Through her eyelids she felt blurry light of the morning sun. She checked her aching head with her hands. ''Ouch,'' she shuddered as she felt the forming bump on her rear. The hospital room door opened and the doctor came in.
''Good morning, um...," he looked into his papers, ''Elizabeth!'' The girl smiled.
''So, how are we feeling?''
''Fine, I just feel like I'm having the worst hangover in my whole life.'' she rubbed her temples.
„Well, yes, a concussion like this can be pretty unpleasant," the man chuckled and checked something in his folder. „But don't worry, miss Newron, it's nothing serious, but to be absolutely sure, we'd like to keep you here until tomorrow to do some tests."
Liz immediately shaked her head. „I'm sorry, but that's not possible. There's a plane that leaves from North Dakota tomorrow morning and I have to be on it. Can't you make this whole process a bit...shorter?"
The doctor scratched his nose. „Of course, that shouldn't be a problem, although I can't say I approve of that." Liz smiled apologetically.
The man paused for a moment and his sight strayed towards the window and then back on her.
„The two young men told me they found you on a road a few miles from here. May I ask, what was a young lady like you doing in the middle of a forest in such early hours?"
She gazed at the doctor with confusion.
„Two guys? In the middle of the forest?" Her mind was completely blank. The only thing she remembered was shouting and then a blinding white flash of light. And then everything was dark.
„I'm afraid I might dissppoint you, but I remember absolute nothing from the last 12 hours."
The doctor frowned worriedly, pulled out a pen from his breast pocket and started writing something on a piece of paper. Then he handed the paper to Liz. „This is doctor Clarse's phone number. He's an excellent psychologist and my old friend. Don't be afraid and call him if you'll need someone to talk to." Liz took the piece of paper from him and considered, if he gives doctor Clarse's number to every patient, or is she some kind of a rare case. She heard a sound of ambulance cars from the outside. They both peeped out of the window and the doctor shook anxiously.
„Nurse will help you with filling in all the forms and she'll give you your things back. So, goodbye, miss Newron." he said and left.

Liz slowly stretched her arms and legs and carefully got up from the bed. Her clothes were lying on a small bedside table, elegantly folded. She put on her trousers, pulled a white shirt and a sweater over her head and looked into a mirror near the sink. She had a stitched wound above her temple, but other than that, nothing could testify, that just the other night she was running alone through a forest. She tried to concentrate and remember, but equally she could try to swim in concrete – unsuccessfully.

Someone knocked on the door. It was a young woman, a nurse, carrying a big black backpack in one hand, a transparent folder with some papers in the other one. She looked very upset. Blond strands of hair were falling out of her usually perfect bun and there were wrinkles of worry on her forehead.
„Miss Newron, is that right? Here are your things. You had them on you when they brought you here," she handed her the bag and now with a free hand she put her hair back into its place.
„I'm gonna need you to sign a few things and then you can leave."
Liz nodded, thanked and the nurse marched away. Now Liz looked at the was torn and burned on some places, but overall it seemed to be fine. She sighed with relief, when she found her plane ticket, money and papers, along with a pile of clothes and tangled headphones.

Noise came from the corridor. Liz came out of the room and looked around, surprised. Hospital hall was crowded with people. Crying, hysterical and terrified people.

„Are you sure that there wasn't-
„Her name is Emily, Emily Bucks, you must have found her, my little Em-"
„They told us they haven't found everyone yet, can you tell me-"
Everyone was yelling at each other, paltering, some were sitting on a chair with faces in their hands, families were huddling together and crying quietly. Reporter on a TV screen was showing shots of a bus wreck, dead bodies spread around, which the policemen were putting into black vans.
„The criminalists can't confirm yet if we're dealing with a planned attack or an arson. Or it could be an engine malfunction. There were found 15 bodies so far and on some of them were apparent signs of animal attack. We'll be informing you about the progress of investigation. And now weather with Tiffany-"

Liz was standing wide-eyed in the door frame and tried to absorb all the facts. A bus. Yes, there was a bus. And yelling, a lot of yelling. Then the flash of light and everything was on fire after that. And an animal. Weren't they talking about an animal? What was it? What the hell was it? Remember, remember already!

Through a dirty pane of glass she could see a car park, where about a dozen of journalists started to gather. Suddenly Liz thought of something horrible. What if they think, that it was her who set the bus on fire? What if they arrest her and put her into some kind of a mental institution? But no, nobody even know she was on the bus. Nobody? Or not?

These thoughts were occupying her mind while she was still standing in the door. Then she decided. She slung her bag over her shoulder, ducked her head to be as stealthy as possible and quickly walked out of the hospital.


Dean sat on a bed with his legs outstretched and was examining the long tooth, meanwhile Sam was searching for information on his laptop.
The phone rang.

