John charged around the bend in the pathway firing his gun at the Aswang but he had been too far away and now it was completely out of range. As he lowered his gun, he sprinted over to where Sam remained sprawled out on the ground.
"Sam! You okay?" he asked as he reached his youngest son, helping him up.
"Dad, it's got Dean!" cried Sam, alarm filling his voice.
John looked at Sam and nodded but did not speak. He would find out exactly what had happened that ended up with Dean being carried off by the Aswang in a moment. Right now he had to get the young boy to safety.
"You okay, Son?" John inquired as he approached the boy.
"What was that?" asked the boy, completely baffled.
"I'm not sure," lied John, "But I think you should let us take you home."
"Dad!" injected Sam, "That Aswang has Dean! We have to help him!" He couldn't believe that his father seemed more concerned about taking the boy home than he did about rescuing Dean.
"Sam," cautioned John, in an effort to stop him from saying anything more in front of the boy. It was imperative that they did not cause the boy any more alarm or reveal to him that they knew anything about this creature.
"But, Dad…" continued Sam.
"Sam," interrupted John vehemently as he turned to face his son. Neither his tone of voice nor the expression on his face left any room for debate as he added, "This boy needs to get home safely and we're going to take him."
John had no intention of leaving the child alone, as there was a distinct possibility that the Aswang would return to attack him. Whatever had transpired that resulted in the creature choosing Dean as its victim, John knew that it could just as well abandon him in favor of a less problematic meal choice. The injured creature would not venture far and, with its keen eyesight, it could easily zero in on the unattended boy once again. Maybe it was even counting on the fact that John would rush off to rescue his son, giving it the opportunity to attack someone else once John got close. So before he gave any thought to rescuing Dean, he had to get the boy home.
It wasn't that he wasn't concerned about Dean but he reasoned that Dean had a better chance fending off the Aswang than the boy did. And if the Aswang wasn't given the choice of preying on another human, it would stick with the one it had. John knew Dean was strong; he was a fighter and he had another advantage over the Aswang – he wasn't injured. Under normal circumstances the injured Aswang would never have attacked Dean but it must have been desperate for a meal. It would make mistakes and John hoped that its first mistake had been selecting Dean as its victim.
The boy looked at John and Sam and asked, "Who are you guys?"
"Just friends," stated Sam. Although he didn't comprehend his father's reasoning for not rushing off to help Dean, he realized that it was useless to argue. His father had decided that they were taking this boy home and that was the end of it. Besides, he knew that they really couldn't discuss any of this in front of the boy. So instead of bickering with his father, he asked the boy, "Where do you live?" The sooner they got him home, the sooner they could help Dean.
"That house up there," said the boy, pointing to a house back in the direction from which he had come.
John and Sam quickly escorted the young boy home. As they walked him home, the boy was full of questions: What was that thing? Where had it come from? Had they ever seen anything like it before? Did you see the size of the wings on it? Was it dangerous? What was going to happen to the person it took off with?
For the most part John just ignored the boy's questions. Sam didn't know what to tell him either and settled for just letting the boy ramble on. As they proceeded to the boy's house, John carefully scrutinized the skies for the Aswang. But it was now very dark and John couldn't see anything in the night sky. Although he knew that it would stay somewhere in the vicinity, he wasn't sure where it would end up. He was hoping that Dean would somehow find a way to let them know where he was.
The belief that the Aswang would not fly far both comforted and disturbed John. On one hand, it meant that he was still within range to help his son but on the other hand, it meant that Dean was in imminent danger. Once the Aswang landed, it would set about ripping Dean apart to make a meal out of him. And John knew firsthand just how strong this creature was.
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Dean struggled violently against the hold that the Aswang had on him but he was unable to free himself from the creature's grip. It held him securely, with its claws embedded into his ribcage, and every time he tried to twist out of its grasp, the Aswang sunk its claws deeper into his skin. As a countermeasure against the pain, Dean clutched the creature's legs, attempting to hold himself up and reduce the pressure on his body. It was pointless trying to go for the gun that was tucked into the waistband of his jeans; the Aswang's tail was wrapped tightly around his waist. But he knew what he would do once the creature removed its tail from his body.
Dean could tell that the Aswang was having difficulty flying, which he surmised was due to the injured creature carrying his added weight. He knew that he had not been the creature's intended victim but it had ended up without a choice after Sam had stopped it from grabbing the boy and he had torn Sam from its grasp. Now the creature was flying erratically and it seemed to be flapping its wings more often than it should have in order to stay aloft. They wouldn't stay in the air for long.
Dean felt the Aswang initiate its descent and he realized that it must have decided that it had flown far enough. Now it was going to land and enjoy its meal. Panic began to surface as he realized just how much danger he would be in once they landed. But he knew that he had to keep his wits about him if he was to survive, so instead of thinking about the peril he faced, he concentrated on how he was going to mount his defense.
Dean knew that he was stillclose enoughfor his father and brother to help him; all he had to do was stay alive until they took reach him. And in order to stay alive, he had to let his father know where he was and be able to fend the Aswang off.
Dean determined that he had to land on his back if he was to battle the Aswang. If he landed on his stomach, the creature would use its strong legs and claws to hold him down. He didn't know how easy it would be for the Aswang to extract his organs from his back, but he figured that its teeth were probably just as sharp as its claws and it wouldn't have any trouble ripping him to pieces. All he had to figure out now was how to end up facing the creature when they landed.
Although it was impossible for him to obtain his gun, Dean still had a knife strapped to his leg. If he could just reach it and use it to slash the creature as they neared the ground, the Aswang would loosen its hold on him and, with any luck, screech out in pain. The noise would alert his father to their location and provide him with the opportunity to twist himself around so he would be facing the Aswang - if it didn't cause the creature to let go of him completely.
Dean released his hold on the Aswang's rear legs and let his body sink back down into the creature's grasp, and he felt the inevitable tightening of the creature's claws into his body. He could also feel the Aswang lurch downward as it assumed carrying all of his weight and he used that opportunity to swing his legs up behind him and grab the knife.
The change in its captive's position caught the Aswang off guard and it swayed off balance as it descended closer to the ground. It grabbed its victim with its front paws in order to free its rear legs for its landing. Dean clutched the knife firmly in his hand, waiting for the right moment to thrust it into the creature.
When he was approximately ten feet from the ground, Dean struck. He lifted the knife and plunged it as hard as he could into one of the Aswang's front legs. As he had hoped, the Aswang shrieked loudly in response to the attack and it released him from its grip. But Dean was still held securely by the creature's tail and he swayed violently in the air. Dean reached behind him and seized the Aswang's tail. Holding it firmly in his grip, he spun himself around so he was facing upwards and he immediately grabbed the tail with his other hand so the Aswang would not be able to dislodge him.
The Aswang growled as it felt Dean take hold of its tail and it rose upright, hovering just above the ground. Its pale green eyes stared down at Dean and it bared its teeth in an effort to frighten him. But survival was the only thing on Dean's mind and he ignored the Aswang. He had to be ready to do battle once he was on the ground.
The Aswang slowly descended until Dean felt his back hit the ground and he watched the Aswang plant its rear legs on either side of his legs. It brought the rest of its body down overtop of him until it stood straddling its prey with its front paws almost touching Dean's shoulders. Then it lowered its head and stared into Dean's eyes. With its face only mere inches away, Dean lay helplessly beneath the creature and watched in horror as the Aswang opened its mouth to display an ominous set of razor-sharp teeth.