"Guys," Dean called from the bathroom. He slammed the door open and said in a deep voice, "I'm Batman." He wore a dark Batman costume and it actually looked good. It highlighted his muscles and his green eyes.
Angel and Sam broke out into laughter over how excited Dean was. "You look great," Angel commented.
"I look better than you two bozos," he snorted and pointed at them.
"What?" She looked at her costume. She was a sexy cop, complete with real handcuffs and a fully loaded pistol with silver bullets. She pointed at Sam, who wore a matching cop uniform, "I'm his partner in crime. Get it?" Dean shook his head and she huffed. "I'm going to check on Cas and Alice."
As she left the room, Sam caught his brother checking Angel out. He gave him a look and said, "Really dude?"
"Hey, I can't help myself." Dean sat on the couch in the motel room.
Angel went into Alice's motel room and knocked on the door. "Are you ready yet?"
"No, I'm doing his makeup!" Alice exclaimed from the other side of the door.
"Why do I have to wear this makeup?" Cas asked curiously.
"We watched the movie, and now we're dressing up as the main characters. It's Halloween, Cas, people dress up for a night," she answered.
"I remember when Halloween was for dressing up to scare away the evil spirits, not to have fun," he explained.
"Done!" Alice yelled and opened the door. She was dressed up as Sally from Nightmare Before Christmas. She didn't need to wear a wig because her hair was already dyed bright red. Her makeup was fantastic and outlined her high cheek bones.
"You look amazing," Angel said with a smile. Alice thanked her and Angel peered over her shoulder to see Castiel. His makeup was done perfectly, but he didn't wear a bald cap. She could imagine Cas not wanting to wear one, so it made sense. His striped tuxedo looked amazing on him, topped off with the Jack's bowtie. "Cas, you look completely different."
"I know, Alice wanted to dress up and I didn't want to make her sad. I would've just worn my regular clothes," he stated in a monotone voice.
Angel laughed to herself. "We're ready to go to the party. Waiting on you."
After taking a ride in the Impala, they arrived at someone's house for a Halloween party. They snuck in, pretending to be friends, and grabbed a few drinks. The group just wanted to have fun and relax on a holiday for once. The house was packed with people dancing, mingling, and drinking alcohol. The music blasted from the speakers; cans and red cups were piled everywhere and food stained the floor. A lamp fell to the floor and no one heard it. Alice taught Cas how to dance in one room while Dean hit on a girl in a nurse outfit in another. Sam's face turned to remorse and Angel caught it. He walked out to the back for air, where people were making out on the picnic table or throwing up in the bushes. Everywhere wreaked of alcohol and chips and dip. Angel followed Sam as he leaned against the cement wall.
"What's on your mind?" she questioned. She put one hand on his shoulder and looked into his hazel eyes.
He finished his drink and set it on the wall. He let her push back his hair out of his eyes and hesitated before talking. "Just old memories coming back to me."
"Old memories? Do you want to talk about it?"
His lips formed a tight line and his eyes went stone cold. "Before I started hunting with Dean, I had a normal life. I was going to college and I had the most caring girlfriend." He sighed and his voice cracked a little, "She dressed up as a nurse for Halloween. I guess seeing a girl dressed like that brought the memory back."
Angel didn't want to ask what happened to her, but she couldn't help herself. "What happened to her?"
"A demon killed her…" he trailed off and a single tear escaped his eye.
"I'm so sorry, Sam," Angel said quietly. Her heart hurt for him.
He caressed her hand, kissed it, and felt her hand on his cheek. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't be sad. We're at a party trying to enjoy ourselves."
"No, Sammy, it's fine to grieve. I'm glad I can be here for you." She smiled confidently and kissed his cheek.
"I guess I still kind of miss her," he admitted quietly.
A knife stabbed Angel in the heart. Her eyes darkened and she kept her smile up to make sure he didn't see. Maybe if she was in his position, she'd feel the same. Does he still like her more than he likes me? She thought.
He brushed her hair back and gazed into her eyes. "She's in my past. I have to move on. I'm moving on with you." Before she could say anything, a girl ran screaming from the woods. She was dressed in a clown costume and ran into the yard.
"Are you alright? What happened?" Angel asked in a rush.
"There was something…out in the woods…took….my boyfriend…" the girl had trouble breathing and panted while laying in the grass.
"What did it look like?" She got closer to her, but Sam kept his distance.
"Giant bat," she simply said.
