Chapter 25
Sam's lungs are on fire. He needs to tell Dean that Flanders is still out there, but he cannot seem to take in enough oxygen to speak. He tries to convey through his eyes the situation, but Dean does not seem to understand. Sam raises his arm and hits Dean.
"Dude…" Dean pauses and then continues speaking in confusion, "Sam, what's wrapped around your arm?"
Sam slowly brings his tired eyes to his arm and sees that the iron object he used against Flanders is a locket. Sam twitches his shoulders into shrug.
"I-ron-n," He croaks.
"Iron," Dean whispers to himself.
"I think I saw that at the bottom of the lake. It was near where the spirit took us," Lina adds.
"So Flanders is still out there, huh?" Dean says to Sam.
Sam weakly nods his head in response.
"Wait, you didn't get rid of the ghost?" Lina asks with terror in her voice.
"Unfortunately Flanders was cremated, meaning we can't salt and burn his bones," Dean explains as he brings a duffel bag over. He props Sam against a tree and continues speaking.
"Instead we have to find the object that is keeping Flanders tied to the Earth and burn it. Sam used iron against him, which should keep him away for a little bit. Here's some salt," Dean says as he begins handing Lina a package. He freezes momentarily seeing her tail, but then gives it to her anyway.
"Salt is like iron, it'll keep the spirit away for a littler bit, but won't destroy it completely," Dean finishes.
Sam watches Lina open the salt with shaking hands as she looks around anxiously. Dean puts a rock salt bullet in his shotgun, and stands in front of Sam.
"He should be back any minute," Dean whispers.
As if on cue Sam feels something grab his torso and throw him into a tree. He lands on the ground with a thud.
"Sam!" Dean screams.
Sam hears commotion around him, but is unable to lift his head. He lies on his side with the locket tightly wound around his arm. That is when Sam notices that the locket is open. He brings the picture close to his face so his weary eyes can focus. His eyes grow wide as he takes in the small family of three. A tall man with a beard stands in the middle with a teenage boy on his right, and a young girl on his left. The man in the middle has a very distinctive scar on his forehead.
"Flanders," Sam whispers.
He raises himself into a sitting position just in time to see Dean shoot Flanders with the rock salt. The ghost dissipates like a cloud of dust.
"Dean," Sam rasps as he holds up the open locket.
Dean turns to Sam with alert eyes before focusing on the locket. He gasps and rushes forward.
"Is that…?" Dean asks in astonishment.
"It's Flanders," Sam confirms as he tosses the locket to Dean.
Dean rushes over to Lina, who is now on her legs again, and snatches the salt from her. He then throws the locket on the ground, pours salt and gasoline on it, and pulls out his lighter. He quickly lights it and throws it on the chain.
Sam gasps as Flanders erupts in flames behind Lina. She stumbles away and watches in both awe and terror. Flanders screams as his body is consumed. The trees surrounding Flanders are tinted with an eerie glow, and harsh shadows dance around his disappearing form. After about thirty seconds he lets out one last blood-curdling cry, and then rises with the smoke into the sky.
For about five minutes the three of them sit on the ground in silence catching their breath. Lina is the first to speak.
"Is it gone now?"
Sam nods his head and smiles.
It's really over this time