was thick and palpable.  There was so much he wanted to say, so much he wanted to tell her about what she meant to him. However the talking, that was Sammy's thing, not Dean's. He hadn't done it since Lisa and there was always a part of him that knew that it couldn't last with her. When it had ended, it had broken his heart but Dean had also known it was for the best. He couldn’t protect her or Ben all the time nor could he stay.

"Look, I'm going to say it," she spoke up first breaking the silence.

It was no surprise to Dean of course. If either of them was going to talk about what had happened between them, it was sure to be her.

"What happened back there was amazing," she said unafraid to admit it. "It’s what exactly what I needed but I don't expect anything from you. I know that once we're out of here, you'll be gone and that's okay. I understand the life. I lived it. It’s hard on the people we care about. It’s even worse when they get hurt. You want to protect them from all the monsters in the world but you can't. You're in my heart but I understand that you'll be moving on so you don't have to worry about me. Being a slayer I can protect myself but I don't want you to feel obligated to me just because we got groiny."

"Groiny?" Dean looked at her, listening to her rambling and wondered if she knew that even half of what she was talking about sometimes. He doubted it and while some of what she had to say made sense a lot of it didn’t and also underestimated him quite a bit. “What are you twelve?”

“So not the way to talk to girl you just had sex with,” Buffy pouted, punching him lightly on the arm.

Dean chuckled softly and retorted, “I can’t help it, I’m not up on how to describe sex using rainbow unicorns and little heart shapes.”

"Don't be a jerk," she complained dropping her gaze to her feet, slightly offended at his teasing. "I'm trying to make this easy for you."

"Well thank you for that Counsellor," Dean retorted and stopped in mid step, reminded that he had been a little irate at the assumptions she made about him in her earlier speech, "but how about you shut up and let me talk for a sec?"

Buffy shot him an icy glare. How could he make her feel the way he had earlier and then follow it up with behaviour that made her want to bash his head in? The guy was infuriating! Buffy grumbled to herself as she stopped next to him, her arms folded. Smouldering while she gave him the silence he asked for.

"Firstly," he said staring at her. "Back there was awesome. Better than the twins in Reno and the surfer chick in Venice, awesome. Secondly, thanks for giving me the obligation-free fuck but I didn't ask for it. I don't know how we're going to work things out when we get out of here but I can tell you that I'm not going to drive out of town and forget you exist. That back there, wouldn't have been as great as it was if I thought you were just a one night stand I'd never see again. This thing we got going, you gotta know how rare it is. You're the slayer so I know you can take care of yourself and you know I'm a hunter so you don't gotta worry about me either. Don't you think that's worth hanging on to?"

Buffy couldn’t find the words to respond so she nodded quietly instead.

"And for the record, you're in my heart too so before this becomes the last act of a bad Jennifer Lopez chick flick, let's concentrate on getting out of here, yeah?"

It was hard to disagree with him when he was right. Had she become that jaded with relationships and men? In the distance, she picked up the sound of something in the background, was that wind? It sounded like something being dragged against the floor. She surveyed the length of wall and saw nothing before regarding him again.

"Okay," she answered with a nod, belaying her apprehension and chiding herself for not giving him the benefit of the doubt at least.

Dean got that she was scared. For all her courage, he knew she'd been hurt before and surrendering herself to caring for someone again was hard. After Lisa, he felt the same fear. However, Dean felt in his gut that this thing with Buffy had a chance of becoming something good. Dean had never thought he'd ever feel these words; but he had faith in the both of them to handle what came next.

Stroking her chin with his thumb, Dean was about to lean in and kiss her when the same noise that Buffy had heard previously became audible to him too. “You hear that?” He asked her, staring down the dark abyss of the never ending hallway they were trapped within.

“Yeah,” she nodded, her brow knotting as she gripped the sword in her hand even tighter as her eyes followed his gaze, “I guess we’re getting the next act now.”

The next ‘act’ was moving fast now and as it closed in on them, Dean started to realise that the dragging sound they were hearing, wasn’t of something small but something that was extremely large moving across the floor. Dean clutched Buffy’s hand instinctively because it was coming right at them even though it was still out of sight.  That did not last long as he started to see the shape of it even if its silhouette made no sense to him yet. One thing was unmistakable; its size almost filled the breadth of their hallway and as it approached, he could hear the snort from its nostrils.

“Can you make out what it is?” Dean demanded deciding they weren't staying and started to run, with Buffy casting glances over her shoulder, trying to identify it.

It took only a glimmer of light from whatever was radiating it for Buffy to recognise what she was coming after them and when she knew there was only onething to do.

“RUN!” She barked and broke into a run, taking Dean with her. He did not question the order, running alongside of her as the thing closed the gap between them.

“What the hell is it?” He shouted at her again.

There was no need to answer because it was close enough for him to see what they were up against. They were against a fucking locomotive with teeth bared and sharp tusks protruding from the ridges of its massive skull.

“THE MAYOR!” Buffy cried out in response. “It’s the mayor!”

TO BE CONTINUED