Written by: KariGorsuch

The invisible force holding me disappeared, and I stumbled forward, hitting the ground hard. I barely registered the rough earth beneath me as I scrambled to Sam's side.

My hands were shaking uncontrollably, but I gripped him tightly, pulling him close to me, my heart pounding in my chest. His breath was shallow and uneven, and I could feel the warmth of his body, but it was fading.

"Bri..." His voice was barely a whisper, but it was enough to send a wave of relief through me.

I swallowed, my throat tight, fighting back the tears that threatened to spill. "Sam, you're gonna be okay. Just... just hold on."

He blinked, his eyes struggling to focus on me. His hand weakly touched my cheek, the touch so gentle I could barely feel it, but it still sent a jolt through me. His lips moved, but the words were too faint to catch.

"Shh, don't talk," I murmured, desperate, my voice cracking. "I'm here. You're not alone."

But even as I said it, I knew—I knew he was slipping away. The life was draining from him.

His hand fell away from my cheek, and I couldn't hold back the tear that escaped down my face. "Please, Sam. Don't leave me. Please."

His lips curved into the faintest of smiles, the kind of smile that made my heart ache even more. "I'll... I'll always be with you, Bri. I... I need you to be strong, okay?"

I leaned down, pressing my forehead to his, my tears mingling with the fading warmth of his skin. "I forgive you, Sam. Don't you dare give up on me."

But his body went still. His breath hitched one final time.

And then—nothing.

The silence was deafening. It crashed down on me like a tidal wave, dragging me into the depths of something darker than I'd ever known. For a moment, everything around me faded into nothingness. All I could feel, all I could hear, was the crushing, aching absence of him.

I screamed. The sound tore from my throat, raw and guttural, every inch of it drenched in the kind of pain that shattered the soul. I shook him desperately, pleading with him, begging—praying—that this was some cruel nightmare I could wake from. But it wasn't.

A broken sob ripped from my chest, my body trembling violently as I clutched him to me, as if by holding him tighter, I could somehow force life back into him.

But Sam's body lay limp in my arms, his warmth slipping away with every second that passed. His weight felt like an anchor, dragging me deeper into an abyss I couldn't escape. The world around me splintered, shattered into jagged pieces, and I couldn't breathe. I couldn't think. The pain in my chest was unbearable, a knife twisting deeper with every ragged breath I took.

He was gone.

Gone.

The finality of it slammed into me like a freight train. It was real. The man I loved—the one I fought for, the one who held me when the world was too dark to stand—was gone. And I was left here, in the ruins of a life I didn't know how to live without him.

A gust of wind howled through the abandoned town, but I barely registered it. My trembling hands gripped Sam's jacket as if holding on tight enough could somehow bring him back.

Then—movement.

Footsteps.

I snapped my head up, my grief quickly giving way to a white-hot rage. Azazel.

The Yellow-Eyed Demon emerged from the shadows, hands casually tucked into his pockets, his eyes gleaming with that same sickening amusement. He took a moment to look me over, a smirk playing at the corner of his lips. "Wow," he mused. "You look like you lost your whole world just now."

My fingers twitched, a surge of power sparking through my veins. I wanted to kill him. To tear him apart. But my body was frozen, locked in place by the crushing weight of the grief and rage fighting for dominance. Not yet.

Azazel clicked his tongue with mock sympathy. "You know, Brianna, I almost feel bad for you. Almost." His yellow eyes flicked down to Sam's still form, and I felt bile rise in my throat. "It's a damn shame, really. Kid had so much potential. Could've been great." He sighed dramatically, like he was mourning the loss of something insignificant. "But, hey—can't win 'em all."

I was shaking, but my voice came out colder than I ever thought possible. "You did this."

He raised an eyebrow. "No, sweetheart. Jake did this. Fair and square. Survival of the fittest, all that good stuff." He smirked wider. "Now, him? He gets the grand prize. Lucky bastard."

I stiffened, every muscle in my body screaming at me to move, to make him pay. "I'm not a prize."

Azazel chuckled darkly, the sound like nails on a chalkboard. "Oh, but you are." He crouched down in front of me, his yellow eyes glinting with sickening amusement as he tilted his head. "The perfect vessel for the Mother of All. My favorite special girl." His grin stretched wider, more wicked. "And soon? You'll finally embrace what you were meant to be."

