Bleeding Out

Chapter 1 ~Driving helps me think~

A/N: I do not own anything. When it is 'italicized' it is the character's thoughts. Look up art/Adlet-298624322 for image of the creature. All rights to image go to the artist erebus88, I do not own it. I am using it as inspiration for the creature.

Dean didn't know where he was going and at this point, he didn't really care. Everything had finally come out about Sam and the Angelic possession. The lies that he had told, not only to Sam but to Cas, Kevin and himself. The worst was the deaths that had occurred. Dean saw the body that Gadriel left behind in that house and of course, Kevin. 'Who knows how many more died by Gadriel through Sam'. Dean wondered if Sam would remember what had happened like he did when he was possessed by Meg. Dean had taken the blame over Kevin's death. 'His death was my fault. I fell for his trick, fell for his lies, believed in him and trusted him. I should never have let it go on this long' Dean said to himself as he continued to stare at the long empty road ahead of him.

Dean had heard it a million times, he was not something good for anyone to be around. 'Not even Sam'. He was poison, the very touch of him corrupts, he uses people and then throws them away when they are no longer needed. People that were close to him or knew him ended up dead. 'Look at what happened when I brought Sammy back into this life. All the guilt Sam was feeling was because of him'. Dean picked up the speed down the empty road. The purr from the engine from his baby was his only comfort. He didn't put on the radio nor did he play any of his music. He needed the silence, he deserved the silence.

Dean had lost track of time and how long he had been driving this one stretch of road. He needed a drink and to get out of the car for a bit. It was starting to bring up too many memories. He had been thinking of all the times he would be driving down a long stretch of empty road to clear his head. Usually it was after a troubling hunt. He would usually stair straight ahead, keeping his eyes on the road but he could also just look over and get comfort from seeing his brother. Sometimes Sam would be sleeping, exhausted from the hunt, just staring out the window or looking at a map. Knowing the best thing for Dean after a bad hunt was, another hunt. They both knew each other in and out. Dean shook his head and tried to clear his head. 'No point on dwelling on the past' he told himself.

Dean had found a bar after he had eventually run out of empty road and eventually hit a town. It was a small out of the way town, not a large population and not many people out late. He didn't want company, he wanted to drink, crash for the night and then hit the road again in the morning. He had ordered a beer and a shot of whiskey. He was seated at the bar and was listening to some of the conversations going on around him. People were talking about the usual, lost their job, hated their job and troubles at home. He had made his way through four beers and several shots before he called it a night. As he was getting his money together for the bartender he overheard another conversation, one he paid attention to and could relate with. "Edgar was starting to see less and less deer coming into the area. So he decided to take a look in the woods for traps or poachers. Apparently what he did find was something not of this world as he said. He described it as having long human like arms but, hands with claws, the body of an animal, almost dog like. He said the face had human and animal features. So I said Edgar, lay off the mushrooms or shares' buddy" the guys at the table laughed along with him. Dean finished paying and left the bar. He would find a hotel room and look into this sighting. 'Never found a hunt I didn't like'.

Dean had found a hotel near to the bar and that was cheap and had vacancy's in every room. He decided to take the room farthest from the office. Less likely for the people to bother him as much. He opened the door to his room and was met with the smell of stale air. 'How do these people stay in business' Dean thought as it seemed like these people barely had customers, if any. He had been in worse, seen worse. He had stayed in abandoned houses when their Leviathan copies were famous serial killers. He had slept in the car countless times as well. Usually without heat or AC. Here he had a solid roof over his head and working heat. The temperature had dropped for the night so it was welcomed. He unpacked his weapons and checked them and his ammo supply. He began the process of cleaning his guns and sharpening his knives.

