B

Part II

Dean was surprised the garage wasn't opened yet when he pulled the Impala to the side of the building and got out. Usually Herb always beat him here and had the place ready for the day. He went to the door and pulled out the key given to him and opened the office door. Dean went through turning on lights, starting coffee, and opening the bay doors to the service area.

"Mornin' Dean," Herb called to him as he strolled in.

"Hey Herb, was getting ready to call you," Dean greeted him.

"Sorry about that, I ran by the hospital to see my neighbor to see how he was doing. Doctors don't know what's wrong with him and there were others there with the same symptoms," Herb explained.

"Man, sorry to hear that," Dean said. He could hear the worry in his voice. He looked over at Herb and noticed he didn't seem his perky self today. He wasn't sure if it was worry or stress or if he was getting sick too. "How are you feeling?"

"Didn't sleep good last night, so I'm a little tired is all. You can move the car out of bay two and park it outside. The owner's in the hospital so I don't know when she'll be here to get it," Herb told him as he looked over the paperwork on a clipboard. Herb was organized and kept good paperwork. He planned out the work schedule to be more efficient and get the cars in and out quicker.

"If you want to take the day off and go home to rest, I can handle it Herb," Dean offered. "I know what to do."

"Thanks Dean, I might take you up on that. I'll stay a little while and get some bookkeeping done and a deposit ready. Maybe I'll take it to the bank and go on home. You sure you don't mind being here alone?"

"Naw, I'm good. I don't think we'll get that busy today. I'll order a pizza or something for lunch so I won't have to leave, and I can call my brother at school to come and help. His last class is study hall and it being the end of school they're not doing anything."

"I'm glad I hired you that day you walked into the garage. I gotta admit I was leery at first, you looking like a bad boy and all. Glad I trusted my instincts."

"Yeah, me too. I have enjoyed working here a lot and thanks for letting me work on my Baby after hours."

"It's the least I can do. You have brought in more business since you started working here than I've seen in a while. You have been good for my bottom line."

"I think it benefitted both of us."

"Well, I'll get that paperwork done and let you know when I leave."

"Okay, I'll start on the Ford in bay two."

"That's fine." Herb headed into his office and began to work on the books for a few hours and put together the deposit. He called to Dean when he was ready to leave, bidding him goodbye and to call him at home if there were any problems.

Dean wiped his hands on a rag and pulled out his cell. He called the school and asked to speak to his brother. He waited for them to get him and glanced at the work sheet to see what he needed to do next. Once Sam came to the phone, he explained what was happening and checked Sam out of school. There weren't any problems since most of the classes were having end of year parties and he knew Sam hated those.

Sam was going to catch the bus to the garage and stay the afternoon with him answering the phone and dealing with any customers. Dean ordered a pizza from the pizza place for their lunch and went outside to watch for the bus that would bring Sam to him.

spn

The bus slowed and pulled to a stop at the bus stop and Sam got up to get off. He was half a block from the garage and started down the sidewalk toward where his brother worked. He wasn't surprised to see Dean standing outside looking for him and looked both ways before crossing the street.

"Hey, thanks for getting me out of school. It was really boring today," Sam said when he came abreast of Dean.

"No problem bro. I ordered a pizza that should be here any minute for lunch," Dean replied heading back into the office.

"Where's Herb?"

"He wasn't feeling well. His neighbor is in the hospital with whatever is going around. He went to see him and said more people had come in too."

"I wonder if it's airborne or has to be passed by touch?" Sam asked dropping his pack in the corner. "Can I use the computer? Maybe I can find some more information out."

"Sure, you know where it is. Just don't move anything in there, Herb has a system."

"I know, he showed me one time. It's pretty simple once you know the key."

"Hello," a voice called from the front.

"That must be the pizza," Dean said heading back to the front leaving Sam in the office.

He came back a few minutes later with a pizza box in his hand and a couple of drinks. Eat first Sammy, and then you can play computer nerd," Dean told him sitting the box on the corner of the desk in a clear spot.

"Thanks Dean." Sam grabbed a napkin and picked up a slice to take a bite. He was hungry and devoured the first slice even before Dean and that was saying something.

"Gee Sammy, hungry?" Dean chuckled as Sam bit into his second slice.

