Chapter 3

"I got the maps, one for the town, and one for the surrounding area showing hiking trails. I figure we can have the hikers show us where they were attacked," Sam informed Dean as he got back in the car at the convenience store. "From my search earlier, it seems random attacks from an unknow creature has been happening for a while. It moved up from Peru, into Columbia, to Mexico before entering the United States. The creature has mainly stayed to the less populated areas picking off livestock, wild animals, and there was reported a couple of missing persons in the areas too."

"So, there's some reason it's moving northward," Dean surmised as his brow knitted together.

"The only thing I could find was logging, blasting to build roads and housing, and disturbance of the natural habitat in those areas. You know how places are growing and destroying the jungles. It's displacing a lot of animals, insects, reptiles, and even natives of the areas out of their homes. Some are even in danger of extinction."

"And now it has ended up here, of course," Dean grunted in disgust.

"Looks like it."

"And we still don't know what we're looking for, except that it flies."

"Well, hopefully the eyewitnesses will remember something that will help."

"So, where to first?" Dean asked cranking the Impala and looking to his brother for directions.

"One of the hikers lives in an apartment about ten miles from here. Go left on the main road and go through three lights and take a right on Silver Spring Road. The complex is on White Horse Lane. It's about six miles on the left."

"Got it," Dean nodded following Sam's directions. He fought the lunch hours rush until he got off the main road and away from the eating establishments. Once on Silver Springs Road, Dean picked up speed and watched for White Horse Lane.

"There's parking over there," Sam pointed out after Dean pulled into the parking lot of the complex. He steered the Impala slowly toward several empty slots and parked. "He's in apartment number four."

The brothers checked the apartment numbers and made their way down the walkway until they found the right one. Dean stepped to the door and knocked loudly. They could hear noises behind the door as locks were thrown and the door was opened by a young guy on crutches.

"Can I help you?" he asked eyeing the brothers.

"Are you Dale Nelson?" Dean asked.

"Yes."

"We're reporters with a magazine from Gallup called, The Weird and Unusual," Dean explained to him. "Can we talk to you about what happened to you and your friends?"

"Me?" Dale questioned a little confused.

"Yes sir," Sam replied trying to play along with what Dean said. "Our editor sent us to get your story about what attacked you. We're going to be interviewing Mr. Young too."

"We won't take up much of your time," Dean told him. "Don't you want your story out there? In honor of your friend who didn't make it. Let others know the danger?"

Dale leaned on his crutches and stared at the brothers, his eyes slightly glazed by the pain meds he was on. He shuffled for a moment before replying.

"Sure, I guess," Dale grunted shuffling back and carefully making his way into the living room. He let himself drop into a recliner and motioned to the couch. "Go ahead and have a seat."

"Thanks," Sam told him, sitting on the couch as Dean settled beside him. They could see bandages sticking out from under Dale's shirt and on his arms from the attack.

"What do you want to know?" Dale asked with a pained sigh.

"Can you tell us what happened?" Dean asked punching Sam and giving him a silent communication.

Sam fumbled in his pockets for a pad and pen so he could take notes. He opened the pad to a clean page and looked back to Dale, waiting for him to start.

"Stan, Mitch, and me were doing a weekend camping trip before Mitch was to leave for a new job. We've been friends since high school and always did everything together. We were the three Musketeers," he chuckled dryly with a sad faraway look in his eyes.

"We're sorry for your loss," Sam tried to comfort him.

"Thanks, he's going to be missed."

"So, you guys went camping…" Dean urged him to continue.

"Yeah, it was our second night and we had gone to bed after banking the fire. It was around two in the morning when Mitch had to get up to use the bathroom. I woke too since we were all sleeping in the same tent and was beside him. He found his light and went outside. It wasn't but a few minutes that I heard the screaming and Stan and I rushed outside…" Dale blinked back tears and cleared his throat. He picked up a bottle of water and took a sip before continuing. "There was something attacking him. His light was broken and there was only a sliver of the moon out, so it was pitch black. We tried to help him by grabbing some sticks and tried to get whatever that thing was off him."

"Can you describe what you could see?" Sam asked as he quickly wrote things down.

"Like I said, it was so dark, but I know it had wings and it hissed in a strange voice. The thing started to attack us too, with sharp clawed hands at the end of its wings. I swear if we hadn't tried to help Mitch, that monster would have carried him off. The best way I could describe it was a huge bat on steroids, but that can't be right."

"Could you tell anything else about this monster?"

"The skin…It was strange feeling, like soft leather. There were no feathers, hair, or scales that I could tell when it swiped out a huge wing and knocked me backwards so hard I fell over some rocks and broke my leg. It tore Stan up to before he could get back into the tent away from it. I guess we scared it off when we tried to save Mitch. Anyway, Stan got on the sat phone and called for help."

"We tried to help Mitch, but that monster ripped his throat out and he bled out before help could get there." Dale slumped back in his recliner and put the footrest up for his cast leg. "That's really all I know."

"Before we go, could you show us on the map where you were camping with your friends?" Sam asked holding out the map and pen to him.

"Sure, no problem," Dale replied taking the map and pen. He opened the map and studied it before making a mark on it. "There you go, that's the best I can do."

"Thank you for talking to us and again, we're sorry about your friend's death," Sam told him knowing they were not going to get additional information from him.

"Hope you get to feeling better," Dean told him as they stood. "Don't bother getting up, we'll let ourselves out."

"Alright. Hey, could you send me a copy of the article?"