Dean had finished his guns and was onto his knives. He liked to do this before a hunt. 'Dad always said, you can't trust yourself or partners but, you can always trust your weapons'. Dean smiled as he could still hear his father's voice in his head. Some thought he was crazy or dependent for how much he followed his dad's example and words. He saw it as him being his father's back up. As soon as he had found out what was out there and how dangerous it was he vowed to help his father. Especially when he came home from a hunt injured. It was only his second or third one and it was a poltergeist. Dad had taken on a werewolf with another hunter and possibly another solo hunt before this one. Now he was seeing that his dad wouldn't always come home in one piece or unscathed. He had patched up his dad's minor wounds and was taught how to do his first set of stitches. He had practiced on fruits after so he could get to be as good as his father. He had learned that caring for wounds inflicted by the supernatural needed to be disinfected differently. 'It wasn't the germs or bacteria you have to be worried about, it is more about the unnatural things you have to fear' Dean remembered his father had said to him at one point. So instead of peroxide and rubbing alcohol you had to pour holy water over wounds and do this until it stopped hissing, burning and smoking. It hurt like a bitch but, it was the best thing. Dad had heard about another hunter who had gotten a wound and didn't clean it out with holy water and a horrible rot set in. He ended up loosing his leg and nearly died from the infection as well. Dad never wanted that to happen so he always had holy water in the first aid kits in flasks.

This was always the part of the pre hunt that he enjoyed. This was the time to clear your head and relax. Take the time to think and build assurance in yourself. This always reminded him of the 'personal time' dad would set aside to show him how to disassemble and reassemble his weapons, cleaning them or sharpening them. Pastor Jim liked to teach him about hand held weapons while dad focused on the guns. Sometimes Bobby would take over his gun lessons when dad was injured, exhausted or on a hunt. Bobby would also stress the whole doing research before a hunt aspect but he had Sammy for that. Dean's hand stopped as he looked across the table, where Sammy would be sitting. Where he would have his laptop out and be researching their hunt while Dean cleaned and sharpened their weapons. Sometimes Sam would be on the bed with papers spread out their dad's journal and the laptop. He would have it on his lap and his face inches from the screen. He would be so involved Dean could insult him and Sam would agree and not even bat an eye. Dean blinked as the image faded from his mind. He blinked back tears as he remembered why he had chosen this. 'I'm doing this for Sammy' he brought his knife back up and continued sharpening it. Trying to take his mind off of it all.

Dean had eventually gone to bed to get a little bit of sleep before he did some research on what Edgar had seen the other night. 'If one person noticed a drop in deer population then maybe others did too. Maybe enough that someone wrote about it'. Usually that wasn't the case but in such a small town, the littlest thing was written about. So his first thing to do was to find Edgar and speak with him. Then to look for the latest newspapers and check for any reports of sightings of similar animals.

Dean walked into the same bar as last night and asked around. Small town and small population means you got the usual people who sit at the same tables every night. His dad had taught him that the best place to sit was at the back and to have your back against the wall and to be facing the restaurant and to always keep your eyes on the entrance and exit. The bartender for the morning was a guy who was much older and looked like he had been here all his life. Dean walked over and called the bartender over and ordered a beer. "Do you know someone by the name Edgar?" Dean asked as he took a pull of his beer. "What's it to you?" the bartender asked as he stood in front of Dean and sized him up. "I'm from the Wildlife Conservation Society" Dean said as he showed him his badge. "We got a call about a drop in deer population in the area. I'm here to get his statement and to survey the area for possible threats to the town". Dean said this with such confidence and professionalism even he believed it. "Yeah I know Edgar but, I wouldn't take what he says as nothing more than fantasy. He's not really all there" he said as he made a swirling motion with his finger by his temple. "Well" Dean said and smiled "we do get a lot of those kind of calls but, I have to check it out and make a report". The bartender nodded. "He lives near the forest that borders the western side of town. You head straight down deeper into town and you'll hit his house, you can't miss it" he said as he wrote the address down on a napkin. "If he isn't there, you can find him at the library, you'll pass it on the way to his place" he said as he handed him the napkin. Dean took the napkin, another pull from his bottle and nodded his head in thanks. He left the bar and went to find Edgar.

