Every Breath You Take || Ch. 9

"DAMNIT ALL!" Dean roared, his voice echoing into the night. 

The hunter had just finally made it back to the car, less than half his gear found as he had staggered back to the clearing. Grinding his back teeth together, Dean threw his rifle into the trunk of his car and threw the door open. The blond hunter forced himself from thinking too much- an old discipline instilled by his father. If he over thought in dire situations, he might break down and cry like a little girl instead of getting his ass into high-gear. 

Dean physically twitched at that thought. Little... little girl. Claire. Sammy.... 

Dean threw the glove box open, searching for the extra keys and phone. He punched in Bobby's number and jammed his keys into the ignition. The engine roared to life with a faithful purr. 

"Damn, boy! Wake an old man up in the middle of the night just to yell in his ear?" Bobby's voice angrily drawled into Deans ear.

"Bobby! Bobby....They're...they're gone! He took them!" Bobby went silent as Dean tried to fill him in, the older man easily hearing the emotional strain in Dean's voice. "And... YES!" Dean answered. "Im going after them." 

"That is the STUPIDEST idea Dean! He out classed the both of you without even trying! No, youre gonna stay there and wait for me!" 

"No chance in hell Bobby. This sicko will kill Sam and take Claire somewhere where we won't ever find her, if I wait for you!" 

"You dont even know-"

"I don't care! I'll look for the freaking yellow brick road if thats what it takes!" Dean growled back. He said some quick a quick good bye, promising to keep his phone on so Bobby could track him. 

The hunter ended the call and stared out the windshield. He didn't know how he was going to find a witch like Abels. We practically gave him Claire on a silver platter. And he took Sam too! Wait...what if he.....holy crap, he shrunk him too didn't he?

Dean's face went ashen. He threw his phone onto the seat next to him. It clinked off of something, drawing Deans aggravated attention. The large glass jar the preacher had given them rolled from being hit by the phone. Desperate, Dean dumped the jar out onto the seat...And immediately noticed a plastic sandwich bag that held a small metal, round tin with a rough compass marked in it, a silver looking pin....And a note with his name on it. 

His mouth dropped open but he reached for it, his mind blank as he read the note. I told you boys I had a dream. God is reaching out to you. Don't ignore Him. Your brother and Claire dont have much time, so put some water in the tin, find a leaf, and make this compass. It'll be attracted to big magical sources. Good luck.

Dean's stony expression remained skeptical. He rolled his eyes up at the sky and scoffed. But he reached for a water bottle, silently praying that if there was a higher power it would keep his brother alive. 

~~~~~

Abels hummed happily, sitting in an old grey rocking chair that had somehow survived in a slightly better condition than the house it sat in. The witch had used a spell to travel miles away from where he had found his little lost one. While it had succeed in putting a decent amount of space between him and that other hunter, the magic had left him a little drained. Abels had taken refuge in an old, abandoned farm house. 

The man's eyes, now one icy blue and the other a dark, inky green, stayed fixed on the two miniature figures on the table in front of him. Not only did he have Claire back with him, but he had been able to take another. A greedy, but somehow patient smile eerily came to his face. He'd be able to give Claire her first lesson when they both woke up; watching. Watching like a good girl and maybe even helping with whatever he wanted, when he asked. But tonight, she'd learn to watch quietly.

~~~~~~

Even before she woke up, Claire knew to be afraid. The pungent, musty smell of mildew hung in the air. 

She was wearing some odd, constricting fabric. Not doll clothes... Claire squinted down at herself through sleep-clouded eyes. She was wearing a silver satin dress. It didn't have the blocky cut of doll attire; in fact, it looked designer and fit her like a glove. The last blurry memories before her blackout came rushing back to her in a painful flurry. With a shrill gasp, Claire launched herself upright. 

A handsome blonde man was sitting across from her, eerily calm as he rocked in his seat. He looked a little less tan than he did in his online profile picture like the last time they had met. But Claire would never forget his face. 

"You." She croaked. It felt like ice replaced all the blood in her body. The plan had failed. She had been captured. And so had Sam. Keeping her eyes on Abels as she scuttled towards the hunter, Claire hurried to Sam's side. It was so strange to see him not towering over her like a skyscraper-- not that she had time to linger on that fact. Sam didn't stir. 

"Let him go. Please." Claire surprised herself- her voice wasn't shaking despite her crippling terror. "Just... You have me. You don't need this guy."

Abels smiled a small, half smile. He watched Claire, his eyes coolly observing her hunched over the shrunken Winchester. Almost defensively too. An almost white, blond eyebrow rose. Perhaps her time with the two hunters had made her think that she had a stronger back-bone than she had previously. Before on their first date, her...fiestyness had amused him and assured him that she'd have the right temperment, once trained, for a long time companion.  But she had seemed more pliable that evening. More broken down.

These boys must have been deluding her with false promises. Only to be expected of two, half wild, white trash hunters... Tonight's lesson will definitely be needed. 

