Hello,

I'm very sorry for this late update. I had a lot of problems the last few weeks. But I hope there is anybody out there, who read it. :-) A big thank you to my wonderful beta Ethereal Siren for her wonderful work, she is wonderful 3

Close encounters

The last murder was a week ago and it seemed like the situation had settled down. Both Dean and Sam figured that some lunatic would be to blame for all the murders.

Quietly, they packed their bags and stowed them in the Impala. The brothers wanted to move on early next morning. They waited long enough and nothing had happened, so Sam agreed with his older brother. They would start looking for a new job — one that would be more important.

The sky outside the window pane was dark as one of Dean's cell phones began to ring in the car. Clumsily, Dean stood up from his bed and walked to the door. Sam looked at him curiously. "Where are you going?" he asked immediately. "One of the phones are ringing. I just wanted to take a look at who's calling," responded Dean truthfully.

However, just as Dean got to his baby, the phone stopped ringing. Dean looked along the dark street uncertainly. He had the feeling of being watched once again, so he wanted to get back in the motel room, but his own curiosity won out.

He reached for the gun tucked into the back of his jeans and carefully walked toward the nearby alleyway where he heard a noise like the stroke of wings.

Nervously, he stopped walking. He heard his own blood rushing in his ears and his heart beat against his chest like it would run away. A sudden movement in the darkness left him paralyzed. He couldn't move his legs, so he was unable to run away; he only could stare at the man standing, still as death, just a few yards in front of him.

'Come on, you're Dean Winchester. Nothing could scare you,' he tried to calm himself down.

He swallowed his fear and managed to speak to the strange man. "Who are you?" But he didn't get an answer. Life seemed to come into the man as he stepped slowly and steadily with a highly stretched chin and straight posture.

Dean wanted to get away. Everything inside him screamed to run away, but he could only stare at the man. He recognized the man as he stepped out of the darkness. Dean would recognize him among thousands.

With his black hair and his bright blue eyes along with the beige-coloured trench coat who fluttered in the wind. It was the man Dean had seen from the cafe a week ago.

Was he the monster they were hunting for? The stranger did not stop, but came up on the blond with such intensity that Dean nearly lost his compassity for speach. "Hey, asshole, I asked you a question!" he said a little bit louder.

The black haired man was now just a few feet away from Dean. He stood, facing Dean, and gave him a hard look with his azure blue eyes.

Dean was breathing erratically as he took a step back, but he couldn't escape from the spell which the smaller man held over him in. "You and your brother", said the man with darker voice, "your must leave this town at once!" It sounded like an order, and the seriousness in his voice just reinforced that impression.

Dean wanted to say something, but the man pushed his fingers against his forehead and his vision went black.

'Dean has been gone long enough to just check the cell phone,' Sam thought anxiously. Sam walked to the window and stared into the darkness, trying to see something. He was so occupied with looking outside for any sign of Dean, that the ringing of his own cell phone sent a terrified jolt through him.

He took out the phone and looked at the display. It was Bobby. "Bobby?"

"Hello Sam, I've got bad news for you," said the older hunter. Sam listened carefully to what Bobby told him. "I've got something about the sign. You boys should get out of there now," Bobby said. "And by 'now' I mean yesterday! Get out of that town!", he commanded firmly.

"What? Bobby, please tell me what you found out," Sam implored as he paced restlessly around the room like a tiger in a cage.

Sam didn't like what Bobby told him: if Bobby says that they should leave then it has to be something really bad.

"I found a small article about signs and symbols and this sign is called Banishing Sigil. I really don't know what it banishes, Sam, but what I know is that everyone who has seen this sign has died horribly sooner or later. You boys get packed and get out! You guys can't help those people," Bobby said panicked.

Sam rubbed his hand over his face. "Are you sure that there is no way to help them? I mean… it's just… there must be something behind all this, right? What if we find and kill it? Then the people should be safe again."

He didn't want to leave the town. It was not his nature to give up; especially once he knew that the people in the town needed someone to fight for them.

Bobby didn't say anything for a long time, only the rushing sound of ambient noise could be heard in the phone. "I don't know, boy. Really. Your guess is as good as mine.", said Bobby.

As Sam analyzed the situation, Dean came back into his mind. "Dean!", he whispered; a little panicked. "What?" Bobby demanded.

Sam didn't answer the older hunter. He quickly hung up and got his weapon, then left the motel room. He went to check Dean's car, but as he had assumed, Dean was not there.

"Dean?" he screamed in the night. No answer. A strong sense of foreboding crept over him. What if Dean had been kidnapped by the thing that had been killing these people?

After scanning the parking lot for his brother, Sam looked over to an alleyway where he saw what looked like a person lying on the ground. He rushed over and discovered that is was indeed a person; it was his brother.

Lifelessly, Dean lay on the ground, not stirring; even when Sam shook his brother's shoulders. Sam was scared, but at least Dean was still breathing. Using the strength built up over years of hunting, Sam pulled Dean up off the ground and let him slump over the back of his shoulders, then grabbed his brothers arms and legs to keep him from falling off as he carried him back into the motel room.