„Bobby? So, have you found anything?"
„Apparently, you're dealing with an Echidna."
„Echidna? I have a feeling I've heard about it," Sam murmured pensively.
„That's possible. It's this ugly bitch from greek mythology. Half a woman, half a giant snake. She can shift from one or another however she likes. That photo of a tooth you sent me, that's definitely hers."
Sam was typing on a keybord. „Here it is. Echidna, she used to live in Athenas in ancient Greece and used to eat wayfarers alive. As snakes they seek sunny and warm places, on the contrary they avoid cold conditions."
„That doesn't make sense." Dean interrupted them. „What would be a greek snake monster doing here, in this freezer town?"

They all paused. Then Bobby spoke:
„Well, at least you don't have to hunt the bitch. She's dead."
„How can you know that?" Sam argued.
„Fire is lethal for an Echidna. If they get even close to a spark of fire, they light up as a torch. Plus you have that tooth. You wouldn't get it out of her throat alive, not even with a chainsaw, her teeth are harder than diamonds."
"At least one problem is solved,'' Dean sighed and poured whiskey into a small glass.
Sam looked unsatisfied. ''It still doesn't explain the fire.''
Bobby on the phone sighed tiredly. ''As I see it, boys, your best lead is the girl. Have you spoken to her yet?"
"We drove back to the hospital, but she wasn't there. They said she'd left right in the morning."
"Well, you better go looking for her," Bobby growled and hung up the phone.


Black Impala pulled out of the motel and drove onto the main road. They already searched all cafés and bars - no signs of the mystery girl.
"Where could a girl this young go after leaving a hospital? I thought she would go to a bar to celebrate her luck, that she's still alive. Or they don't do it nowadays?" Dean speculated, then pulled out his flask and took a big sip.
Sam shook his head in disagreement. "You know, it's different times. And you could give it a rest for a while, it's not even noon yet."
They were driving through the town again. "Maybe she's long gone. I wouldn't stand it here much longer to be honest," Dean shivered with a mild disgust and took another sip from his flask.
"We should check the outskirts. We haven't searched there," Sam suggested, so they went.

After 15 minutes they passed a sign saying "Glendive – goodbye and have a nice journey." There was a small wooden booth right next to the bus stop. They stopped a car and peeked inside. And there she was. Sitting on a bench with her legs crossed and with a big book resting in her lap.
Sam coughed. The girl looked up and when she saw them, she slightly opened her mouth. After a while of awkward silence she asked: "Can I help you?"
Dean, warmed up by strong whiskey, smiled playfully. "Yes, actually. We have a few questions about the bus accident. We were told you were one of the passengers."
Liz closed her book and nervously looked at them.
"Are you two journalists?"
Sam shook his head. "No, but we're investigating the case." She looked at them again and tried to speak with a calm voice, but the outcome was far from what she had planned. Lying was never her stroing point.
Sam and Dean looked at each other understandingly. The older of the brothers entered the booth and sat down next to Liz.
"Look, we know you were on that bus, so how about we skip the awkward part where you try to convince us otherwise and get to the questions about what happened that night."
Liz bit her lip and hesitated for a while. "But you can't tell anyone I was there. Please! Everyone would think that the fire was my fault!"
"And was it?"
"Of course not! Besides, I can't remember much anyway.

Sam looked at the bus schedule.
"Where are you heading?"
"North Dakota. I'm flying from there tomorrow."
"But the next bus is gonna be here in 4 hours. How about we give you a ride? And you could tell us everything you remember from the last night in return," Sam suggested.
"No, thanks, I think I'll wait here."
"You sure? It's 4 hours," Dean objected. The girl tapped her book and grinned
"I'll keep myself busy. Besides, no offence, but I'm really not that type of girl, who hopes into a car with two strange guys and carelessly lets them drive her into an orange sunset. For all I know, you could be pedophiles...or something like that."
"We're not pedophiles." Dean protested. "Even though Sam can be scary sometimes, he's actually just a young overgrown moose." Liz laughed and looked at the taller of the brothers, waiting outside, because he was too tall to fit into the tiny booth.

Dean then showed her his badge.
"You two don't look like the police."
"We're more like..." Dean was looking for the right word. "Private detectives," Sam completed him.
"Exactly! We drive from town to town, solve cases and stuff," Dean grinned and straightened his back.
Liz was tapping a cover of her book and though for a while.
"All right, but when I feel someone's hand where it's not supposed to be, I'm immediately getting out."
"You can count on that," Dean pulled a sarcastic face and Sam shook his head, amused.
They all stepped into the car and drove out of town.


AN: hello there again. i know this chapter isn't exactly long, but i hope you'll be satisfied with the next one, which will be updated probably next week. as i said before, this fanfic is translated from Czech...so if you find some mistakes don't bite my head off...please

thanks for reading!