Chapter 9: converted
â Mmmhmmphmmm â, Dean faintly cried behind his muzzle, shaking his head. Though indecipherable, his message was obvious.
âHold on, bro. Iâll get you out of thisâ.
Sam knelt before his brother. He seized one of the muzzle straps, then stopped realizing the padlocks prevented him from removing Deanâs gag.
âOh, right, I had forgotten about thatâ, Sam said while getting a small key out his pocket.
âThatâs my boyâ, thought Dean as Sam was indeed unlocking the many straps of the device. âHe managed to sneak amongst them and even caught the key. Weâll be out in no timeâ.
After one final click, Dean felt the pressure over his head suddenly vanish as the muzzle felt on the floor, its dangling straps free, ready to imprison someone else head.
âMMMmhmhmâ Dean tried to speak, but almost forgot the inner pecker gag remaining inside his mouth. Sam quickly unlocked it too.
âThere, bro, catch a breathâ, Sam told his brother while extracting the plug from his mouth.
âGaahâ, Dean âsaidâ as the rubber plug went out his mouth with a small âpopâ due to saliva. âWater, pleaseâŠâ, he faintly managed to articulate. After being gagged so strictly for so long, his mouth was completely dry and he voice was no much more than a croak.
âHere, Deanâ, Sam brought Dean a small bottle of water he had not noticed when his brother came in. Sam helped his bound brother to drink a few sips, holding the bottle to his lips.
âAnything else, Dean?â
âI donât know if Iâll be able to run, Sam. I almost donât feel my legsâ.
Sam looked at his brotherâs fused legs. The strong set of straps kept them stuck together.
âNo wonder, look at how tight the straps are. I wonder why Dave tightened them up so much. He must be more scared of you then he wants to admitâ, Sam said with a smile on his face as he started to unbind his captive brotherâs legs.
âDave?â thought Dean. Since when do those freaks have names?
âHereâ, Sam said as he removed the final strap. âStretch your legs, see if itâs any better nowâ.
Dean sat against a wall,extended his legs apart, then felt blood circulate anew.
Sam quietly observed his brother. Dean started to ease down and think again. He had not quite realised it yet, but deep inside, he knew something was definitely off.
âWhat are you waiting for?â, Dean asked, starting to get irritated. âGet me the hell out of this thing!â, he snapped while shaking his still straitjacketed arms. âThen weâll give those fuckers the lesson of their lives. And save dadâ.
âHold on, Dean. Weâre not in a hurry here. I need you to listen to me firstâ.
âWhat?? Yes, we are! And⊠by the way, Sam, how did you manage to sneak among them without being caught? Where did you find a cloak like this? And the keys to this⊠gag?â Dean couldnât say âmuzzleâ. No way. Admitting he was âmuzzledâ like an animal was way too humiliating.
âI didnât, Dean. They welcomed me in the Brotherhoodâ, Sam just said.
Dean felt the world collapsed around him as he processed what his brother had just told him..
âNo!â he cried with horror before crawling away from his sibling. âThey brainwashed you! Just like dad!â
âHold on, Deanâ, Sam calmly said, with a reassuring tone. âItâs still me! Sam!â
âNoâŠâ
âDeanâ, Sam had suddenly taken a more serious tone. âJust listen to me, please. I know you are confused, and I know the circumstances of our⊠arrival wereâŠâ
âYou mean âcaptureâ!â
âWhatever; they are more than questionable, thatâs for sureâŠâ
âWhat the hell are you talking about, Sam?â Dean interrupted him once again, with his newly retrieved sarcastic tone. âI donât see whatâs âquestionableâ in that. Apart from the chloroform, the straitjackets, the gags, the straps, the blindfolds, being put in the trunk of my car, the cloak youâre wearing, this padded cell, theâŠâ again, Dean couldnât say the word. He just looked at the opened muzzle laying at Samâs feet.
âIf you would just let me speak, for once, Dean, I could explain all of thisâ.
âI highly doubt that!â
âJust give me a CHANCE, dude!â Sam was almost pleading now.
Dean went silent for a moment. âUnstrap the straitjacket, and then Iâll listen to youâ
âNo, Dean. We both know what would happen if I get you loose now, and I donât want to start a fight.â
Dean sighed.
âVery well. So⊠where to begin? This whole building weâre in belongs to an organization called the Brotherhood. It was founded a few years ago by the Master. He became aware of the threats that monsters and other supernatural freaks represent for mankindâŠâ
âCome on, Sam! The âmasterâ! Really? And we all know that danger, still we donât dress with cloaksâŠâ
âJust let me finish, Dean! We know they exist, but can you deny all those fiends become more and more aggressive and visible years after years? Vampires, ghouls, and especially demons⊠We canât face them one by one anymore, like we and the other hunters used to. Weâre at the eve of a war, a war humanity could lose if it does not get organized. Thatâs what the Master understood, and thatâs the whole point of thisâ.