I wanted to rip his throat out. Tear him apart with my bare hands, but I couldn't move, couldn't even breathe. Grief and fury fought inside me, battling for control, and I couldn't stop either one of them.

He leaned in closer, his voice dropping to a whisper, too soft and too intimate. "But you know, Bri... it doesn't have to be this way."

I froze, my heart pounding in my chest, my breath catching in my throat. "What the hell are you talking about?"

Azazel's smirk deepened, his yellow eyes flickering with something darker, more dangerous. "Well, I do have a soft spot for you." He gestured lazily toward Sam's lifeless body. "And for him."

My breath hitched, the pain of the words stabbing at my heart like a thousand needles.

Azazel straightened up, slipping his hands back into his pockets with a casual, almost bored gesture. "What if I told you, Brianna... there's a way to fix this?"

The air left my lungs. I didn't want to hear him, didn't want to hope, but my voice trembled as I forced out the question. "What?"

His eyes gleamed with that dangerous knowing, his voice dropping low, like he was letting me in on a secret. "I like you, kid. And I like Sam. Always thought he was the strongest of my little prodigies." He shrugged, as if this was all some game to him. "Hell, maybe in another life, he would've been my pick."

He steps closer, his presence suffocating. "So, I'll make you a deal."

My heart pounds in my chest, each beat like a drum of warning. I already know I don't want to hear whatever he's about to say, but I can't make myself turn away.

"You say the word," Azazel continues, his voice smooth, coaxing, "and I'll bring him back." His lips curl into that damnable grin. "Good as new. Better, even."

I inhale sharply, panic rising in my throat, and I can feel the weight of the words before they even escape my lips. "What do you want? My soul?"

Azazel laughs, low and dark, like he's enjoying this—my pain, my desperation. "Oh, sweetheart, you wound me. You think I'd make a deal for something as simple as a soul?" He clicks his tongue, his eyes gleaming with delight. "No, no, I have something much more... fitting in mind."

I can't move. I can't breathe. Every part of me screams to run, to fight, to do anything—but I force myself to stay still. To listen.

Azazel's gaze sharpens, his amusement tinged with something darker. "Here's the thing, Brianna. You're special. More than you even realize." He tilts his head, a smirk pulling at his lips. "And, well,"—he steps even closer—"I think it's time you lived up to that potential."

My jaw tightens, the words scraping out through clenched teeth. "Get to the damn point."

He chuckles, and it's a sound I want to tear out of him. "You embrace what you really are—the Vessel you were born to be. You let her in. Fully. Completely." He takes a step back, letting the words hang in the air like a trap. "And in return? I give you Sam. Alive. Whole. No catches. No fine print." His grin widens, the satisfaction in his eyes too much to bear. "Scout's honor."

My stomach churns, nausea rolling over me like a wave. "You're lying."

Azazel raises a hand, mock-offended, and the venomous sweetness in his tone makes my skin crawl. "Now, now. You know me better than that. I never go back on my word when it comes to a deal." He pauses, and I swear his eyes gleam with malice. "You do know that, don't you?"

I shake my head, bile rising in my throat, my voice hoarse with disbelief. "No, I don't know that." The words hit like a slap. "You want me to say yes to her? To let Eve take over?" The thought is a poison, but I can't stop it from coming out.

His grin turns predatory, cold and calculating. "You say that like it's a bad thing." He steps closer again, his words dropping to a whisper, as though he's coaxing me into a terrible secret. "But think about it, Bri. You'd be more powerful than you've ever dreamed. No more scraping by, no more running from what's coming. And best of all?" His voice drops even lower, and the sickening promise in his words twists the knife deeper. "You and Sam? Together. Alive. No more pain. No more death."

The words hit me like a punch to the gut. Sam... alive. But the cost... The cost of it all.

I swallow hard, forcing myself to breathe through the suffocating grief clawing at my chest. "You think this is a choice? You think you're giving me something?" My voice cracks, betraying the hurt beneath. "You'll destroy everything I care about. You'll make me become the very thing I've fought against."

Azazel's eyes narrow, but the smirk never fades. "No, Brianna. I'm offering you a chance to finally stop running. To have everything you've wanted. To save him. And to have him."

I closed my eyes for half a second, just long enough to feel the weight of his words pressing against me.