"I am," Sam mouthed around his bite. He wiped his mouth and sipped on the soda, burping softly deciding to slow down. He usually had better manners than Dean.

They finished off the pizza and cleaned up.

"So, you can answer the phone and you know how to book appointments but if you have a question, come get me. I'm going to be working in the garage," Dean told him sitting the appointment book by the computer. He left the door opened so he could hear if Sam called for him.

Sam went online and started a search on what they knew so far. He opened another screen and pulled up copies of the local papers to see what they were saying. He read any articles he could find and took notes. Sam tried to find patient zero to see when this sickness started. He looked around for a map of the town and finally found one. Sam looked in the phone book and found an address for the first victim. He marked it on the map and found the addresses for several other ones and did the same thing. He studied the area seeing they were close together and out near where they lived.

This concerned him because he thought of Grace. He wished he knew how to hack into the hospital database and look at their patient records but that was above his knowledge right now. He had been studying computers, programming, hacking, whatever he could get his hands on, absorbing it all like a sponge. He had a thirst for knowledge and soaked up all he could.

The day passed by quickly to Sam who was kept busy answering the phone, making appointments, dealing with walk-ins, and researching in between it all. He printed out the possible monsters that fit what they had of the profile and stuffed them in his backpack. It was almost time to close the garage and they would be heading home. He switched the phone over to the answering machine and shut down the computer before closing and locking the office. Dean was closing the bay doors and locking them before joining him in the waiting room. They locked the garage and got in the Impala to head home.

"Stop at the mailbox and I'll check our mail and see if Grace has any," Sam told Dean as he turned on the road they lived on.

"Alright."

Sam jumped out and jogged back down to the mailboxes to check them. "Drop me at Grace's and I'll walk the rest of the way," he told Dean laying their mail between them.

"You don't want me to wait?"

"No, I could use the exercise." He looked over at the empty house as Dean drove slowly past it and swore, he could feel something looking at him. It gave him the creeps and was glad when they got past it. Sam let the breath he didn't know he was holding in a long sigh. He saw Grace's house and when Dean stopped got out to take her her mail. Dean drove on to their house at the end of the road, leaving Sam.

"Hello Sam," Grace greeted him when she answered the door.

"I brought your mail Grace," Sam said holding it out.

"Why thank you sweetie. Where's your brother?"

"He drove on to the house. I'm going to walk the rest of the way."

"Hold on a moment, I made an extra pie this morning and was going to bring it to you, so you saved me the trip." She stepped back into the house and came back with a paper bag.

"Tell Dean I hope he likes pecan pie, it won me three blue ribbons."

"I'm sure he will think it's delicious Grace. Thanks. Tomorrow is my last day of school, so I'll come down Wednesday morning and get started on the yard."

"That is fine. It you want to take a day off is fine too."

"No, I'm looking forward to it. It'll be fun."

"I have to say Sam, you're not like teens your age and I commend you for it. I'm going to fix a nice dinner for you boys on Wednesday. Why don't you tell Dean to plan on both of you eating with me then?"

"That's nice of you Grace, but you don't have to do that."

"But I want to Sam. Like I said, I love to cook and to have two strapping boys to cook for is a treat."

"Thanks, I'll tell Dean. I better get on home. Grace be sure and keep your doors and windows locked okay?" he asked in a serious tone.

"Why sure Sam, I usually do, is something wrong?"

"No, no, just to be on the safe side. Bye Grace."

"Goodbye Sam, I'll see you on Wednesday." She watched Sam stroll down the walkway and head up the road. Grace wondered what was bothering Sam that he would be concerned for her safety. She walked around the house checking all the windows and made sure the doors were locked before going to the kitchen to fix her dinner.

spn

"Grace sent you a pie," Sam called when he walked in the door.

"Did I hear pie?" Dean asked sticking his head around the kitchen doorway. "Give me." Dean held his hands out wiggling his fingers excitedly as Sam held out the bag.

"Did you bring my pack in?"

"Couch. Come to mama…"

"Do you need some alone time?" Sam teased.

"Bite me. Smell that, it's like heaven..." Dean sat the pie on the counter and grabbed a small plate and knife.

"So, it's dessert before dinner? You are setting a bad example."

"Oh my god…This is awesome," Dean moaned after his first bite. He cut another and hummed, letting the flavors explode in his mouth.

