The Jersey Devil

Chapter eleven

Later in the day

They walked till dusk then made camp the best they could with their meager supplies. They all dreaded the coming night and most of them huddled around the campfire unaware that they were being watched. All they could hope for was that the rain would stop and that their tracks wouldn't be completely washed away, maybe then they could find their way home.

The creature sat high in the trees keeping its eyes on the weakest one waiting till the others left him alone. It had eaten many forms of animal life and it came to realize that sooner or later the sick ones were left behind while the rest of the pack moved on, but it was growing hungry and if it had to it would eat whatever it could swoop in and carry away.

The campsite

"You don't look so good." Jason the youngest brother said shyly as he walked over to Sam. "I'm sorry my daddy hurt you." He added. Even though he was young, the boy knew Sam had done nothing to deserve being stabbed.

"I'll be okay." Sam smiled trying to hide his pain from the boy.

"My mom said that you're a really nice man…..I think you are too."

"Thanks."

The boy smiled again then started to walk away just as Dean came over.

"Nice kid." Dean said as he watched Jason leave.

"Yeah, real nice kid." Sam said sadly, he knew Jason deserved a better father then Walt.

"How're you doing?" Dean asked, a worried look on his face. "You look like you're getting worse." He added when he noticed how much paler Sam's skin had become.

"I'll be…." Sam saw it first, a large winged creature flying directly toward them. "Dean look out!"

The creature flew into Dean sending him flying head first into a tree. The sudden attack knocked the wind out of him and he lay on the ground semi conscious. The creature then turned its attention to Sam. He could sense Sam was injured and wouldn't be able to put up much of a fight. Sam reached beneath his jacket for his gun. When the others in the group began to panic and scream the creature's attention was drawn to them, but Sam shouted at it deliberately drawing its attention back to him. He knew he was no match for the thing, but at least the others were safe for the moment.

"Come on you son of a bitch!" Sweat poured from Sam's feverish face as he tried to keep the creature's attention entirely focused on him. He raised his gun but the fever had caused his eyes to go in and out of focus, and he knew he couldn't fire without taking the chance he'd miss and hit someone else. He glanced over at Dean willing him to wake up, maybe between the two of them they could take it down, but Dean still lay on his back, his chest heaving up and down as he tried to catch his lost breath. Sam watched in disbelief as the creature grew closer and closer. So this is how it was all going to end he thought. At least maybe when it was on top of him and he couldn't miss he could get a clean shot off… but who knew if a bullet could kill the thing. Just as the creature was about to strike, Jason ran over.

"Leave him alone!" The boy shouted as he threw a rock which landed square on the creature's back. It spun around and let out a horrible scream, its red eyes glowing like two red hot embers. Dean was just starting to come around and he and the rest of the group watched in horror as the creature, in one swift movement, grabbed the boy and flew off into the woods before anyone could attempt to stop it.

"Noooooooo!" Sam raised his gun as did Dean but it was too late, the creature was too fast and too strong. Before anyone could react it vanished into the woods and only the sound of Jason screaming was the proof that it had even entered the camp at all.

"Jason! Oh my God! Jason!" Jenn ran toward the woods but was quickly stopped by Dean who scrambled to his feet.

"He's gone….I'm so sorry….but he's gone."

Jenn turned her face into Dean's shoulder and began sobbing.

"It's your fault you son of a bitch!" Walt screamed as he walked toward Sam. "It's your fault my son's dead! That thing wanted you, not him!"

Sam didn't even try to defend himself. He stood staring into the woods his eyes filled with tears. If only he had been quicker he could have tried to defend the boy, and now like Walt said, it was his fault.

Walt slammed his fist into Sam's face knocking him to the ground and once Sam was down Walt gave him a swift kick to his stomach. Sam curled into a ball but offered no resistance.

Dean gently pushed Jenn to the side then ran over and grabbed Walt and tossed him away from his brother.

"You touch him again and I'll kill you!" This time Dean meant every word. If Walt even made a move toward his brother he was going down.

"My son's dead because of him!"

"Not because of him but because you were foolish enough to bring your family out here! My brother warned you that it wasn't a good idea." Dean looked over at Jenn. "There's still a chance your boy might be alive." Dean hoped that was true. He didn't know anything about the creature and could only hope it hadn't already killed the boy. He leaned down and checked on Sam's condition. "You okay?"

"Yeah."

Dean could tell that Sam was lying. He would survive the beating, he had taken a lot worse, but it was the fever that worried him. He was torn about what to do, go after the boy, or stay with his sick brother. Sam made his mind up for him.

"You got to go find him Dean, he's just a kid." Sam knew Dean was worried about him and added. "I'll be okay, just find Jason and bring him back alive."

Dean swallowed hard trying not to show his emotions, he hated appearing weak in front of Sam but right now he was. He hated leaving his brother but he couldn't let a kid be killed when maybe he could still save him. Sam was sick, but the kid could be dying…..

"I'll be back as soon as I can." Dean helped Sam over to a tree so he could lean against it. He then looked over at the others. "Take care of him till I get back." He then looked over at Walt. "And you stay away from him or I promise you'll never make it out of here alive." It wasn't a threat but a promise Dean swore he would keep. With one last glance at his brother Dean ran in the direction that the creature had flown.

TBC