Claire shifted, the tiny woman now looking uncertian. Abels smiled wider and leaned forward enough to plant his elbow on a bent knee, his chin coming to rest on a lightly curled fist. 

"I hope you like the dress, Claire. I've had that waiting for you since just before our first date. Dont worry though. I didn't see anything when I put it on you, dear. I just simply held you while a spell exchanged your previous... ensemble." He wrinkled his nose at the idea of the cheap doll clothes she had been wearing. 

"I must say, it was quite lovely to hold you again. We barely had any time together before..." Abels' eyes slipped to the dark haired man. It wasn't the same Winchester that had stolen Claire in the first place. The blond one would have made a better lesson... But this one would do for now.  He would have to track down the other to erase that loose end. 

"Ah, forgive me little one. I tend to get lost in my thoughts. Its not often I have someone to talk to." He said. 

The old witch could see that Claire's mind was still elsewhere, her eyes darting around every now and then...Her eyes looked far away and focused. She was obviously still bent over that man. His smile melted from his face and he scooted forward in his seat, so that he was almost directly leaning over Claire and Sam.

"Let's begin with this, Claire."

Her attention immediately snapped back to him and she paled. He almost smiled, but he didn't want her to even think he was pleased in the slightest. Keeping his eyes on her, Abels waved a hand, iridescent waves of power radiating away  from his long fingers. Small flames burst into life around the perimeter of the room, like hundreds of candles had just been lit at once. Abels' energy had more than half returned, making his magic more plentiful and easier to control again. 

"Your first lesson, Claire... Is that I am what is important. The sooner you learn this, the faster we may start to enjoy our time together. It will take some time, for you to clearly understand....But..." With a wave of his hand, a couple of his wisps formed and flew around. 

They had appeared right in front of his chest, where he kept his finger bone from his left hand tucked behind his shirt and in a leather pouch, hanging around his neck from a thin twine. He only used his left hand when he had to, lest the glamour be disturbed. Abels hated seeing his missing finger.

The wisps gracefully flew, moving like human-shaped breezes. Two darted to Claire, pulling her away from the boy while the other knelt down by Sam's head. 

"...But tonight will be a start." Abels flexed his fingers, and the wisp flexed its tiny hand in unison. Bringing up his other hand, Abels used the wisp to slowly tear through the Winchesters clothing, its fingers sharpened into knife like claws. He tore the jacket and let it fall away, amd he was just about to move to the shirt when the man stirred, groaning on pain. His twitching made him cut himself, the wisps finger catching on his chest. Abels chuckled. 

"Finally. You'll see Claire. You'll understand soon enough. We really were made for each other. Magic runs through both of our veins....Not this one though." Abels said as he forced the wisp's fingers into the Sam's chest, almost hitting his tiny lungs. Abels grinned wider as the small Winchester roared to life and Claire cried out.

~~~~~~~

Almost grinding his back teeth into powder, Dean's grimace deepened  when the bumpy dirt road became even worse. There was no turning back with this road. If he had been wrong and turned down the wrong one, he'd lose even more time trying to turn around. He had no better lead than to follow this makeshift compass.

Dean glanced down at the compass, relief flooding him when he seemed to be going the right way still. The hunter had had to prop the thing up on the seat next to him, and he could only hope it'd last through the rough ride. 

The hunter did his best to hang on as the road continued, but each and every bump jarred a bruise or burn he didn't know he had. 

Okay God. You say you care about any of us? Save Claire. Save Sammy. They wanted normal. They've lived it and they deserve it. Don't let that bastard hurt them... Don't let them die. Just... Just let me save them. One more minute that's all I need.

Dean's prayer ended when an old ruin of a house peeked through the trees ahead of him. He could see dim light through the trees... And a glance at the compass told him he'd found it. 

"I'm almost there guys. Hold on. Just hold on."

~~~~~

Sam's body lurched up in powerful resistance. Abels coiled his hand into a fist and the wisp understood to slam the shrunken hunter back onto the table. Claire's pleas intermingled with Sam's gasps of agony. His eyes were wide, trying to process where he was and what the hell was happening as quickly as possible. 

"Stop! STOP!" Claire screeched, her tear-misting gaze upon the enormous witch. His eyes snapped to her, cold and predatory. He relented for a moment; the wisp withdrew its hand from within Sam's guts- no open wound was formed, and she suspected the pain was more touch-based. 

Or maybe Abels was just getting started. 

Sam's chest heaved with relieved heaves of oxygen. His eyes slowly slid over to her, shocked to find her normal sized- in his perspective, at least. He was horrified to conclude that this meant he couldn't be more than five inches, head to toe. Just looking up at the giant looking over him made his stomach churn with butterflies. There was no sign of Dean. He was on his own this time to get them out of this. But before he could so much as formulate how to sit up, Claire was stepping in front of him.

She squirmed within the wisps' grasp, fear momentarily replaced by irritation at their rough grip. 

"I'm sorry!" She exclaimed, tilting her had back to look up at Abel's face. "I'm so sorry, Henry. I shouldn't have... Shouldn't have ignored you. You're so important to me." She glanced over her shoulder at Sam, subtly telling him to go. She couldn't do much, but she could stall. Claire pushed her wavy honey hair behind her shoulders. 