Sam rolled his eyes at his brother's remark and went to find his backpack.

"If you ask nicely, I might give you a bite."

"That's okay, I can wait until after dinner, like you're supposed to. What are we having?"

spn

The garage wasn't open again the following day, but Dean figured Herb had gone to see his neighbor at the hospital and didn't think anything about it. Sam was going have the school bus drop him at the garage since he was only there half a day. He didn't want to go to school, so he could work on what was happening in the town, but Dean made him.

Dean got the garage opened and ready for business before swapping cars out that he had finished with to work on ones that were dropped off either last night or early this morning. He went over the notes Herb had taken to see what needed to be done.

It was two hours later, and still Herb hadn't showed up to work. Dean called him but didn't get an answer. He started getting worried and decided if he hadn't shown by the time Sam got there, he was locking the place up and going to his house to check on him. He would have called if there was a problem to let Dean know. This was not like him at all.

Sam hopped off the bus and waited for it to pull away before heading to the garage to find Dean. He didn't even get inside before Dean stopped him.

"We're going to check on Herb, I've not heard from him today," Dean said.

"You think something's wrong, don't you?"

"I don't know, but I need to find out." Dean cranked the Impala and pulled out of the parking lot. He headed to the outskirts of town where Herb lived in a small house on a country road. He had one neighbor that lived across from him, but no others.

"His car is here," Sam noted pointing to the car under the carport.

"You stay here Sammy," Dean told him before getting out of the car. He went to the door and knocked but didn't get an answer. He went around to the back door and jimmied it open to get inside. "Herb! You here!" he called as he moved into the kitchen and listened for any sounds. Dean headed to the hall where his bedroom was and pushed the door open. "Herb," he said.

The bedroom seemed warmer than it should be and had a damp feeling, and he caught a whiff of a nasty smell. Dean could see a body on the bed and quickly flipped on the light and hurried to Herb's side. "Hey man are you okay?" he asked as he laid a hand on his chest to feel it barely rise up and down. He checked for a pulse and found it weak.

Dean picked up his phone from the nightstand and called 911 to get an ambulance to take him to the hospital. He looked him over but didn't see any injury or blood. Herb looked like he was sleeping and just wouldn't wake up. Whatever was happening in this town just got personal. Dean hurried to the front door to let the EMTs in when they arrived and tell Sam what had happened. He brought Sam into the living room and made his sit while he watched out the door for the ambulance.

"Is he like the others Dean?" Sam asked, his voice laced with fear because he knew this was not a virus or disease or something normal medicine could cure.

"Yes," Dean replied through gritted teeth. "Where are they?" He sighed with relief when he heard the wail of the siren getting closer and stepped to the edge of the porch as it pulled into the driveway. "He's in the bedroom guys, hurry."

"Hey Dean, what have we got?" Kip asked. He knew Dean from the garage where he took his car for repair. He was five years older than Dean, but they struck up an easy friendship.

"Hey Kip. Herb didn't come in for work and he was complaining yesterday of not feeling well and I got concerned when I couldn't get ahold of him, so I came to check on him. He's unconscious but I don't see any signs of trauma."

"Sounds like the others we have taken to the hospital. We'll take care of him Dean."

"I'll follow you to the hospital," Dean told them. "C'mon Sammy get in the car."

They watched as the EMTs wheeled Herb out and loaded him into the ambulance. Dean dropped into the driver's seat and cranked the Impala to pull out behind it. He kept pace with the ambulance and found a place to park near the emergency entrance.

"Do you want to stay in the car?" Dean asked Sam.

"No, I'm coming in with you," Sam told him. "He's my friend too."

"Don't get in the way."

They got out and hurried into the emergency department and looked around for Herb. He saw Kip and headed that way to see Herb was being checked over by several people. He watched for a moment before glancing around to see others that seemed to have similar symptoms in different curtained off rooms.

"Are you family?" a nurse asked breaking Dean's train of thought.

"He doesn't have any. I work for him, Dean Winchester, I'm as close to family as he has," Dean replied.

"I see," she nodded. "I will let the doctors know, why don't you have a seat in the waiting room while he's examined?"

"You'll let me know what's going on?"

"I will see if the doctor will talk to you."