Angel and Sam shared a look and went to get the rest of the group. They told Alice and Castiel to stay at the party and make sure nobody got hurt. Sam and Angel dragged Dean away from the woman he was flirting with and followed the girl out into the forest. She was trembling, so Dean went over to comfort her. Angel pulled out her pistol and held it closely to her. The girl stopped in an open field of flowers. The sight was beautiful. Flowers of different colors covered the ground and the moonlight poured into the meadow. The grass was changing to a sickly yellow while the leaves fell gently off of the trees. "Over there," the girl whispered and pointed towards the dark half of the meadow.
A six foot tall figure was grazing among the grass. He was checking to find something, as if he had lost it, and turned to look at us. The girl shrieked in terror, it ran towards them, and all three of them started shooting at it. It squealed from the shock of the pain and took off, flying away in the night sky. She looked at Sam with confusion, and he simply made the same face at her. They didn't know what that thing was, but they sure as hell wanted to find out.
"Alice, stay at the party. Keep an eye outside and make sure nobody gets taken by a giant bat thing," Angel ordered over the phone.
"Giant bat?"
"Giant bat. I didn't stutter." Angel sighed and watched where she was driving. The phone was on the dashboard on speaker, which vibrated with how loud it was. "Make sure you stay outside and don't let anyone go into the forest."
"Dean and Cas are in the forest just in case it comes back. If you hear gunfire, don't follow it. No one is allowed in the forest, and if they hear gunfire, they'll most likely be attracted to it. Be the bodyguard," Sam added.
"Alright, I got it." She hung up.
Angel parked in front of the one story motel and walked to the room they stayed in. "What do you think it is?" She put her keys on her belt and felt chilled against the cold night air.
"I have no idea. It could be something ancient for all we know," Sam commented and opened the door. Angel put on her black leather jacket and opened her laptop at the same time Sam did. They both competed to find what it was first, but she failed. He beat her to it. "It's called a strix, which is from the Greek time period. It's a nocturnal birdlike creature that is believed to feed on human flesh." He made a disgusted face, "Well, that's great."
"So, that's it? There's nothing else on it?" Angel asked as she scrunched her nose. With so little information, they wouldn't be able to do much. She reloaded her pistol with fresh silver bullets and turned on the safety. "We should try chopping its head off too," she suggested and grabbed her sword. She strapped it over her shoulder and watched him as he geared up.
"We should walk down the streets, just in case it tries taking one of the children trick or treating." Angel nodded and they both locked up the room. They walked down the street, observing the area. The moonlight was now hiding behind the clouds and the loud sound of pitter patter from feet running or walking on the sidewalk clashed in the air. The smell of sweet chocolate and caramel mixed in the air and met Angel's nose. She inhaled and exhaled in pleasure, wishing to taste a piece. Her blue eyes watched as children dressed in simple princess and cowboy costumes lugged around their candy-filled bags. Their parents weren't close behind, smiling and recording their child's outing. Angel grinned slyly and nudged Sam, "Have you ever wanted children?"
"Yeah," he quickly stated and chuckled. "I just think I'm not meant to have children. I live the hunter lifestyle after all, which makes it difficult. Then, my family could be in danger of anything I hunt, which is something I'd never want."
Angel nodded in agreement. "You have a point. But, I don't think that should stop your dream from coming true. Everything happens for a reason, Sam."
He held onto her hand tighter and looked away, "You're right."
Something grabbed Angel by the shoulders and swooped her up into the air. Sam held onto her hand tightly and yelled, "Use your powers!"
Angel looked up to see the bat flying away with her in its claws. Her eyes met Sam's, desperation and worry filled them, and she simply stated, "Let me go."
He flinched when the words registered in his brain. "What?" His hand began to slip from hers.
"I'll find the man he took. It'll be okay." She had to stay courageous, or he wouldn't believe her. She was going to find that man, even if it got her killed. She would go down in a fight.
His fingers began to slip and he declared, "I will find you, I promise."
She nodded and let him go before the fall was too big. She watched as he fell to the soft dirt below, and the bat carried her off higher and higher into the air to its lair. All she could think about was killing this thing before it could lay a claw on that innocent man.
"It took her."
The words that came from the phone rang in Alice's ears. She didn't know how to react to that statement. Her beloved sister was taken by a giant bat creature. "I'm going to go look for her." She started to head to the front of the house until Sam spoke up.
"You aren't going alone." He paused for a second, "I'm in the front of the house."
Alice got into her sister's Camaro and instantly called Castiel. "Angel was taken. Sam and I are going to look for her."
"What exactly are we hunting?" he questioned. His deep voice was just the thing Alice needed to hear.
She put the call on speaker and asked Sam. He replied, "It's just a nocturnal bird creature thing. The Greeks didn't exactly know what it is, but that's the only description that comes close to it. There isn't any other information on it, so we're in the dark right now."