âWhat? Gathering the hunters together?â
âMore than that. Gathering forces, yes, but also knowledge and intelligence about the enemy. Ghouls are stupid, but vampires have their own hierarchy, we know that, and the Brotherhood is very concerned by the growing signs of daemonic activities and regular humans developing supernatural abilities. If we could discover the source of those phenomena or maybe infiltrate their ranks, we could get some leverage in the upcoming warâŠâ
âYeah, so basically, your cultist-in-chief is building an army. And you want us to be a part of it!â
âTo keep it simple... yes. Dean, you canât deny that even though weâve killed dozens of supernatural beings over the years, we canât do this alone forever. And there are many more lurking around world, way too many for us to handle alone. Plus, it really had started to get on our mind. If we continue like this, weâll just lose our mind ! ».
A long moment of silence followed. Dean wished he had something smart to answer that, but deep inside him, he knew it was true.
âAnd tell me, SamâŠâ, Dean eventually continued, âonce he has his army and some superpower for himself, what tells you that your big boss wonât use it precisely to proclaim himself some kind of new god and try to conquer the world?â
âBecause, Dean, weâve sworn to always act from the shadows and to never kill any human being. So if we win this war, weâll just continue to protect people from whatever threaten them, without trying to get power for ourselves.â
âBullshit. You canât seriously believe that, Sam!â
âWhy not? Thatâs basically our family business too, isnât it? The brothers take this commitment very seriouslyâ
âThe way they treated US, Sam, was indeed full of love for their peersâ
âIndeed it was, Dean. Just think about it: have you seen them pointing any weapon at us? They had no guns and didnât threatened us, not even once, with a knife or whatever. We were the armed ones. In fact, we were more dangerous for them than they were for usâ.
âBut stillâ, Dean said. âWhy all of this?â
âDean⊠imagine they had just come to us and said: âhey, we know where your dad is, just follow us to our secret lairâ, would you have followed them?â
âWhy didnât dad come in the first place? We would have trusted himâ.
âUnfortunately, he was busy settings things up for the Brotherhoodâ
âWhat sort of crappy excuse is that?â
âLook, Dean, Iâm just a novice, I donât know everything yet. But dad... Heâs an Elder, you see? One of the first who followed the Master. And the Brotherhood is growing quickly , so for now, he canât really travel around the country like we do. And⊠I think he wanted to see if we could be easily subdued. The Brotherhood is still young, and we donât want to get the attention of the dark forces for now. So, basically, our taking was merely a field test for Dave and JimâŠâ
âUs? A test?â
âIndeed. Dad told them we would be armed and dangerous, so capturing us without both harming us AND being harmed was quite a thing. They did well, donât you think?â
âSamâŠâ Dean voice deepened. âI listened to you, as promised. But this is all CRAP!â
He shouted that last word.
âDeanâŠâ Sam whispered
âNo, now youâre listening to ME. Obviously, they gave you some drug to get you high, or brainwashed you in some way, I donât wanna know how. But you donât even realize how twisted this whole thing his. And for the record, even if thereâs some truth in this delirium, I donât want to be a nice little soldier risking my life for some creepy megalomaniac guy I donât even know. Now GET-ME-OUT-OF-THIS-THING!â, Dean yelled as he vigorously squirmed his arms in his straitjacket again.
Sam didnât answer. His gazed into space, as if his mind was drifting somewhere else.
âI thought I could do itâŠâ he mumbled, as if he was addressing himself.
âDO WHAT, Sam?â Deanâs anger was not fading away.
Sam took Deanâs muzzle which was still laying on the ground.
âSAM? What are you doing with this?â Dean asked with a shivering voice.
âSam? Need some help?â A voice interjected from the door
Dean turned his head in direction of the voice. His two kidnappers, now identified as Dave and Jim, were on the threshold of the padded cell.
âIâm sorry, brothersâ, Sam feebly said. âI failedâ.
âDonât worry. It was to be expected. Only a few are ready to question their existence,change the way they see things and embrace a brand new life. Thatâs why the conversion process existsâ.
âSam, what is this clown talking about?â Dean snapped.
Dave and Jim then suddenly started marching toward him.
âHey, back off, donât touch me!â Dean instantly shouted. âHey, no, donâtâŠâ. The two cultists took hold of his straitjacket by the shoulders. âHey, donât⊠NO!â Dean cried as they began to drag him on the floor. âSam, donât let them! SAM! HELP! SAAAMâ he yelled panicking more with every step of his assailants., As he was forcibly dragged out of the cell Dean pointlessly tried to hold his position using his recently freed legs to clamp his heavy boots soles on the floor.
âSAAAAAMMM!â
Sam didnât seem to listen. He was holding Deanâs muzzle, apparently lost in his thoughts.