"How many people have been admitted like this?"

She looked at his serious face trying to decide whether to say anything. She finally spoke softly, "Quiet a few. They've set up a ward for the infected." She turned and hurried away to help someone else.

"This is not good Sammy."

"I know. Do you have any change?"

Dean dug into his pocket and handed him some coins and a couple of dollars. He watched the movements around him wishing he knew how Herb was doing. He watched Sam wander away looking for the vending machines. He knew he needed to treat this like any other hunt now. Once he found out how Herb was doing, he was going to see what Sam had found and try to figure out what was attacking the townspeople.

Several new people dressed in lab coats like doctors came into the emergency room and went to the nurse's desk to talk to them. They split up going to different curtained off rooms and disappeared inside. He had a feeling these new faces had been called in because of all the people turning up sick and they didn't know what was causing it. He figured they were from the CDC.

spn

Sam looked around and saw the signs for vending machines and headed away from the emergency room. He was careful and kept an eye on the hospital staff as he checked the rooms he passed. Sam ducked into a room looking for a computer. He didn't find one there and tried another, finding one. He sat down and quickly started typing trying to get through their firewall. He was surprised that what he had learned off the web worked and quickly looked for any patients that came in with the symptoms he knew about. He ran a several searches, printing out the results before shutting the computer down and folding up the paper to stuff under his shirt. Being sure there was no one in the hall, Sam slipped out and went on to the vending machines to grab a water and bag of nuts. He made his way back to the emergency waiting room.

"Want some?" Sam offered as he sat back down by Dean.

"No," Dean mumbled.

"I found some things in their data base," he whispered pulling out the pages.

Dean took the pages and gave them a quick glance before stuffing them in his jacket pocket. "Good work Sammy. I don't even want to know how you got this."

"Probably not," Sam smirked. He could tell Dean was proud of him, even if he didn't say it.

Dean stood as a man who looked like a doctor approached him. "Did you come in with Herb Anderson?"

"Yes, I found him, I work for him, Dean," he told him shaking his hand.

"I'm Dr. Haas, the admitting doctor. He's been moved into isolation and we are running some tests. Can you tell me anything about when he started getting sick?"

"He found his neighbor sick and came here to see him yesterday morning. When he got to the garage, Herb said he wasn't feeling well. Said he hadn't been sleeping much and I suggested he go on home I could take care of the place. When he didn't show up for work today and I couldn't get in touch with him, I went to his house to check on him and found him unconscious in his bed and called an ambulance."

"Alright, thank you, I'll make notes of that," he said writing down the information.

"Can I see him?"

"No, we're keeping all the patients together in isolation until we know more."

"Can I leave my number if anything changes?"

"Of course," he nodded taking down his cell number. "I will have someone call if there are any changes. If you begin to develop any symptoms at all, please come in."

"I will. Come on Sammy, there's nothing we can do here," Dean told him knowing they needed to head back to the house to start putting things together and find out what they were up against. He headed for the doors with Sam on his heels and got in the Impala, waiting for Sam to settle beside him.

spn

"Okay, what do you know?" Dean asked Sam once they got back to the house. He pulled the pages from his jacket to read over as Sam got out his laptop.

"I've found a list of monsters that could be doing this," Sam replied tapping the keys and turning the screen so Dean could see. "Let me have those so I can mark where they live on my map. I'm trying to pinpoint where the monster might be hiding."

Dean handed him the pages and pulled a chair over so he could study the screen and read through the list. He had not heard of most of them and was surprised that one of these creatures could be here hurting people. He had not heard of any deaths yet, but that didn't mean it wouldn't happen. He didn't know if killing the creature would bring the victims out of their comas or if they were too far gone to come back.

"I'm going to run back into town and talk to some people and see if I can find anything out. You stay here and do your thing." Dean hoped he could find some townspeople he knew, and they would want to gossip about what was going on.

"I can come with you."

"It'll be better if I'm alone. People may not want to talk around a kid."

"I'm not a kid!"

"Yeah, but others don't see you like I do. Do what you can from here."

"Fine," Sam grumbled as he crossed his arms over his chest and pouted. He was tired of being treated like a kid by most adults.

