A/N: The brothers find out what they are hunting and find out where to look. A big twist is coming your way. Thank you for coming along for the ride. I do like reviews. NC

Chapter 4

"I've got the address for the kid who saw the kidnapping. Why don't we go in as child psychologists and talk to him?" Sam said as they pulled into the outskirts of the town.

"Guess I should stop so we can change and look the part," Dean replied. He saw a convenience store/gas station ahead and slowed to pull into the parking lot. "Do we have to wear suits?"

"I don't think so, maybe jeans, a button up shirt and jacket. You don't want to scare the kid, you want him to feel at ease so maybe he'll talk."

"Crap, I hope I have a clean one," Dean mused. "We need to do laundry when we get to the bar."

"Yeah, I was thinking the same thing. Make sure your jeans are clean," Sam started looking over at Dean's clothes. "Or as clean as you can get," he sighed.

"What?" Dean questioned looking down at his clothes. "Ganking monsters is a dirty job dude. I'm going to gas my Baby; you go find the restrooms." Dean pulled beside a pump, stopped, and turned the car off.

"Okay, pop the trunk for me."

"Heading that way and don't take all day primping either."

"Jerk," Sam muttered.

"Bitch," Dean shot back.

Sam pulled his duffle from the trunk and sat it in the passenger seat so he could look through it for a button up that was casual and would go with his jeans. He found one and shook it out deciding it would have to do. He'd put his light jacket on over it to hide any wrinkles. Sam headed for the front doors while Dean pumped the gas.

When the car was full, Dean pulled his Baby to the front of the store and got out to find another shirt to wear. He looked down at his jeans and saw they were spotted with dirt and needed a good washing. He opened the trunk and looked into his duffel until he found a shirt that would do and checked the other jeans deciding on a pair that was cleaner. Deann ambled inside and glanced around spotting the restroom sign at the back of the store. Sam was coming out as he got to the door and handed him the keys to the car.

"I'll meet you back outside."

"Okay." Sam headed for the doors and to the Impala, unlocking his door to get in. He checked the map on his cell to be sure where the witness's house was from the store. It was across town in a small housing development called River Ridge. With that done, Sam watched through the large glass windows looking for Dean. He hoped this case was a simple one and wouldn't take more than a day or two to finish so they could continue to the bar.

Dean came out and got in the car, tossing his clothes in the backseat for now.

"Where does this kid live?" he asked cranking the car and pulling out.

"Across town, get back on the road in front of the store and follow it for a couple of miles to Belmont Street and turn left. That'll take us around the business district, and you'll turn left onto Horseshoe Lane, right onto Oakwood Road. The house number is 217."

"Left, left, right," Dean repeated as he looked both ways before pulling out onto Belmont Street. He followed Sam's directions and twenty minutes later he pulled to a stop at 217 Oakwood Road. The house was a simple two story, clapboard with a detached garage.

The brothers got out of the Impala and walked up the stone walkway to a small porch and the front door. Sam rang the bell and they waited for someone to answer it.

A woman answered the door and looked at them cautiously.

"Hello, are you Mrs. Kent?" Sam asked.

"Yes, I am. What can I do for you?" she replied.

"We're with social services, child psychologists. I'm Sam and this is Dean, and was wandering if this was a good time to talk to your son, Sean?" Dean asked.

"Social services? I'm not sure I understand."

"Your son saw the kidnapping of his friends and social services offers free counseling for children that have experienced traumas such as his," Sam explained hoping his story would hold up.

"I didn't know that, please come in," she nodded opening the screen door for them. "Sean has been having a hard time with all this. He won't come out of his room, except to go to the bathroom and scurries back like he's afraid he might be next."

"May I talk with him?" Dean asked as he looked around the neatly kept house.

"Would you mind going over what you know with me?" Sam asked wanting to keep her busy so Dean could talk with Sean.

"I guess that's okay. Sean's room is down the hall on the left she pointed for Dean.

"Thanks," Dean replied before walking down the hall.

