I'll Read to You (Destiel)

Chapter 10 - Brother

I turned and looked up at Jo. Her face was straight but her eyes showed she was terrified.

I didn't care. I took my gray shirt and used it to wipe the gore from the blade, staining it red. One side of my face tweaked into a sadistic smile while the other tried to stop myself from crying leaving me in a permanently writhing grimace.

I took a shaky breath and stared at the corpse below me. "I may be bleeding rainbows, but at least I'm not bleeding out."

"Dea-"

"No." I hissed. "Don't say anything." I gripped the hilt of my shining dagger so tight that the knuckles on my hand almost matched the sheen of the blade. "Do you still want to come with me?"

I glanced up at her for long enough to see her nod and then with a flourish of the trenchcoat I hurried from the house. I would never set foot there again.

***

We pulled up in front of Sam's new apartment, and I immediately grew nervous. I parked the car and I felt Jo's hand on my shoulder while I stared at my bleached knuckles. "Are you sure you want-"

"I'm not losing him." I hissed. Then, turning off the car and pulling out the key, I stepped out, coat flapping in the wind. Lighting struck ahead and after a count of six I heard a crack of thunder. Just like in movies it started raining cats and dogs. The rain felt like ice against the back of my neck and in seconds I was at the front door. I saw Sam disappear down a stairwell in the back corner of the house through the window.

I checked the knob and saw the door was unlocked, and then, counting down from six after I watched a new streak of red light jag across the sky, I quickly opened the door and we dashed in, closing it behind me.

I took off my shoes and motioned for Jo to do the same, as Sam had hardwood floors. I crept towards the stairs and then stopped before the opening. "You need to stay up here. He can't know I brought help." She nodded thoughtfully and her hand shifted towards her jacket pocket.

"You can tell me why you stole the fun after. You could've just asked." I grinned at her while she just shrugged.

"No fun in asking, Dean." I nodded and turned to make my way down the stairs as a scream tore through the silence.

It took everything I had not to dash down the stairs, blade swinging. Instead I took a deep, quiet breath and lowered down the carpeted stairs. I saw at the bottom the stairs acted as a centerpiece to a large space, cramped with boxes on one side and covered in chains and blood on the other. Sam was on that side, hold a familiar black and red book, adorned with white polka-dots, hovering over an almost brazier-like fire. I slipped behind the other side of the stair, waiting for my moment.

Then I saw Cas.

He had a long vertical gash on the right side of his face, and his left eye was swollen and purple. He had what looked like twenty gouges in his chest, and on the back wall there hung a bloody whip. I shivered as I saw the nail through the webbing where his thumb met his forefinger on each hand.

"You're scum do you know that?" Sam pulled a glowing iron rod from the torch-thing and spat on it, making it steam. "Have I drilled that into your head yet?" He turned and pressed the rod against Castiel's stomach, and he screamed again. After the pain subsided enough for him to speak he started mumbling.

"What was that, bitch?" Sam yelled, readying the rod again.

"See you in hell, fucker." Cas hissed, and with a sharp kick he broke the rusty strap around his ankle, and kicked over the torch, which, amazingly, did absolutely nothing. The brazier fell over backwards, and Sam just stared at the coals on the cement floor.

"Quick call the ER. I think I'm dying." He plunged a knife deep into Cas' leg and left it there. He punched his other eye almost simultaneously. Cas howled again and writhed in the chair. I felt a tear run down my cheek and after a couple of seconds I went around the stairs.

I slid up behind Sam while he dragged another knife along Cas' chest. "Hey Sammy." I said, stabbing my knife into the side of his leg. Cas went rigid, and Sam winced, dropping the knife into Cas' lap.

I swept his legs out from under him, pulling my blade out in the process, causing an incredibly large amount of blood to spurt from the wound. I grabbed one of the coals, and ignoring the burning I shoved it straight into his eye. He screamed in agony and while he was twitching on the ground I cut the remaining straps on Cas. I quickly but carefully removed the nails from his hands.

"It's okay. C'mon Cas." I picked him up and he screamed. I started crying. "You're gonna be fine." He gripped my shoulder tight while I started to carry him upstairs.

I heard a gunshot, and then I turned around, watching my brother fall in slow motion back down the stairs, a gaping hole in his chest, a bit to the right of where his heart would be. His outstretched hand was making one last reach for Cas and I. He started seizing and coughing up blood before he froze, eyes wide and mouth foaming with red bubbles. His chest started to retreat, and blood was forced out of the hole, reminiscent of a broken sprinkler in the ground. I turned and looked up at a hard-eyed Jo.

"It's done," I whispered. I set Cas down gingerly on the couch while Jo called the police. He was relatively at peace for a minute until his eyes shot open through the bruising. He started twitching and gagging as we heard sirens outside.

"No Cas, you're not doing this to me!" I screamed at him, and his eyes met mine. They were full of terror. I picked him up and ran outside, Jo tailing me. "No! You're not going to die on me Cas! I'm not. Losing. My. Angel!" The ambulance turned the corner and stopped short once it saw me running at it. They opened up the back and held Cas down while they strapped him to the gurney.

He stopped twitching for a second and let out a bloodcurdling shriek, and then he flatlined.

I was dragged out of the ambulance, yelling, tears streaming down my face, and as they closed the doors I screamed, giving it everything I had.

As the ambulance drove away, sirens blaring, the world came crashing down around me, and I fell forward, ushering in a darkness that I wished could take my mind with it, and within seconds, it did.