Dean realized what he meant by not missing his house. The guy had metallic sculptures in his yard. Some looked like creatures he had seen before, a wendigo, black dog, werewolf and a bat that was supposed to represent vampires… probably. As Dean passed them he ran his hand over them and a residue came off. He brought his hand to his nose and smelled it. "Salt" Dean said as he recognized the scent. This guy had coated them in salt water and he was willing to bet that they were made of silver or iron. 'Was Edgar a hunter?' Dean thought as he walked to the door and had his badge in his hand. He knocked and waited for an answer. He heard him before he saw him. Edgar was walking into all his furniture and walls. 'Great maybe he is a paranoid drunk psycho' Dean thought as he heard all the locks on the other side sliding out of place. He was up to ten when the door opened slightly and three more chains were across the door on different levels. Edgar's face popped into view through the small opening. "Edgar, hi my name is Dean Henley. I'm with the Wildlife Conservation Society. We got a report about the drop in deer population. I'm here to make a report, can we talk for a moment?" Dean said as he held his badge out for a moment and then grabbed his note pad. Edgar closed the door and Dean heard the chains shifting and the door opened wider. When he motioned for him to come in Dean looked behind him for a moment and realized only one other person knows he is here. 'Please don't be a monster' Dean thought as he entered into his house.

"Ok, so the deer" Dean said as he opened his notebook to a new page. He wanted to be out of his place as soon as possible. There was a horrible smell of BO and rotting food. "Right, well, I always leave food out for the deer on my front lawn and usually I get five to ten deer coming around. Well, for the past few days less and less started coming around. Now there are only two coming around and they seemed more skittish and shy then normal. So I decided to go into the woods and have a look around. Man, there were deer carcasses all over. Some were bones while some looked like they were still being worked on". Dean took notes on the amount of deer activity before and the drop after. The carcasses were hopefully still there and he could get an idea of what was doing this. "I took one" Edgar said interrupting Dean's thoughts. "You have one, in your house? Can I see it?" Dean asked. 'No hiking trips just yet'. Edgar nodded and brought him into a room that had the door closed. "Sorry, had no room in my fridge so the smell is pretty fierce" Edgar said right before he threw the door open.

Dean gagged at the smell of decay and decomposition hit him. He coughed and brought his hand up to his face to cover his nose and mouth. 'Great now I can taste it' he thought as he walked further into the room. There on the bed was a partially eaten, partially decomposed deer body. Dean found the section where there was a bit and examined it. He measured the length, height and width of the bite with his pen. He made a notation and continued to examine the body. He found claw marks and fur. He took a picture of the bite and claw marks with his phone. He took the small bit of fur and placed it inside the napkin that had Edgar's address on it. Dean turned to Edgar who was standing outside of the door with his shirt over his nose and mouth. "Heard some people say you saw the thing that did this" Dean said and waited for Edgar to answer. Edgar nodded and his face went pale as he recalled what he saw. Dean coughed again as the smell became overpowering while he was standing so close to the body. Dean left the room and closed the door behind him. Edgar went into another room and brought out a sketch pad.

The page he had open was of the creature he saw. Dean studied it for a moment and realized this was not something he had dealt with before. By the description he had heard last night and the picture a few species popped into his head. He would have to head over to the library and do some research and narrow it down. He turned to Edgar, "Can I take this?" He asked and Edgar nodded. "I got more where that came from, it's all I can think about". Dean looked at him for a moment and saw the fear in his eyes in that moment. "Well, thank you for letting me look at that and for um.. well keeping it here" Dean said with a slight tilt to his head as he wondered if that was the right thing to say. 'Sammy would have known better'. Dean was escorted to the main doorway and stepped outside, taking in the fresh air greedily. Dean could still smell the body on his clothes and as he walked down the steps he heard Edgar say "Lemons". Dean turned "what?". Edgar made a squeezing gesture over his head "lemons for the smell". With that he closed the door and went back inside. "Great, now I have to have a fruit salad for a shower" Dean said as he made his way back to his car.