"Would you like a cup of coffee Sam?"

"That would be nice Mrs. Kent."

"Please call me Katie. The kitchen is this way." Katie led them through a dining room and into a brightly lit kitchen. She went to the counter and got down two cups for coffee.

Sam took a seat at a small breakfast table sitting in front of a window. He looked out into the backyard and saw a nice wooden swing set with a tree house, toys, patio furniture, and a badminton net set up to one side. He looked up at Katie and smiled as she sat the cup of coffee in front of him.

"Do you take creamer or sugar?"

"Both actually."

"I'll get the creamer from the fridge, the sugar is there on the table."

"Thanks," Sam replied.

Katie came back with creamer and a spoon for Sam. She sat down beside him and wrapped her hands around her coffee cup as she stared down at it.

"Do you think Sean will be okay?"

"Children are pretty resilient and snap back quicker than you would think. Dean's good with kids, hopefully he'll be able to help him."

"I hope so, I hate seeing him like this."

spn

Dean stopped at the closed door and rapped gently on it before turning the knob to let himself in. He gave the room a quickly glance and found Sean curled up on a cushioned bench at the window. He looked to be eight or nine years old. He had a small blanket over his shoulders and clutched it tightly in his hands. He turned his head slowly to stare at Dean as he stepped into the room.

"Hi, Sean," Dean greeted him. "My name is Dean. I heard about what happened to your friends and that you saw it happen."

Sean seemed to shrink in on himself even more when Dean said that.

"Mind if I sit here with you?" Dean sat down on the bench and looked out into the yard. "Wow, that's a neat treehouse and swing set you've got out there. Bet you have loads of fun on it." Dean watched the boy as he let his eyes wander to the window and look out.

"I know this is scary for you, but I just wanna help and hopefully find your friends. Can you tell me about it?" Dean asked and watched as Sean's face grew pale and his small body trembled. "Anything you tell me might help. I know you want to help them, they're your friends." When the boy still didn't say anything, Dean tried a different approach. "I saw some bad things when I was a little younger than you. I know it's hard to talk about and most adults wouldn't believe what you said. I'm not like other adults. I'll believe you no matter how crazy it sounds."

"The police didn't," Sean whispered barely loud enough for Dean to hear.

"I'm not the cops. I want to help your friends and kill the monster, so it doesn't take any more kids. Will you tell me what you saw?" Dean questioned gently, laying a hand on Sean's arm, and squeezing it for reassurance.

"We were taking a short cut home from the park," Sean started. "The alley was spooky looking, but we went down it anyway. We were almost to the end when the monster jumped out at us and grabbed Kyle and Tony. I was knocked down, but I got up and ran after it. I lost sight of it. It was really fast. The police searched but couldn't find them," Sean said, pausing as he looked up into Dean's eyes as tears brimmed his own.

"It's okay, you're doing great. Where was this alley?"

"Off of Pine Street. There's a couple of closed stores and the alley runs between them."

"What did this monster look like? Can you describe it to me?"

"It was maybe as tall as you and it had dirty, matted hair and ragged clothes. Its fingers were claws and it made funny noises, like it couldn't really talk. It growled and grunted. It wasn't a person. I know it. Do you think you can find my friends?" Sean pleaded.

"I am going to do my best and I'll stop this monster from hurting anyone else. Thanks for talking to me, that was brave of you."

"I don't feel brave," he sobbed as his shoulders shook.

Dean reached for him and pulled him into his arms to comfort him. He rocked gently and whispered softly to Sean as he let him cry. Sean's sobs turned to hitched breaths and he cuddled into Dean's embrace for a few minutes before Dean sat him back on the bench.

"You've helped a lot Sean. You should be proud of that. I'll do what I can to find Kyle and Tony," Dean assured him patting his shoulder and smiling briefly at him. He got up to go find Sam and relay what he had learned.

spn

Sam looked up from his coffee when Dean stepped into the kitchen and nodded to him that he was done.