Meanwhile, Dean was out in the corridor. Jim and Dave tried to seat him on a wheelchair again, but Dean was definitely not cooperating.
âNO! I WONâT GET BACK ON THAT THING! BACK OFF! SAAAM!â
âCalm down andâŠ. OW!â Jim was cut off mid sentence as one of Deanâs boots managed to crash on one of his knees, causing him a sharp pain.
âWhy are his legs not restrained?â Jim hissed while rubbing his injured leg.
Dean kept screaming. Although he could not go anywhere, as he was still straitjacketed, he gave Dave a hard time.
âSAM!â Dave called. âCare to give us a hand here?â
Sam was oblivious to Deanâs call, but Daveâs voice took him out of his reverie. Catching sight of the scene, he immediately rushed outside the cell.
âIâm sorry, brother. I wasâŠâ
âDonât botherâ Dave hastily replied. âJust help me restrain and secure him on the chairâ.
With Samâs help, Deanâs legs were quickly strapped together again. He was then lifted on the chair, with some difficulties, and tightly strapped to it again.
During the whole process, Dean continued to scream at the top of his lungs, his shouts becoming more and more desperate and panicky.
âWe canât take him to conversion in this state of frenzy. Should we chloroform him again?â Jim asked.
âNo, he canât be converted if unconscious. We should calm him down another way.â Dave answered.
âFUUUUCK YOOOUUU!â Dean yelled. âIâM NO PART OF YOUR PLAY! SAAM!â
âAny idea, Sam?â
âYeahâ Sam just replied.
âSAAM? WHAT ARE MMMPPMHMMMâ Before Dean even realized it, the rubber plug of his former gag was back between his teeth. âMMPHPMMMPHPOOâ
âHe barks a lotâ Sam commented while buckling the gag behind his brotherâs head. âBut when gagged, he tends to cool off. Trust meâ.
The trio then wheeled Dean through never-ending corridors, one so large Dean couldnât see the end of it. Not that he tried to focus on remembering his path anyway. During the several minutes his carriage lasted, he was glaring furiously at his escort, emitting sounds that were supposed to be curse of threats but that the gag rendered them absolutely unintelligible. Sam was right, through; he didnât struggled in his bonds as furiously as he had done back in his cell.
Then they arrived in a small circular room, with stone walls. Dean was wheeled to the center of the room. He grunted quizzically behind his gag as he noticed the TV screen hanging from the roof. He then turned his head to look at Sam⊠and froze when he saw his brother carrying what looked like a gasmask.
âMMPHPHPMM! MMHPHPâ Dean was getting agitated again. He squirmed and struggled in his bonds⊠but again, the straps hold him tight. He tried to shake his head to avoid the smothering mask being locked over his face, but strong gloved hands took hold of his chin and forehead, immobilizing him. Within seconds, Sam had the mask tightly strapped over Deanâs gagged mouth and nose, just like it had been strapped on himself some hours ago.
âHeâs still too agitatedâ, Dave said. âHe wonât go through the process like thisâŠâ
âLeave it to meâ, Sam firmly replied. He leaned against Deanâs wheelchair, and locked a gas hose between Deanâs gasmask and the valve of the gas tank Jim had just brought.
âDeanâ, Sam gently said to his ear while taking hold of the valve. âThis is your last chance now. You know Iâd do everything for you, and I canât possibly accept to be there if youâre not. So Dean, please⊠just trust me now, as I would trust you. We can be reunited together, with dad, within a new family. Isnât that what you want?â
Dean wriggled desperately in his straitjacket. All of this was too much. He couldnât think straight. HeâŠ
âSo Dean, please⊠just listen â Sam finally said while releasing the gas. At the same instant, the spiral appeared on the screen, trying to catch Deanâs attention.
As soon as he took the first whiff of the gas, and noticed the spiral, Deanâs began to panic again. âThatâs how they did this! Thatâs how they brainwashed Sam. No way!â he thought. âI must resist! I mustâŠâ
âDeanâ, Sam whispered to his ear. âDo it for me! I love you, brotherâ.
These words passed through Deanâs weak defenses. It was like a seawall breaking somewhere in his brain. He took a full breath of the gas, and his gaze locked on the spiral.
And Dean did listen.
***
Sam gently unbuckled the gasmask, then the gag. It went out with a small pop as the plug, filled with saliva, went out of Deanâs mouth.
âSamâŠâ Dean weakly said.
âHello, Dean! How do you feel?â
âI⊠am sorry. I understand everything, now. Sam, Iâll be here, with you. With everyoneâ
Sam kneeled in front of his still bound brother, then pressed his lips over his. Dean returned him the kiss, their tongues tangling together.
It was heaven.
âWelcome to the Brotherhood, big bro!â.
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