"I'll bring us something back for dinner," he offered hoping to appease his little brother. He knew he was wiser than his teen years and had seen more than most adults already. With one final glance to him, Dean headed out to gather what information he could from town, hoping it might help with their search for the monster.

Sam heard the Impala drive away and tossed the pages on the table in disgust. He hated being left out of things and grabbed the key for the front door to lock it behind him. He needed some air and decided to walk down to the mailbox and check on Grace. He was worried about her being alone with what was going on in town. He kicked a rock down the road as he mulled over what he knew. He started piecing together the facts and didn't realize he had stopped in front of the empty house that sat back from the road. Sam looked up and frowned not understanding why this house disturbed him so.

He couldn't stop himself from stepping toward the place, like it was drawing him to it. The closer he got to the house, the more uneasy he felt. Flashes of a figure slinking toward him pressed into his mind. There was something wrong with it. The skin didn't look normal, and black veins seemed to stand out all over its body. He was sure whatever he was seeing wasn't human.

Noises on the road broke the trance and he quickly ran back to the road when he found himself on the porch of the house, not knowing how he got there. He wasn't sure whether he should tell Dean about this or not wondering if his imagination was getting the best of him. Sam continued to the mailbox and checked both not finding anything in either. He started back up the road staying to the far side, well away from the house, not daring to look at it again.

He hurried back to the house, only pausing to wave at Grace who was outside cutting some flowers. Seeing she was safe, he didn't slow until he was behind the locked door, leaning against it and drawing in long breaths. He had to slow his pounding heart so he could think.

Sam moved back to his laptop and brought up the list of monsters that his search had found and started eliminating the ones that didn't fit. He was going to add any information Dean gathered to narrow it down more. He looked back at the map where he marked the houses of the ones that had gotten sick and tried to see a pattern or some kind. He made notes on what he thought and on the weird thing he saw at the house at the end of the road. Sam was still sitting there a few hours later when he heard the Impala pull up to the house. It wasn't but a few minutes until Dean let himself in carrying a couple of bags of food.

"Hey, you hungry?" Dean asked sitting down the bags.

"Not really. Did you find out anything?"

"People are scared. There's been two deaths now. They were the first to start showing signs of being ill and the doctors are stumped. None of the tests run show anything. The doctors said it was like they just didn't have any life left in them. Herb was the last person brought in with it. The doctors determined he must have gotten sick a few days ago. They don't know how long he has."

"I'm sorry Dean, I know you got close to him," Sam said. "You think we should call Dad about this?"

"I tried; he didn't answer. I called Bobby. Can you send him what we have? Maybe he can get us closer to what we're looking for."

"Alright," Sam nodded. He pulled up his email and attached some files to forward to Bobby.

"You need to eat whether you're hungry or not. I got you some salad and a grilled chicken breast with steamed broccoli."

"Thanks Dean," Sam replied knowing he was trying to make up for not taking him alone into town with him. He accepted the container after pushing aside his papers so they wouldn't get messed up.

"I'm going to leave the garage closed tomorrow so I can go see how Herb is doing and try to find out more."

"I'm going down to see Grace and get started helping her."

"Good, I'd feel better if you were with someone while I'm gone. Why don't you stay with her until I get back from town?"

"You'll call me if you find out anything?"

"Yeah bro, I'll keep you in the loop," Dean told him. He knew Sam wanted to be included in this so he wouldn't feel left out. "Hopefully Bobby will come up with something."

"Yeah," Sam said. He mulled over whether to tell Dean about what happened earlier but decided to wait until they heard from Bobby.

Sam didn't notice Dean was studying him as he ate knowing he wasn't telling him something. Dean could read Sam like a book and knew he was holding something back. He knew it wouldn't do any good to press the issue since that would only make him clam up more. After he went to town, he'd question Sam about what he wasn't telling him.

spn

It was after midnight and Sam was asleep in their bedroom, and Dean had gone to sleep on the couch while watching an old movie. Sam was dreaming when suddenly heavy pressure bore down on him making it hard for him to breath. Sam's eyes popped open and he could see the outline of someone sitting on him, holding him down. He could see red eyes looking at him and tried to struggle but couldn't move. Every muscle in his body was frozen as he struggled to no avail. He moved his frightened eyes to the right trying to see the bed across from his but saw it was empty. He tried to cry out but only a whimper escaped his mouth. The creature leaned over him and pressed his mouth open as he started to siphon out his life essence. Small puffs of what looked like a breath on a cold day began to float from his mouth into the creature, who moaned with pleasure. 'This one was strong and made a good meal', it thought. Sam could feel himself slipping away and could not stop it. He screamed out in his mind for his brother, praying he would come in and stop this. A single tear slipped from his eye and dripped down the side of his face as he lost his battle with consciousness and tumbled into the ebony abyss.