"Katie, thank you for the coffee and your time," Sam told Katie as stood. "I think we are done here for now."

"How is Sean?" Katie asked Dean. "Did he talk to you?"

"He's still upset about his friends being taken, but he is working through it. And yes, he did speak to me, he was extremely helpful. Give him some time ma'am. Sean's stronger than you think."

"Thank you for your help Dean, Sam," Katie said gratefully as she got up to show them out.

Dean and Sam walked to the car and got in.

"What did you find out?"

"Let's find a place to grab some food, I'm hungry," Dean told him.

"Yeah, yeah, it needs to have wi-fi so I can search the internet."

"The kid, Sean, gave me a description, he said it wasn't a person."

"Tell me," Sam stated, pulling a pen and pad out to take notes.

"Sean said it was about my height, had matted dirty hair, ragged clothes, and claws on its fingers. He said it kept making these strange noises, grunts and growls."

"Okay got it. I'll run this through a search program I set up and see if anything pops up," Sam noted as he scribbled on his pad.

Dean headed into town to find the business district and check out what it had to offer for food. He found restaurant row and slowly rolled down the street looking at names of places and seeing if they advertised free wi-fi.

"That place has a buffet and wi-fi," Sam pointed to a pizza place on a corner.

"Sounds good," Dean replied looking around for a parking spot nearby. He pulled the Impala into a space and parked.

Sam grabbed his computer bag and got out waiting for Dean to come around the car to join him. They walked down to the pizza place and stepped inside. Dean led them to a table in the corner away from other customers so they could have a little privacy.

"Hello gentlemen, what can I get you to drink?" a young woman greeted them.

"Pepsi is fine," Dean replied. "And I'll have the buffet."

"The same for me," Sam told her.

"Coming right up and help yourself to the buffet," she said. "The plates are at one end of the bar."

"Oh yeah, they're putting out fresh pizza," Dean noticed quickly getting up and heading for the buffet.

Sam sighed as he watched his brother descend on the two tables. He shook his head and rolled his eyes, deciding to pretend he didn't know him. Sam got up and began at the salad bar and made a nice salad before stepping to the pizza/pasta side and chose a couple pieces of pizza. He headed back to the table and joined Dean who was already eating.

"You know you can go back," Sam told him when he saw the mound of pizza on his plate. He pulled his laptop out and opened it, so it could boot up. He forked some salad and started eating as he watched the screen. Once it was up, he got online and pulled the search engine he used up to type in the main words and hit enter.

"Oh man, this stromboli is to die for," Dean hummed as he took another bite. "You need to try it."

"And I don't want to clog my arteries either," Sam insisted. "I'm doing fine with my salad and pasta."

"Your loss," Dean shrugged taking a big bite of a slice of pizza.

Sam watched his laptop screen as it compiled and searched for any matches to his query. They were halfway through their meal when Sam's laptop stopped the search. Sam wiped his fingers and turned the screen where he could see it better. He started scanning the results and scrolled down as he read and stopped to re-read a section. He perked up and looked over at Dean stuffing his face.

"I think I've got something," Sam noted.

"Wh'?" Dean mumbled with his mouth full.

Sam grimaced as he continued, "Have you ever heard of a Rawhead?"

"Enlighten me," Dean stated.

"It's an Irish Hobgoblin who steals children who have been naughty. One place says they like dark, damp places like in small closets or under stairs. It is described as having matted hair with leather like skin and has super strength and speed."

"That sounds promising, so how do we kill it?"

"Electricity."

"Guess that means we need some tasers that have been souped up. Sean told me the way this monster went with the other two kids. I say we grab some tasers and go check it out. Maybe we'll get lucky and find the kids before this thing kills them."

"I agree. I'll see where the closest place to purchase tasers is and see if I can find a way to make them stronger." Sam typed between bites of pasta looking for a place to purchase the tasers. Things were moving fast, and he hoped it was fast enough to save the kids. He wanted this to be a win for them and not another loss.