The tension was palpable in the car as they drove to Hinton Station. Dean and Sam were mentally preparing and Reagan was twisting her fingers in nervous anticipation.

"This is the turn." Reagan leaned forward and pointed through the windshield. The road to the station was overgrown and the car's headlamps lit a very narrow path. Dean winced as he heard thorny vines scratch against the side of the car.

Spotting a red SUV, Reagan said, "That's Todd's car."

Dean parked next to it and turned to look at Reagan. "I think it would be best for you to stay in the car."

Reagan simply got out and followed Sam to the rear of the vehicle. Dean caught up to her and turned her around by gripping her bicep. "Reagan, I'm serious. It could be dangerous."

"Dean, do you think I'd be okay sitting alone in a car in the middle of the dark woods? I'd be more frightened than if I were with you." She wasn't angry. Her voice was calm and earnest. "Please."

Dean's eyebrows drew together as he internally debated. "Okay. But stay close to me."

Reagan nodded.

She stood beside the brothers as Sam popped open the trunk. When their arsenal was displayed she gasped as her eyes widened and her hand flew to her throat. Dean glanced sideways at her and his lips drew into a thin, hard line. This was what he was afraid of. Maybe she wouldn't be able to handle the truth if she actually saw it.

Sam and Dean divided up their weapons along with flashlights and a book. Turning to Reagan, Dean handed her an iron crowbar.

"If we get separated, use this. Ghosts are repelled by pure iron."

Reagan took the crowbar into both her hands and held it tight. She gulped as she stared at Dean. Looking into her eyes, he paused for a moment before glancing at Sam, "Let's go."

Sam led the way up the path and Dean followed behind Reagan. After walking close to a mile the silhouette of the trestle came into view against the moonlit sky. Laughter could be heard in the distance and they knew that Reagan's friends were not too far.

"Doesn't sound like anything bad has happened. Maybe we can talk them into leaving before anything does." Sam spoke over his shoulder as they walked.

Before long, they spotted the group crowded at the end of the trestle. Flashlights lit the ground around them and a couple of the guys were playfully tussling while the girls stood by and watched them, giggling. On either side of the trestle, the ground was dry with only small patches of mud left as evidence that it had once been a swamp.

"Hey guys." Reagan jogged forward to them.

The group turned, startled, and stared before Todd spoke. "Reagan? What are you doing here?" He was surprised but also annoyed to see Dean following behind her.

"Hi." Robin smiled at Sam and moved to stand next to him. He greeted her and looked back at the others.

Reagan answered Todd, "We were hoping you guys would leave with us. I don't think it's safe out here."

A blonde man in the group was staring at Dean's hand in disbelief. "Is that a shotgun?"

"Yes." Dean responded.

"What the hell? Are you some kind of freak?" Todd's eyebrows were furrowed and disgust drew his lips back into a sneer.

"A freak that can kick your ass." Dean snarled and stepped forward.

"Not now." Reagan held her hand up to Dean. He stopped but continued to glare at Todd. The rest of the crowd was watching them intently.

Facing Todd again, Reagan continued, "I'm serious Todd. I really think we should all leave here."

"What's the big deal Reagan? Are you afraid of the legend?" Robin asked airily.

"Yes actually, I am. Please guys." She looked around at each of them as she pleaded.

"I'll ride back with Sam." Robin jerked her thumb towards Sam and sent him a flirtatious smile.

A gasp suddenly came from a brunette in the group. "Oh my gosh!" She pointed in the distance down from the trestle.

Everyone whipped their heads around to see what she was pointing at. A small faint glow could be seen in the darkness. The group stood frozen and absolutely quiet as the glow bobbed up and down and grew slightly larger.

"Son of a bitch." Dean growled.

Reagan started breathing heavily, her chest rising and falling in fear. Dean stepped in front of her.

"Is that…? What could that be?" Robin asked.

"I'm betting it's the flagman." Sam muttered. "C'mon everybody, gather together. Stay behind us." He stepped closer to the group and began hastily herding them into a tight circle.