Dean snorted himself awake and looked around realizing he had fallen asleep on the couch. He lay there a moment trying to sort out what had woken him. He listened to the house, trying to pick out anything out of place. He pushed himself from the couch and turned off the television before heading to the bathroom and then the bedroom he shared with Sam. Dean was quiet and could make out Sam's sleeping form in his bed. He stripped out of his clothes and got in bed hoping to get a few more hours of sleep before morning got here. He never noticed the shadow in the closet that crept back out and moved to lay over Sam again to feed before slipping away before dawn.

Morning light was streaming through the window when Dean rolled over and saw he had overslept. He rolled out of bed and stumbled to the bathroom to do his thing.

"Hey Sammy, you awake?" Dean called to his brother as he looked for clean clothes. He looked up and over at the bed before calling to him again. "Sammy? Sam? Hey wake up." Dean moved to Sam's bed and shook him watching his head roll back and forth like it was on a rubber band. He looked closer and saw how pale Sam's complexion was and pressed two fingers quickly to his neck. He concentrated and let out the breath he was holding when a faint beat was felt. Dean laid his hand on his chest and could barely feel it rise and fall.

Cold fingers wrapped around his heart when he realized Sam looked the same as Herb when he found him. He stood up and looked around and caught the scene of something rotten lingering in the air. Whatever had attacked Sam slipped right by him and he never had a clue.

Not knowing what else to do, Dean threw on clothes and wrapped Sam in a blanket before carrying him to the living room. He couldn't leave him here alone and he didn't want to take him with him. He knew taking him to the hospital wouldn't do any good and didn't want to go through all the hassle. He grabbed his keys and ran outside to open the back of the Impala knowing of only one place he could leave him and then he needed to find this monster and end him. No one messed with his little brother and got away with it.

Grace heard the pounding on her door and hurried to see who it was. She was shocked to see Dean holding Sam in his arms standing on her doorstep.

"Grace, I know I'm asking a lot and I don't have time to explain everything right now, but can I leave Sam with you?"

"My goodness what's wrong with him?" she asked holding open the door so Dean could come in.

Dean stepped into the house and walked into the family room to lay Sam on the couch, being sure he was comfortable before facing Grace again.

"Something evil has come to this town and people are dying. I've got to find it and kill it and hope it saves the others, including my brother," Dean told her looking down at Sam's pale face. "Will you watch over him for me?"

"Of course, Dean. I'll take care of him. What else can I do?"

"I know this might sound crazy to you, but do you have any salt?"

Once Dean had the windows and doors salted, he went to the car and brought back a sawed-off shotgun.

"Do you know how to use a gun?" Dean asked her as he loaded rock salt rounds into it.

"Honey, I was using a gun before I was Sam's age," she chuckled.

"If anything gets in shoot first and ask questions later. Here some extra rounds if you need them. Thank you, Grace. I know this is nuts but believe me its real. I'll be back as soon as I can."

"You take care of yourself Dean and don't worry about Sam. I'll keep him safe." She checked the gun and slipped the extra shells into the pocket of her shorts and nodded as Dean hurried out of the house calling to fix the salt line as he shut the door. Grace wasn't sure what to think about what Dean told her, but one look at Sam told her he wasn't lying.

Dean went back to the house and started going through Sam's scribbled notes to see what he had found. He glanced at his cell when it started ringing.

"Hey Bobby, you got anything for me?" he asked dropping the small talk.

"I might. Ever heard of a boo hag?" Bobby asked.

"No, but it's on Sam's list, and he has notes about it. I think he was leaning that way. Bobby, it got to Sam last night. I've got to find it and kill it, or I might lose him. Two have already died here."

"Balls!" Bobby hissed madly. "Listen, you won't be able to kill it until it sheds the skin its wearing."

"Come again?"

