Chapter 7

A bullet from Dean's handgun was fired, but the wolf was too quick. It escaped the shot with a dodge to the side. It landed softly on the pads of its paws. Dean fell back to the floor from the air pressure the creature had created from its flight. Sam shot at the werewolf also. Again the creature pounced out of the way. It jumped over Dean and rested on the carpeted floor. It continued out the back door and into the fields like Cindy had moments ago. Sam stared at the animal in awe of its capabilities.

"Get the son of a bitch", Dean shouted at his brother.

Sam raced out after the hairy beast. He took the same path the creature had. It had made a clear trail through the leafy grass. The trail led right to the rotting barn on top of a steep hill. He could hear the horses' whinnies and the cows' cries as the wolf had reached them. A few animals ran out of the gates and into the open meadows. Sam took this as a bad sign. He slowly pushed aside the splintered barn door. The red paint had chipped away over the years and was still peeling off as he touched it. This showed the age of the old, rickety barn. Beams of moonlight shed through the cracks in the roof, which again was not good for the hunters since the moon was the key to the creature's survival.

Only three of the horses had been left in the old wooden pen. Unfortunately only two had survived. The black shadows of the scraggly dogman hovered over the fallen horse. When its head lifted, Sam could see liquid strings of dark blood trickling from the jaws of the monster. It was chomping down on another victim. Sam cringed at the awful sight. The next thing Sam knew, a hand was placed on his shoulder. He turned to see Dean right beside him. Dean lifted his shotgun and exaggerated the loading of his handheld machine. He gave his younger brother a smug smile and entered the hay-infested scene with much noise.

"Hey, dog breath! You haven't finished playing games with us yet, have you?"

The blood-covered beast looked up with shimmering golden eyes. It growled deeply within its chest.

"I'm only getting warmed up!"

Like a lion stalking its prey, the wolf slowly sauntered over to the standing places of Dean and Sam. Dean cocked the shotgun and aimed it at the heart of the werewolf. Just before he could make the shot, an anxious and tear-filled Cindy came sprinting out from behind a stack of hay.

"No! Don't hurt him!"

Jake sprung on his hind legs and again knocked Dean off his feet. The shotgun was flung from his hand and spiralled out of control into the distance. Sam ran to Cindy and pulled her out of view from the monstrosity that was her brother. He knelt down and brought her in close to him to protect her eyes and ears from any fights and gunshots that might occur. Meanwhile, the werewolf, open mouthed, hissed at Dean, polluting the air with the stench of raw flesh and blood. Dean retracted from the fowl smell.

"Dude, eat a breath mint… or an air freshener, god!"

The werewolf let out a loud roar. Saliva flew out of its mouth and all over Dean's face and clothes.

"Yeah, I hear you, and I feel you! Man, that's just gross!"

He flicked off some of the drool the creature had kindly presented him with. Jake placed a front paw on Dean's chest. He dug his claws deep into his skin.

"Agh! Sam, shoot the damn thing!"

Sam heard Dean's cries of agony and turned to Cindy. He grabbed her by the upper arms like Jake had done to her before.

"Cindy, stay here, okay?"

"Don't hurt my brother!"

She looked up at Sam with sad eyes. He didn't know what he could possibly say to her to convince her that it had to be done. He knew that if he had to kill his brother, he wouldn't be able to do it either.

"Cindy… I know this is hard to understand, but he's not your brother, not anymore."

"Yes he is. He's Jake, my brother. He looks like a dog, but he's my brother, and I love him, whatever he does."

Sam sighed.

"But he killed your parents."

She stayed quiet after Sam's comment. Maybe she didn't know that. Sam had almost forgotten she was a child. Then she answered.

"I know."

Sam was confused.

"You know that, but you still want him to live?"

"Like I said, he's my brother. My mommy says you can't hurt family. You protect them, no matter what. And he's my family. I can't hurt him. He may be mean and he may be bad, but he's my big bad wolf, and you can't have him."

Sam was in so much shock at what this young, six year old girl had just said to him. He was completely at a loss for words.

"Cindy… I… how would you… if you don't want to kill him, then how do you stop him from killing other people?"

He thought that since she was so smart, as she had proven many times, maybe she could handle this challenge. Cindy studied the question. Dean continued to scream out Sam's name. The wolf was no longer on top of him. It was now battling him. Dean had somehow escaped the clutches of the wild beast. Although Dean was a born fighter and quick on his feet, Jake always seemed to be a step ahead of him.

Dean grabbed the hairy man beast by its shoulders as it stood on its four legs. The thing swung him back off of him and he crash-landed into the gate of a pig's pen. Dean felt light headed. He shook himself awake and focused. Unexpectedly, the werewolf came from behind and slashed Dean across the arm. He fell flat on his face into the mud. His jacket ripped in the upper arm of his sleeve.

"Son of a… Sam! You going to help any time soon?"

Sam ran to the other side of the barn. A pile of ropes sat in a corner on top of a haystack. He grabbed a handful of them and ran back to Dean's side. Dean had finally gotten off of the floor, but leaned to one side as he held his right arm that had been cut by the claws of the wolf. Sam tossed his older brother a couple strings of rope, which he caught swiftly with his good arm. He looked at them, confused.

"I thought we were going to kill it!"

"We can't! He's still Cindy's brother! Tie him down until dawn! It's the last night of the cycle! If we can keep him 'till morning he'll be human again!"

"How much of a difference is that going to make? He'll still kill every full moon!"

"Just tie him down. Then we can figure out what to do with him after!"

"Got it!"

The werewolf had escaped the scene. The brothers searched fro him everywhere in the barn. Then came a high-pitched scream from a frightened Cindy. They glanced over to see Jake with a front paw in the air, preparing to swipe it down on the little girl. Thinking quickly, and with good aim, Dean made a lasso and roped it around the creature's lifted arm. It grunted frustratingly. It turned to see the two standing in its way. It growled harshly at them. Sam slung the other rope in its direction and knotted it on its other arm. It tried to free their grip. It clawed at the ropes with its hind legs. They pulled on the ropes as tight as they would let them and tied them around the strong beams of the old barn.

The Winchesters then took their left over ropes and swung them around the werewolf's back ankles. Again they tugged on the ropes tightly and wrapped them around other poles not too far from the first ones. With great struggle and much power, the brothers had managed to stop the creature from its wild rampage. The wooden beams were in a boxed pattern. The dog-like animal hovered a little above the ground with its limbs spread out to each pole.

Sam and Dean stood over the monster with triumphant grins. Cindy came to their sides. The three watched as the wolf cried and whined and yanked at the ropes to set itself free. It was less than an hour until sunrise. All they had to do now was sit and wait.