32. Famine

I shifted restlessly. The tub wasn't feeling so comfortable anymore. I moved to the toilet as I put the seat down. Sam wasn't faring much better. He was shaking. My arms were kept around my stomach, which was beginning to ache again. The fries were definitely not enough. I'd already chewed off all my nails. I was seriously contemplating biting my toenails next. Or Sam's nails.

This hunger needed to stop. I was craving food, sure, but I could find substitutes. I didn't want to find replacements, but if this kept up, I'd have no other choice. Either I got something, anything into my system, or I ended up dead.

"H-how long has it been?" I asked, doubling over from the hunger pains.

"It feels like a long time, huh?" Sam agreed. My hands were pulled apart, and one of mine was in his. Right now, I didn't pull away from the contact. Well, at least we aren't loving each other to death like the two couples had. Our hungers differ. What if Cupid was wrong about us being destined to be together? If that's true, why aren't we going insane from love? "They'll take care of it, Kota."

"I'm guessing you were all high senses when you tracked the demon into the alleyway?"

"I heard his heartbeat in the hospital, and I got a good smell. Earlier tonight was the same way."

"You've got the desperation of an addict in you, Sam. Me, I've got the desperation of someone who knows what it's like to starve." I gasped. "But this is temporary. We'll never be this way again once they take care of Famine."

"Too bad talking doesn't ease it any."

I laughed wryly. "Too bad." My head picked up at hearing a noise. I looked to see Sam jiggling the cuffs. The pressure on my hand increased. His hunger was starting to rise. Mine seemed to be killing more than driving me insane right now. "Keep it together, Sam. We'll get through this."

My eyes fell on the bathroom door. We both kept quiet; Sam stopped struggling against the cuffs. We both heard it: whatever had been planted in front of the door was being moved out of the way. Sam and I looked at each other. Dean and Cas couldn't be back already, could they?

No. I haven't stopped with my stomach pains, and Sam's shaking was only getting worse. This problem wasn't solved.

"Guys?" I rasped. "Guys, what happened? I don't think it worked. I think we're still—" My heart plummeted at seeing two unfamiliar faces at the bathroom door. I assumed these two were demons. "...still hungry."

"Look at this," the female crooned. "Someone trussed you up for us. Boss says we can't kill you...but I bet we can break off a few pieces. But you"—her eyes were on me—"he doesn't know about you, so you're free game."

The male broke Sam's cuffs, and Sam launched him into the shower wall. I stumbled off the toilet seat but was ripped out of the bathroom by the female. I went flying across the room, hitting the floor face first. I rolled over to see the female in pursuit. I scooted back as Sam launched himself at her, both of them crashed into the glass table. I was rooted to the spot as I saw Sam pick up a shard of glass and thrust it into her neck.

"Sam, no!" I cried out. But it was too late.

For a minute, I almost thought Sam was a vampire, the way he bent over her, the way he latched onto her neck. I didn't fear Sam, I feared for him. I got to my feet.

"Get him off!" she screeched. "Get him off!"

The male demon came storming in, heading straight for Sam. I was completely forgotten about, just a part of the background. The demon tried to move Sam, but the only thing I heard move was ripping cloth. When I saw him pick up a thing of wood, I began to run to him.

I skidded to a halt when an invisible force knocked the male demon against the wall. My eyes flitted to Sam, who had his hand raised. Son of a bitch. He's doing that. The demon blood makes him like this.

"Wait your turn," Sam growled. The gruffness, the hostility, it only made me go to him.

I did the most childish thing possible: I grabbed fistfuls of Sam's hair and pulled him away from the female demon. He went on all fours as I dragged him away, and I screamed as he launched himself on me. There's a noticeable change in his eyes. What's worse: there's a lovely red stain spread around his mouth.

"Sam, snap out of it," I told him harshly. "You go back to her, and I swear to God I will knock you unconscious."

In a flash, all the intensity left his face. He backed off from me, and I got myself in a sitting position. He sat back on his knees, his mouth a bloody mess. It broke my heart, to see him give in like that. I completely forgot that my stomach pains were growing. I was hurting for a different reason now.

"So, that's what happens, huh, when you drink up?" I asked weakly. "I hoped I would never have to see that..."

"I wish you hadn't." He got to his feet. "Come on, we can help them."

"Do we even know where they are?"

Sam looked over his shoulder at the barely conscious female demon. "No, but she does."

"Sam, you're not being a vampire again."

"I-I think I'm good. We'll get the answer from her the old-fashioned way. I'll hold her down, we'll interrogate. If she doesn't cooperate, you can hit her with the wood."

* * *

This was seriously some whacked out shit we were enduring. I was running on fumes, Sam was running on adrenaline and demon's blood. The adrenaline I'd felt when interrogating the female demon had worn off. I was running in a dazed stupor behind Sam, who had to hold onto me so I kept up with him.

"We're close," he told me.

"I hope so." My hand touched my stomach. I wanted to double over and assume a fetal position. "This needs to end. Now."

We stopped just before the restaurant. Sam let me go, and we crept in together. I took a good peek at what our situation looked like. I didn't see Cas anywhere—already a bad sign. There were demon guards, and Dean was captured. There was a wheelchair back facing us, and I could see feathery white hair thanks to the streetlights outside pouring in from the windows.

"Let him go," Sam demanded.

I took a step back. The man in the wheelchair had to be Famine. He looked skeletal, how I felt on the inside. Things were starting to go a bit fuzzy on me, but I kept my vision straight.

"Sam..." the voice rasped.

"Sammy, no!" Dean bellowed.

Two of the five demon guards Famine had begun to approach us.

"Stop!" Famine croaked. "No one lays a finger on this sweet little boy. Sam, I see you got the snack I sent you."

"You sent?" I repeated.

"Don't worry. He's not like everyone else. He'll never die from drinking too much. He's the exception that proves the rule. Just the way...Satan wanted you to be. So"—Famine gestured to his demon guards—"cut their throats. Have at them!"

"Sam, no!" I ordered. "One and done."

"Please, be my guest."

I watched with clenched fists as Sam lifted his hand, closed his eyes. Black smoke began to pool from the demon guards and towards the floor. I kept the flashbacks at bay, feeling proud of Sam.

Sam lowered his hand. "No."

"Well...fine," Famine said. "If you don't want them...then I'll have them."

It was a horrific march, how the demons made their way towards Famine's mouth. He swallowed them. Sam stepped forward, his hand out towards Famine.

"I'm a Horseman, Sam," Famine reminded him. "Your power doesn't work on me."

"You're right. But it will work on them."

Famine screamed as the souls he just consumed began to work against him from inside. I squinted, and before we all knew it, the souls exploded out of Famine. The body slumped, his eyes didn't move. I kept my breathing even.

It was over. Famine was gone. This hunger was going to go away. My eyes found a moving figure: Cas. I sighed and shook my head, seeing how the demons had gotten the jump on him. They'd baited him with raw red meat.

Famine did a serious number on all of us.

**Alrighty, if you guys have had questions relating to Sam and Kota's "hunger," as to why they didn't decide to put demon blood and food on hold and go crazy, I've got a good explanation. If you haven't, I probably just planted the question in your head.

So, the reason why Sam and Kota stuck with their "hungers" is because nothing developed. They're still in that awkward, trying-to-patch-things-up-phase. The chance of romance had practically died when the kiss happened and they had that little spat afterwards. So, since they aren't really together, their other "hunger" took place.

Now, had things been different, and had they gotten together at the end of Part 1, I'd like to think things most likely would have gone Rated R.**