"A boo hag is folklore from the Gullah culture. They are an offshoot of the West African slaves that were brought over in the 1500's. Most live up and down the east coast from North Carolina to Florida. The Gullan believe that a person has a soul and a spirit. When they die if the person has been good, their soul goes to Heaven and the spirit stays here on earth to watch over and guide its family. If the person is bad, you have a bad spirit, hence a boo hag. It takes the skin of one of its victims and wears it during the day to hide its appearance. The boo hag's skin is red with black veins over its body. It sheds it at night when it looks for its next victim. It feeds off a person's life breath or essence. The person wakes up exhausted and feeling ill the next day. It will return again to feed and after that the victim doesn't last long. There are several legends about the creature. One says to have a straw broom in the room to make the hag stop to count each straw. If you can keep it from getting back in its skin at dawn the next day, it will burn up. Another says Indigo blue paint repels it and to paint your door and windowsills to keep them out. Also, if you can find the skin it wears, fill it with salt and pepper so when it comes back and puts the skin on it will burn the creature from the inside out since they poison it."

"So, I have until tonight to find where this creature is staying and have to wait for it to leave its skin before I can do anything." Dean flipped through Sam's handwritten notes and stopped to read what he wrote about the empty house at the bottom of the road. A sick feeling came over him when he realized Sam had figured it out and didn't know it. "I gotta go Bobby, I think I know where the monster is hiding. I need to buy some paint."

"You be careful Dean. It's fast, strong and could overpower you in a heartbeat."

"I will Bobby," Dean replied before hanging up. He headed outside and got into the Impala to head to the nearest hardware store and buy a can of Indigo blue paint, paint brushes, rock salt, and several containers of black pepper. Once he checked on Sam and Grace, Dean was going to find a place to stake out the house when it started getting dark and wait for the boo hag to leave so he could get to work on his trap.

spn

The night was starting to come to life around Dean as he watched the house from his hiding spot. He had positioned himself where both doors could be seen. Before the light disappeared, he saw a shadow pass by several windows and knew he had the right place. He couldn't believe the monster was a mile from where they lived, and Sam had sensed it somehow. He knew his little brother was smart, but there was something else special about him too.

The half-moon was out casting the surrounding landscape into dark shadows. Dean didn't dare move for fear of making some sound to alert the boo hag of his presence. It was an hour later when Dean saw a shadow separate from the house and seemed to float away toward town. He waited another half hour before moving from his hiding spot toward the empty house.

Dean picked the lock on the back door and went inside. The place was dirty, dusty, full of cobwebs and a few pieces of broken furniture. He sat his pack on the counter and used his flashlight to see. Once he had the paint open and a brush in hand, Dean made his way through the house painting the doorways and windowsills in each room. He put it on thick and even sprinkled rock salt into the wet paint as added protection. Dean left a bathroom window paint free to allow the boo hag entrance back into the house.

Once that was done, he began to search for the skin. He went through the living room and kitchen but didn't find anything. The house didn't have a basement, so he knew it had to be somewhere in the house. He started checking the bedrooms and closets but still didn't find anything. Dean let his light play over the rooms as he stood in the hall and looked around. Something brushed his hair and he looked up to see a string hanging from a door to the attic. He carefully pulled it down and stepped on the rickety steps letting his light roam over the attic space until it landed on what looked like long johns handing from a hook in the ceiling. He knew he had found the skin.

Dean went back to the kitchen and grabbed the pack to take into the attic with him. He had to fight back the gag reflex as he pulled the human skin apart to pour rock salt and pepper into it trying to coat the entire inside. He tried breathing through his mouth as the scent settled over him making bitter bile rise into his throat.

After he had hung it back where he found it, Dean took the paint and brushed it over the openings around the attic, before packing things up and going back down the stairs. He closed it back looking around thinking there was nothing else he could do. Now was the waiting game. He let himself out and went back to his hiding spot to watch for the boo hag to return. Dean pulled a bottle of water out and took a long swallow. He pulled out bug spray and sprayed his clothes to keep the bugs away and settled down on a fallen tree trunk looking at his watch to see he had three more hours until dawn was here.