"No way. It's got to be something else." Todd stated and took a footstep around Sam to continue looking.

Dean was losing his patience. "Yeah, right. Quite a coincidence, don't you think?"

The light was growing much closer and Dean felt Reagan's fingers clutch his sleeve.

"Alright, listen up!" Dean barked. "Everyone needs to stay behind us. And don't look at the light."

Behind the light, a figure became visible. Reagan and several others gasped. A man stood before them, holding an antique lantern. His clothes were outdated and tattered, as a railroad worker of a past century would look. His lamp emitted the eerie shine but most disturbing was the lack of a head sitting upon his shoulders.

"Holy shit!" Robin announced, her voice shaking. Todd took a few small steps backward, aligning himself with the group.

"Sam, what's the plan?" Dean turned his head a very small fraction to the left, his eyes not leaving the specter ahead.

"Well, he wants his head. I say we give it to him; the 'ol salt and burn style."

"We're kind of on a time limit for a hunt and dig."

"I'm aware of that."

All of a sudden, the apparition zoomed forward and the group behind Sam and Dean shouted in unison. Their circle tightened as they huddled behind the hunters who were crouched in defensive postures.

The headless man stood a few feet in front of them and lifted his arms to hold the lantern higher. Instinctively Dean raised the shotgun and aimed a shot directly at the vision. The group jumped as the gun blasted and several of the girls cried out. The ghost disappeared.

Todd stuttered, "Is it… gone? Can you shoot a ghost?" The night was hushed except for the rasping breaths of the group. Fear emanated from the circle as they waited in the silence.

"Not with bullets. It's rock salt. And no, it's not gone."

No sooner had the words left his mouth than Dean was flying through the air. He slammed against a tree and the breath was knocked out of him.

"DEAN!" Reagan screamed and tried to run towards him but Sam's arm stretched in front of her to hold her back.

Dean lay on the ground gasping for air. His eyes clenched shut as he touched his chest, willing himself to breath.

Sam turned to Reagan, "Stay here!" he ordered. "Use the crowbar if he appears to you. And remember: don't look at his light!"

Her eyes were full of terror as she watched him rush away towards Dean who was struggling to stand up.

Sam's hands grabbed the front of Dean's jacket and lifted him to his feet. His eyes anxiously searched Dean's face for injuries.

Dean began, "I'm fi…SAM!"

Sam was thrown in the opposite direction from Dean, his body landing with a sickening thud on the hard dirt ground. He skid across the ground for several feet, halting to a stop when his shoulder banged against the metal base of the trestle frame.

Reagan screamed again and half of the group dispersed behind her, taking off in a full run towards their vehicles. Reagan's legs were locked in place. She couldn't move as her knuckles turned white from gripping the iron crowbar. Todd and Robin stood slightly behind her, their mouths hanging open in horror.

"SAM!" Dean bellowed and ran towards his brother where he was pulling himself up off the ground.

Suddenly the flagman was beside Dean and out of the corner of his eye he saw the lantern as it came crashing down. The metal lip of it caught the edge of Dean's eye and he felt a searing pain as his skin split. His head twisted to the side with the impact and he fell forward, bracing himself on his hands and knees. Hot blood began to trickle down his cheek.

Dean heard Reagan scream his name and looked up to see her begin towards him. He held up his hands to stop her.

"Reagan, stay there!" He barked. "I got this!" She froze in place.

Sam was running back to Dean but he shook his head slightly. "Go Sam! Get the head! I'll hold him off here."

Standing up, Dean brought the shotgun to his shoulder and rotated in a circle looking for the ghost.

"Alright you son of a bitch, c'mon!" Dean positioned himself in front of the remaining group, his back towards them.

Sam took off running towards the old swamp land on the side of the trestle. He slid down the rocky banks; dirt clouds rising up around him.

The flagman appeared in front of Dean and the group felt a rush of cold air sweep over them.

"How the hell do you find us with no head?" Dean muttered.

The flagman raised his arms to hold the lantern high again, and the light began to radiate brightly.

"DON'T LOOK!" Dean yelled.