Sam. Alive.

My fingers twitched in Sam's jacket, a flicker of hope, a desperate pull to believe him.

Azazel watched me, clearly pleased by my hesitation. "Come on, sweetheart. Just say yes." I shuddered, dropping my head against Sam's chest, feeling the coldness of him. "What about Dean? And Eve? Would you leave them alone?"

Azazel sighed, a hint of impatience creeping into his tone, but his smile never faltered. "You're stalling." His voice was still playful, but there was an edge now, sharp like a knife. "You know how this works, Brianna. Want conditions? Fine. I'll give them to you." He paused, letting the tension build. "Dean and his little girlfriend? They get to walk away. No tricks, no bloodshed."

I snapped my head up, disbelief and fury flashing in my eyes. "And you expect me to believe that?"

Azazel's grin only widened, predatory. "You don't have much of a choice, sweetheart." He crouched down, his voice dropping into something almost gentle, like a lover's whisper—coaxing, insidious. "Look at him, Brianna. He's gone. But he doesn't have to be."

Fresh tears stung at my eyes, and my fingers clenched tighter in Sam's jacket, pulling him closer as if somehow I could keep him here.

Azazel's voice was low now, almost soothing, like he was talking to a frightened child. "You say yes, and in the blink of an eye, he's back. Stronger. Whole. You both will be. No more fear. No more losing the ones you love." His smirk softened, just a little, as if he were offering me something precious. "Isn't that all you've ever wanted?"

My throat tightened, the words barely a whisper, but they felt like venom. "Go to hell," I managed, my voice breaking as I dropped my head back down to Sam's chest, burying my face in his stillness.

Azazel's smirk faltered, but then he laughed—a low, dark chuckle that sent a shiver through me. "You always were a stubborn one," he said, voice dripping with mock affection. "You've got fire, Bri. I've always admired that." His gaze turned colder, more menacing. "But I look forward to seeing it smothered."

"No," I whispered, my voice raw, fragile, but resolute.

Azazel leaned in slightly, his eyes glinting with dark amusement. "No?" He gestured toward Sam's still form, almost lazily. "Sweetheart, you're telling me you'd rather just let him rot? To let everything we could have together slip away? To let him stay dead?" His voice was a slow, deliberate drawl, twisting the words, making them feel like poison slipping past my defenses.

Tears blurred my vision, but I shook my head, voice trembling with defiance and despair. "Not like this. Not by your hand."

Azazel's expression darkened for a moment, the flicker of amusement still lingering in his eyes, but it was colder now, sharper. "Suit yourself," he said, his tone almost bored. "But you might want to hurry up and decide. His soul won't wait forever."

I swallowed hard, my grip tightening on Sam's lifeless form, as though holding him a little longer could make this nightmare end.

Azazel sighed dramatically, almost theatrically. "Well, it's been fun, kid," he said, turning away as if I were nothing more than a minor inconvenience. "But I've got places to be, people to corrupt—oh, and a shiny new leader to check in on." He paused, then winked. "Jake's gonna love his promotion."

The words hit me like a freight train. The thought of Jake—alive, walking away, and now a new soldier for Azazel—it shattered something deep inside me.

Jake. He was going to serve Azazel. He was going to be his soldier now. And I was still here, kneeling in the dirt, clutching Sam's body like a broken doll, my heart shattered beyond repair.

Before I could move, before I could even think, Azazel was gone. He disappeared into the air with that smug, contemptuous grin, leaving me in the suffocating silence that followed, the weight of Sam's absence pressing down on me like a vice.

"Sam," I whispered, my voice barely a breath, hoarse with grief. I shifted his body slightly, pulling him closer, my arms trembling as I cradled him against my chest. The world around me felt like it was collapsing in on itself. "I'm so fucking sorry," I choked out, the words jagged, torn from my throat as though it physically hurt to speak.

I dropped my head against his, the warmth of his skin still there, but it was fading—fading so fast. My tears blurred my vision, falling like a torrent, mingling with the blood that stained his clothes. I clutched him tighter, as if I could somehow hold him together, like this wasn't happening. Like I could somehow undo all of it.

But it was real. He was gone.

My sobs shook us both, wracking my body, each one feeling like it was tearing me apart from the inside. I couldn't stop. I didn't know if I ever would.