33
"Well I'll be damned," Sam said shaking his head and wiping away the sweat from his brow. The motion left behind a smear of dirt on his forehead that Kya had to stop herself from laughing at.
Sam tossed the shovel out of the hole that he had dug over the last twenty minutes and climbed out of the grave with Kya's help. He brushed his hands off on his jeans and looked down into the six foot hole in the ground at the dirty bones of a man that had been haphazardly tossed there.
Sam looked over to the dog, who would have had a triumphant smile on his face if dogs could smile. Kya bent down and encased Buck's neck in a hug.
"Good boy, Buck!" she exclaimed. "You're the best."
Sam nodded. "Well, Buck found the body but we still have to give the bones a good old fashioned charring."
Sam knelt down to remove a can of gasoline from his backpack just as Buck braced himself on all fours, hackles raised and lips peeled back to reveal pointed canines that were bared in a snarl. Kya followed the dog's gaze and jumped back. The same ghost that had attacked her before was standing only ten feet away now, face a mask of anger at the intrusion on his resting place. Buck stepped forward and stood in front of Kya, bristling in anger at the supernatural being that dared to threaten harm to his master.
Jason Banks materialized, becoming corporeal and more deadly because now he could kill. In his right hand he held a butcher's knife and his body was a mess of blood and broken bones that didn't seem to hamper his movement in the least. He rushed forward, pushing past Buck and aiming straight for Sam.
"Sam!" Kya screamed, launching herself toward the ghost.
She pushed the ghost back and ducked as the blade came her way, shoving out with both of her hands and causing Jason to stumble back further. Jason swiped with the blade again, cutting into Kya's shoulder. She cried out and stumbled back as Jason came forward again, grabbing her throat with one hand and holding out the knife to plunge it into her gut with the other.
Kya was startled as a vicious snarl erupted from beside them and a black missile flew off the ground, slamming into Jason Banks. Buck latched onto the ghost's arm that was holding the knife and took the ghost down with him, rolling until the dog came out on top with his jaws clamped around Jason's arm. Buck shook his head, digging in with his teeth while he snarled through his muffled mouth.
Kya got to her feet as Sam finished pouring the gasoline on the bones. The ghost pushed Buck off, swinging the blade at the dog. He charged at Kya again but Sam stepped in front of her, shoving the ghost back as Kya turned to the pile of gasoline soaked bones in the grave. She brought a hand out and flipped open her newly refueled Zippo directing the flame into her hand and shooting it toward the bones in a fireball.
The gasoline ignited and the bones caught fire, going up in a blaze inside the hole. Sam pushed Kya back as the ghost stumbled around for a few minutes before his body caught on fire as well, holes appearing in the flesh and burning outward as he was consumed by fire. Sam shielded Kya's body with his own, pushing her over and covering her with his frame as the ghost imploded, sparks and dust flying into the air.
Sam came back up quickly as the last of it died down, Kya standing at his side with her hand gripping his arm. Buck walked back up to them and Kya grabbed the dog in another hug.
"You saved my life," she breathed into his fur. "That's it, I'm adopting you."
She laughed as Buck licked her cheek and turned back to Sam who was anxiously pulling his materials back into the bag and checking his watch.
"Dean hasn't checked in yet," he said hurriedly.
"You think something happened?" Kya asked with worry in her voice.
"I don't know," Sam told her. "He's not exactly the most punctual person on the planet, but he's twenty minutes late calling. That's not like him."
"Maybe he just got hung up," Kya said hopefully, although she didn't really believe that.
Sam shook his head as he took her hand and led her quickly from the cemetery. Buck trotted along next to them, silent as a panther in its natural habitat. When they reached her bike the dog shoved its nose into Kya's hand. She looked down as Buck shoved her again and turned around with one last look at her.
She watched as he took off in the direction of the house, a black blur in the shadows of the night and she thought for a second that he was running faster than a dog his size should have been able to.
"Where the hell is he going?" Sam demanded, staring at the dog's figure as it disappeared.
"To Dean," she replied, climbing onto her bike and waiting until Sam got on behind her. "The same place that we're going."