It was an hour before dawn when Dean straightened up as the shape of a person moved back toward the house. The light of the moon gave him enough brightness to tell it was not human. He watched it move to the door and suddenly stop, not understanding why it couldn't get inside. It moved to each window and the backdoor until finally finding the bathroom window and slipped inside. Dean moved from his hiding spot to the bathroom window and painted it blue to trap the monster inside. He was going to wait to be sure that what he did killed it.

As the sun came up over the horizon, screeching echoed through the house. A man appeared at a window pounding on it as screams and wails of agony and excruciating pain echoed through the house. He couldn't cross over any of the openings to get away as he moved to another jerking down ratty curtains but couldn't break the glass. Dean watched as smoke began to billow from his body and the skin began to melt away from it, leaving it exposed to the sun. He heard one final, strangled cry before the body collapsed to the floor. Dean went to the window and looked in seeing only a pile of ash.

What surprised him was the small sparks of light floating from the ash and moving toward a window only to stop like they couldn't get out. Dean picked up a rock and broke the window, allowing the sparks to escape and be blown away on the wind. He saw one bright one head toward Grace's house and grabbed his pack to get there and see if Sam was okay.

Grace was at the door waiting on him as he ran up the walkway to the porch. He hurried inside and to the couch to see Sam was starting to stir. Sam coughed and wheezed hard before finally opening his eyes to look up at Dean.

"It's a miracle," Grace whispered. "A bright light came in through the backdoor and slipped into Sam and he started to wake up."

"Sammy, can you hear me?" Dean asked kneeling down to his level.

"Dean…" Sam crocked. "I saw…I saw it…"

"It's okay Sammy, the monster is dead. You're going to be okay," Dean assured him grabbing him in a huge hug and pressing him tightly to his chest. He couldn't stop the tears filling his eyes as they ran down his face and fall into Sam's unruly hair.

Sam coughed again into Dean's chest and he pulled him back enough to look at him.

"Let me get him some water," Grace offered going to the kitchen for a glass of water for Sam. She came back and gave it to Dean who held it for Sam to sip on until he nodded, he'd had enough.

"How do you feel?"

"Tired but not too bad."

Dean dug his cell from his jacket when it started ringing and answered it. It was the hospital calling that Herb was awake and doing good. It seemed all the ones still alive had awaken and were going to be okay. He thanked her for the call and told them he'd be in later to check on him.

"It's really over Dean?" Sam asked, his voice still raspy but getting stronger.

"Yeah bro, it's over. I watched it happen. Your research gave me what I needed, and Bobby confirmed it."

"Why don't I fix you something to eat?" Grace offered. "And maybe you can tell me a little more about what just happened here and how you know so much about it."

"Are you sure Grace?" Dean asked. "Once you know, it's not something you will be able to forget."

"I'm stronger than I look Dean, and it might come in handy in the future. I'm thinking you two are not going to be here much longer."

"Alright, I'll help you with breakfast and we can talk and you're probably right. When our Dad gets back, we'll be moving on again. You okay staying here until it's ready Sammy?"

"Yeah, I'm starting to feel better already."

"Why don't you call Bobby and let him know you're okay." Dean tossed his cell to Sam and followed Grace into the kitchen to help with breakfast.

They sat around the small table in the kitchen eating breakfast and Dean gave Grace a summary of what went on in the town and answered her questions. He gave her some basics on what lay behind the curtain, impressed that she took it all in stride. Sam gave her some websites to checkout that had true information she could read.

He left to go check on Herb and Sam stayed with Grace deciding he was feeling well enough to start in the yard. She had him do some weeding and gather vegetables from the garden but made him stop after that. They talked about the book Sam had read and she recommended another for him to try.

The brothers ended up staying there another three weeks before John came back and they packed up to move. Sam went down every day to help Grace and visit. He enjoyed her company and the conversations they had. She treated him like an adult, and he respected her for it. He made John stop at her house on their way out and they went to tell her goodbye. He was sad to be leaving but knew it was coming. Grace gave him a couple of books to take with him and her email and phone number if he ever needed to talk. She even had a pie for Dean to take with them. John thanked her for looking out for his boys while he was gone.

Goodbyes were said and the Winchesters headed for another town and another hunt.

The End


A/N: And we are done with this letter and move on to C. I hope you enjoyed this hunt. Guesses on what it might be? Reviews do make my day. NC