An explosion of rock salt slammed into the ghost and he, once again, vanished.

Dean's body curved around with lightening speed as he heard Reagan cry out behind him. She was knocked through the air and sent crashing to the ground just as Sam had been.

"REAGAN!" Dean and Todd both yelled as they hurried towards her. Todd knelt beside her and lifted her by the shoulders to hold her. She grimaced in pain. Dean's eyes searched the landscape for the flagman. Blind rage coursed through his veins. His chest heaved and he began to tremble as his jaw clenched.

Sam was standing in the field beside the trestle, reading from a book. "Per ventus of vox, Ego dico porro somes Ego peto. Ostendo sum is."

A pale purple glow appeared on the ground twenty feet to Sam's right. Sprinting to it, he waited as the ground began to shake beneath it. As the light grew brighter, it also rose higher and the ground split open. Sam watched in wonder as a skull began to lift from the dirt, the brown soil falling away from the vacant eye sockets as it did so.

Another shotgun blast sounded through the air as Dean aimed once more at the flagman before being knocked to the ground.

"Hurry Sam!" Dean called out.

Sam rapidly reached into a bag that he had tied to his hip. Grabbing a handful of salt, he sprinkled it over the skull then reached back into his bag for a matchbox. When he pulled it out, he lit it as deftly as he had opened the book and then tossed it onto the skull.

Flames shot up from the ground where the flagman's head rested. Sam stared at it for a moment before grabbing his book and turning back towards Dean and the others.

Dean was ready with his shotgun when the flagman appeared in front of Dean; pulling his arm back to swing his lantern in another striking blow. All of a sudden, the arms fell forward and wrapped around the torso of the ghost as flames began to glow in the center of his body.

Reagan stood behind Dean with her fingers clutching his sleeve as they watched the flames spread out from the flagman's torso through his chest and legs. They glowed hot and bright for a full five seconds before abruptly dissolving.

The flagman was gone.

No one moved or spoke as Dean breathed heavily and lowered his shotgun to the ground. Sam came scrambling up the banks and stopped when he reached Dean's side. The brother's stared at one another for a instant before Dean slapped Sam on the shoulder.

"Good job."

Sam smiled and turned to look at the others. Robin was crouched on the ground shivering and Todd stood a few feet behind Dean and Reagan, staring silently as the spot where the ghost had disappeared.

Gently, Sam pulled Robin up from the ground. "Come on. Let's get you home. Todd, can I have your keys?" Todd absentmindedly walked towards Sam and handed them over.

Dean watched as Sam started leading them back towards the cars. Sighing, he turned towards Reagan. She too had been staring at the space where the ghost disappeared. Her eyes were wide and her mouth hung open in shock. As she felt Dean's gaze on her she lifted her face towards him.

He watched her expression turn from alarm to revulsion. Dean's heart plummeted. The fear he had felt only fleetingly before they arrived now raged in full force. Reagan had now seen what his life was like first hand. As to be expected, terror would now drive her away from him.

"Oh my…Dean…your face." Reagan lifted one hand to touch his cheek but froze with it in the air.

Dean shrugged, "I've had worse."

They stared at each other for several moments. Reagan broke the silence, "We should go get you cleaned up." She turned away to walk down the path the others had already followed.

"Reagan," Dean said. She twisted around to look at him. "I'm so sorry you were hurt."

"I'm fine. Freaked out a little, but okay. No broken bones."

Reagan waited on him to move and then they walked back to the car without speaking. Their breathing was still heavy and the air was thick with tension. Shock from what they had just experienced together had not yet worn off.

When they reached the vehicles, Sam stood in front of Todd's SUV. "I'm going to take them home. I think they are too shaken up to drive."

Dean nodded. "That's fine. I'll take Reagan home."

Sam drove away with his passengers still looking worse for wear as Dean held open the Impala passenger door for Reagan. His nerves on edge, Dean's movements were jerky as he cranked the car.

With a momentary look at Reagan who sat ramrod straight in her seat, he reversed the car out of the wooded area and began the drive to her house.

Author's Notes: cringes