"Are you kidding me?" Dean asked. "This never works out for us, you know that Sammy. And now it has Angel. What if she can't handle it?"
"She can handle it," Alice stressed every word. Her head was starting to pound and her heart ached. Whenever they weren't sure of anything, they'd always worked as a team and gone in together. Here her older sister was foolishly going to a creature's lair, not knowing how to kill it for good. What if she got seriously injured? What if she really couldn't handle it? She knew her sister was secretly weak, for Alice was what held her up for so long. What if she didn't fight to her fullest strength? Alice didn't want to think of anything right now and just kept her eyes on the road.
"I told her I'd find her and I will. She's strong. She can handle anything that comes her way," Sam explained.
"We'll keep an eye out just in case we see it again," Dean remarked and hung up.
Alice put her phone away and looked out the window. The street lights only illuminated certain parts of the sidewalk and the trees themselves seemed like outlines of ghosts. It didn't take much to be creepy on Halloween night. "Why didn't she use her powers? She could have easily escaped."
Sam shook his head. "She was more concerned about the person it had taken. Her being taken is literally the only way we'll find the man. We don't have any information on this creature. Keep that in mind."
She noticed he was shaking while driving and talked to him to calm him down. "You really like her, don't you?" He simply nodded. "She feels the same, don't worry."
"I don't worry about that. I just worry about losing her. Every girl I have ever liked gets killed in one way or another. I don't want her to have the same fate," he whispered. His voice quivered and he rapidly blinked to keep back some tears.
Angel was thrown into a cave by the strix. She got up as it screeched at her, and she walked farther into the cave until she tripped over something. She turned on the flashlight on her phone and saw she tripped over a bloody carcass. She cringed and tried not to pay attention to the blood that stained her leg. The cave had an odorous stench to it, burning the inside of Angel's nose. She could hear the soft drop of water from afar. The strix made noises and clicking sounds. It pecked at her skin and she screamed when it took a chunk of skin out of her. She didn't think it would actually try to bite her, so she pulled out her pistol and shot it. The strix shrieked and flapped its wings about. She got up and ran farther into the cave, zoning in on the man that was lying on the floor. "Are you alright?" She asked quickly and pulled out her sword.
"Yeah…What is that thing?" He seemed truly horrified. He was rocking back and forth in his clown costume, which was drenched in blood, sweat and tears, literally. He wreaked of alcohol and to make it worse, he had barfed a few feet away from where he was sitting.
"Nothing important. Let's get out of here." She waited for him to get up and lead him down the cave. The creature was waiting at the entrance for them. She could see the blood drain from the bullet wounds out of its grey, furry body. Its yellow eyes stared directly at her and it made a few sounds. "You want a challenge, big guy? Come and get me." The strix charged at her and she held onto the man. When it got close enough, she used her powers to make the strix ghost through her and the man. She urged the man to run away from the cave and to get help. She had to stay behind. He did as she asked and ran into the woods and toward the street.
"For a bat creature, you don't really rely on sound, do you? I guess that gives you a bird-like characteristic." Angel swung her sword around and straightened herself out. The bat charged once more, and Angel stabbed it in the wing. It knocked her over, only causing her to kick it in the shins. It scratched at her face and bit her arm. She stabbed it in the other wing and slashed it across, that way it wouldn't be able to fly away. She yelled and punched when it sat on top of her, trying to nip at her neck to make her bleed to death. The bat's smell left a foul odor in her nose and its fir was rough and frayed together. She forced her sword through its chest and, when it backed away, cut its head off. Angel fell to the floor and took off her belt. It was a fake belt to the costume, but she simply wrapped it around her leg to cut off the blood flow. It wouldn't do much since she had to walk, but it was the least she could do. She stuffed her gun and her keys in her pocket, and called Alice.
She picked up instantly, "Where are you?"
"I don't know. Can Cas teleport to me?"
"Yeah, just pray to him and he'll know exactly where you're at," Sam answered.
"Thanks. I'll see you guys back at the motel." With that, she hung up. She closed her eyes and focused on Castiel. "Cas, I know you can hear me. Please help me get back to the motel. I don't-"
"You called?" Cas was standing right in front of her as she opened her eyes. He was still wearing his Jack Skellington costume and makeup, which surely would make Alice happy.
"Yeah. I slain big ugly here and I need a ride back to the motel. I can't really walk," she pointed to her leg, which had a huge chunk ripped out of her.
His face was as straight as a pole and he said, "It'll just be one second."
One second they were there, and the next they weren't.