"Let me show you how important you are to me." She coaxed.

Even though he tried to hold it back a little longer, Abels felt a smile come to his face. It was quite amusing. She was begging for the hunter's life by trying to distract him with what he wanted to hear. 

At least what she assumes what I want to hear. Does she know her words are more see through than an open window. Lets see how long she can keep it up.

He tilted his head, some of his white blond hair falling out of its impeccable styling and falling to the side. "Really little Claire? Youve learned it already? How do you want to show me then?" 

Even though his focus mainly stayed on the beautiful tiny woman, whoes lovely dress shimmered in the dim light and her free coppery hair fell into her red-rimmed eyes, Abels could still easily see the hunter. The once tall boy was still close enough to Claire that the witch could easily see how the dark haired man trembled with fear, anger, and uncertainty, his hands and feet braced against the table top even as the wisp still held him down. Abels curled his fingers, making the wisps hand slowly and randomly trail over the hunters face and upper torso. The clawed fingers sometimes dipped just under the hunters skin, hopefully making him feel like he was being idly peeled like a orange. Abels smile only widened as he looked at Claire, tilted his head in a feigned expectant, curiosity. Well not completely feigned. Just because he was playing at being completely crazy, and knew she wasn't yet sincere, didn't exactly mean he wasn't interested in seeing what she'd offer.

Claire eyed the massive hand Abels was absently flexing in midair. It was the only one he was using to control the wisp so far. She could see the wisp responding out of the corner of her eye, torturing Sam relentlessly with hardly a moment to catch his breath. 

She had to occupy that hand. 

Claire lunged forward and pulled his pinky finger down. 

"I made a mistake. I thought those boys were the answer," she said, pulling his hand closer and guiding his grip around her slender waist. "But they obviously don't know what they're doing."

Sam frowned through his pain, shooting a look towards her back. She was putting herself right into the enemy's clutches. Stupid move... And yet as she goaded the witch with her tiny body on his skin, Sam felt the wisp's distraction. The pain wasn't constant anymore, and the conjured projection was no longer pinning him down. Now he just had to time this right. He tilted his head up to scan Abels up and down. There was a string around his neck. He would bet his best knife that the original binding hex was on the other side of that. But at five inches high, his opportunities to attack were slim.  

"It doesn't have to end like this." Claire coaxed, daring to try a softer smile. "If you fix me, I won't cause trouble for you. I-I know what it's like to be lonely." Her voice shook as she made eye contact with the witch, leaning her front against his loose fist and gazing up him. He was skeptical... But they both knew his patience was running thin. 

"Fix you? Little Claire, do not mistake my affection and desire to have you as...something complimentary. To what you were at least." Abels said, a small smile on his face as he raised an eyebrow. 

He enjoyed her brazen attempt to get his attention. He let himself be occupied by the tiny form in his hand, running a finger up and down a shapely leg. The slit in the gowns skirt slipped under his finger and he shivered when his finger touched skin. 

His first real touch of her; a touch on what this little gem had to offer. Normally this wasnt the kind of willingness he wanted from his playmates. It was fantastic when they finally wanted it, but just wanting his attention because it'd nake the pain stop, or in this case, to save that boy... That was a distracted willingness. It was when they wanted him because they knew there was ABSOLUTELY no other choice in their tiny minds, that was the best place to bring them. It was there they truly both hated and loved the things he would do....With Claire, she'd eventually go beyond that. But for now....He had been made to wait for her.   

"No my little one. You should understand this is how you will remain. You are so much more lovely this way, anyway." He could feel her body tense, every muscle going rigid underneath his hand. A small chuckle escaped him and he gazed down at her fondly. "I think 'll start calling you my 'little kitten'.I had dreamed of calling you 'little fae', seeing that's where your blood comes from... But for one so eager to be pet, kitten will do." 

Sam had stayed completely still, watching with a pale face as the giant witch enjoyed Claire's attempt at a distraction. He wanted to puke as the psycho's words whispered down over them... If Sam ever got out of this, he'd have to shower in bleach to get this night off of him. 

Abels' hand started to tighten around Claire. Her deathly-pale face turned back to look at Sam, terrified. He tried to squirm out of the wisp's grip, but it refused to budge. 

"HEY! LET HER GO!" Sam bellowed, resisting with all his might. Abels raised his eyebrows cooly, preparing to snap his neck. 

A shot rang out, immediately followed by two others. Sam barely had time to cry out from the pain of the ear splitting explosion. Through his slightly dancing vision he could see three slugs pound into Abels: one right to the head, one to the neck, and the other grazed his chin. The witch's pale skin turned black and dry around the wounds, forced a few feet out of his chair and into a decaying wall from the impact. 

Sam's eyes were drawn to the door way as someone else steadily walked into the dim room. Someone that was HUGE and blond and... 

"No shit." Dean said, pausing to stare at both of the tiny figures with his handgun at the ready.