Only the headlights of a single car, a black 1967 Impala, illuminated the dark gravel road. Inside the car Dean was bobbing his head to the music of AC/DC, while Sam consulted John's journal and his laptop.
"I've been looking at the sky, 'Cause it's gettin' me high," sang Dean.
"Hey Dean, I think I've found us another one," said Sam.
"Oh, yeah? What's the deal Sammy?"
"There's been some odd disappearances lately in Ontonagon, Michigan. It's a forested area. It seems some tourists haven't returned home to their families at the end of their stay."
"Yeah,
so?"
"Well, a park ranger said that they'd begun to see
strange rock formations, made of Nealite, which is not native to
Michigan. Heck, it's not found anywhere other then Lavrio, Greece,"
said Sam.
"I don't know, Sammy, doesn't sound so 'supernatural' to me. You get some city slicker in the middle of nowhere without his GPS, he gets turned around and ends up a meal for Baloo the bear."
"Baloo?"
"You know, crazy-ass bear in the Jungle Book."
"You watched the Jungle Book?"
"Hey, that there is some quality entertainment on a Saturday morning."
Sam just shook his head in amusement, a smirk on his face. Dean resumed his singing, this time to Metallica. Sam dropped the matter and started to review the articles about the disappearances again and compared the information with John's journal. Finally, Dean finished his singing.
"Ok, so, where're we headed again? Octagon?"
"No, Ontonagon."
"Whatever, Bitch!" and then Dean tapped the accelerator of the Impala, causing Sam to slam against his seat and drop John's journal.
"Jerk," muttered Sam as he settled in for the eight-hour drive ahead of him.
Hours later Dean pulled into a rundown motel several miles off the freeway. An older man with a hardened face and a grizzly white beard stared at them as the Impala rolled to a stop with the sound of crunching gravel. He spit some juice from his chewing tobacco out onto the ground and adjusted his once red baseball cap. His jeans were streaked with dust and grim and his expression said that he didn't want any guests today.
"You boys lookin' for a room?"
"Yes sir," said Dean, eyeing the guy to see if there was a hound dog and a shotgun to complete the sight, "Just a room for me and my brother. Gonna do some male bonding; fishin', hikin', and drinkin.'" Dean put one arm around Sam's shoulders and gave the man his most winning grin. "Ain't that right Sammy?"
"Oh, right. We're big into the whole bonding thing." Sam shot Dean an evil look, mouthing the words 'I hate you'. Then he turned to the guy in front of the motel and smiled. Dean paid the man, who was still eyeing them like they planned to rob the place, and they settled into the room for the night.
The next day was spent asking questions in town, finding that all of the people who disappeared: Tina Jonhanson, Rob Carlson, Jenny and Bill Daily, and Rick and Chuck Kripke, had stayed at the same cabin. No bodies had been found, just strange rock piles.
"Well, let's go check out these rock formations, Darwin."
"Darwin worked in the field of evolution, not rocks Dean."
"Your head is made of rocks, now shut up and look."
They found the rock formations scattered around the cabin, none more then a few yards away and a strange yellow-brown color. However, there seemed to be no rhyme or reason for the layout of the rocks.
"It sort of looks like someone just dumped these rocks here," said Dean as he sifted his hand through the rubble.
"But that can't be right, Dean, because Nealite is a rare mineral and you just don't find it outside of Greece."
"Thank you encyclopedia of weirdness. Let's look at the cabin."
The brothers went up to the cabin and entered. At first nothing seemed out of place and it looked like a typical cabin. Then Dean noticed some strange carvings on each of the four walls of the cabin: an egg surrounded by a serpent; three legs in a circle with a head in the center, and two walls had a woman's face with fangs.
"Whoa, wouldn't want to take that home for the night! What's this, Sammy, vampires or satanic shit? Chick's got teeth that would make a saber tooth proud."
"I don't think so, Dean, they look Greek to me"
"Sammy, everything you say is Greek to me. So, why Greek? We're in friggin' Michigan! Unless there's a sorority around I don't know about."
"Gee, Dean, people do move from other countries. They bring their heritage with them, their beliefs. It's not impossible that someone came here and held onto their Greek roots."
"And what, brought Mr. Monster from Greek mythology on the boat with them?"
"Actually, I don't think you're that far off Dean."
"I'm not? 'Course I'm not!" grinned Dean.
"These symbols are at the four compass points, indicating serious supernatural energy. I think someone came here and did a little hocus-pocus. There are Greek myths dealing with serpents. Let's get my laptop and check it out."
Sam exited the cabin and retrieved his laptop from the Impala with its wireless connection.
"Snakes, why'd it have to be snakes?" said Dean.
"Great, Indy, come take a look."
"What the hell is that?"
"A gorgon. Gorgons in Greek mythology are women with hair of snakes who turn people into stone with just a look. They have long, sharp claws. Bet some scorned lover came here to try and get revenge but it backfired. Now we got a darn gorgon running around. Plus, this explains the piles of funky rock that are from Greece."
"You're telling me that all those heaps of stone that I just sifted through are people leftovers? Hey, isn't there something about this in dad's journal? Freak looks in a mirror and dies, right?"
"Yeah, that's the Medusa myth. She was supposed to be the only mortal one of the bunch. Of course, that's just part of the myth; they can be killed. Dad knew someone who did it."
"So, we get it to look at its fugly face in the mirror and we're done?"
Suddenly there was a noise outside the cabin. Dean reached for his gun loaded with rock salt, then thought better of it.
"Excuse me Sammy, but did you bring your compact mirror with you today?"
"Wha…DEAN, look out!"
A clawed arm had burst through the cabin window behind Dean and slashed at his face. Dean was about to turn when Sam screamed,
"Don't look in its face!"
Dean lunged forward toward Sam and they ran to the back of the cabin and shut the hall door. Both were breathing heavily in the semi-darkness.
"Well, what next Sam?"
"I don't know, we can't face it and it's entering the cabin right now."
Suddenly, Dean's face brightened, "Bathroom!"
"Dean, we don't have time for you're twisted sense of humor."
"No, the bathroom might have a mirror we can use."
"Great idea!"
The two rushed to enter the bathroom and found a round mirror hanging on the wall. Dean ripped it off while Sam watched for the gorgon. Once Dean was headed out the door Sam helped him shift the mirror into the hallway.
"So,
now we just gotta wait for death-becomes-her to enter this hall,"
said Dean.
Wham! Something heavy slammed into the hallway door.
Sam and Dean looked at each other and then tilted the mirror toward
the door, their faces hidden behind the backside of the mirror.
Splinters of wood flew through the air and a fierce cry filled the
room as the gorgon they couldn't see made a leap into the air. Just
as she was about to hit the mirror she let out a screech of sheer
pain. Sam and Dean couldn't resist and peered over the edge of the
mirror just in time to see a yellow-stoned gorgon in midair. Just
before hitting the mirror the once living figure broke into pieces,
pelting the boys with rock as they struggled to find shelter under
the mirror. Both crept out from under the mirror and stared into each
other's dust-covered faces.
"You okay Sammy?"
"Fine, and you Dean?"
"Just fan-friggin'-tastic. I'll never look at a pile of rocks the same way."
"Let's get outta here."
They brushed off the dust from their clothes and jumped into the Impala. Dean immediately floored it and turned on some Metallica while Sam once again began to flip through John's journal. Red taillights glowed in the darkness.