"Yeah, sure, no problem. Take care," Dean rushed pushing Sam toward the door before Dale asked for anything else. He shushed Sam as he started to complain until they were outside out of Dale's hearing. "Did you get enough to maybe do your magic and see if you can find what the hell we're looking for?" Dean questioned him.

"I don't know. Do you want to question the other guy, Stan Young, before I check online?"

"How far does he live from here?" Dean asked getting into the Impala.

"He lives in a house on the outskirts of town. I'd say about twenty minutes from here."

"Might as well go see him and see if he knows anything else. Give me directions."

spn

"That was a bust," Dean complained. "Stan didn't know any more than Dale did, except this monster has a mouth of razor-sharp teeth."

"Why don't we get a motel room and I'll start running the program I created to see if it can come up with something."

"Sounds good to me. There were some motels on the road we came in on that will work." Dean started the car and headed back toward town. He stopped at a convenience store and picked up a six pack and some snacks and Sam got him a few healthier snacks.

Sam went into the motel office to register them and get a key for a room. He came out and waved to Dean to follow him around the side of the office to where the rooms were located. They were in luck and got a corner room away from other travelers staying there.

"Do your thing, geek boy, I'm going to relax," Dean announced as he got a beer and snack before dropping on the bed and reaching for the remote.

"Jerk," Sam mumbled under his breath as he dropped his bags on his bed and opened the computer bag to get his laptop. He moved to the table by the window and opened his laptop to boot it up. Sam grabbed a beer and snack and settled in the chair as he waited.

He looked to the beds when he heard his brother exclaim happily and saw he found a marathon of one of his favorite television programs. Sam shook his head and started tapping on the keys to go online and started his program running. He didn't know how long it would take and tried to decide if he wanted to watch television or take a walk to clear his head and get some fresh air. "I'm going to step out for a few minutes," Sam told Dean who just waved at him without taking his eyes from the screen of the television as he watched nurses and doctors run down a hospital hallway.

After grabbing the key for the room, Sam took his beer and snack and stepped outside to head for a small area at the side of the motel that had picnic tables, swings, and slide. He took a seat in the afternoon sun thinking it felt good on his face. He mulled over what they had learned and tried to come up with the creature they were hunting. Nothing that he had read about came to mind and let out a long breath as he shut his mind down so it could recharge and reset. He turned his face enough to pick up the gentle breeze blowing around the motel.

Loud noises from the road by the motel pulled Sam from his meditation and had him blinking rapidly for a moment to clear his vision. He rolled his neck and stretched his shoulders before getting up to head back to their room and see if his program had finished.

"Your laptop was making strange noises over there a few minutes ago," Dean grunted when Sam stepped back into the room.

"Great, thanks," Sam replied heading for the table to sit down and see what it had come up with. He pulled the results up and started to slowly scroll through them seeing there weren't many creatures that made the list. He stopped on the last one and pulled up the information to read. "I think I know what it is."

"Okay, lay it on me, what are we looking for?"

"It's called a Ropen, Demon Flyer," Sam started. "This says it's a scaled down equivalent of a pterodactyl."

"You mean it's a dinosaur?" Dean questioned doubtfully. "I thought those all got killed by a meteor or something."

"Maybe it's an offshoot of the pterodactyl. This says a Ropen could have a wingspan from eight to twenty feet, depending on its age with leathery skin, clawed hands at the end of its wings, clawed feet, and a mouth full of vicious fangs. It has a long reptilian tail and can fly at great speed and has an incredible sense of smell and eyesight."

"That's sounding like what those guys described. But why has no one ever seen it before?"

"Because it only hunts at night, it's nocturnal. It hides in caves or dark places during the day. At night is when it is the most dangerous."

"And I think we have a winner," Dean noted. "So, what now?"

"I was looking at the maps and found some caves in that area deeper in the forest. That would make a good hiding place for it."

"I hate hiking," Dean pouted as he looked at his brother knowing that was the only way to get to the caves.

"You're in luck. There was a small forest fire last year and the forest service cut a couple of roads into the area to get to the fire easier. If we rent a four-wheel drive, I think we can get within a couple of miles of the caves."

"Now you're talking bro. How do we kill it?"

"I guess with bullets. It's doesn't say anything about it being immune to anything and it is flesh and blood from what I have read."

"That's a good thing then. We have plenty of bullets."

"You know, it's a shame to have to kill it," Sam noted sadly. "It may be the last of its kind for all we know and well…It just a shame…"

"Sammy, it's attacking and killing people. We need to treat this Ropen like any other monster that we've had to kill. We have no way of reasoning with it or putting it somewhere to keep it from continuing to kill. You need to remember rouge bears, lions, or other wild animals who start killing humans must be killed."

"Yeah, I know," Sam sighed knowing there was no other recourse here. The creature was too big to be caught, subdued, and kept somewhere. "We have to do what we have to do to protect innocent lives."

"When we shower, probably shouldn't use anything smelly if the creature has such a good sense of smell. It'd smell us before we can get close."

"You're probably right about that. So, we'll head out in the morning?"

"Yeah, let's get a good meal and turn in so we can get an early start in the morning," Dean huffed pushing up from the bed and heading for the bathroom first.

Sam searched for any further information, but there wasn't much any different than what he had already found. Maybe they would be lucky, and this would be an easy case after all. He just hoped he hadn't jinxed them by thinking that.

A/N: Now they know what they are hunting. Thank you for coming along on this short ride. Only one more chapter to go and this hunt will be over. I do like reviews/comments. NC