Dean could feel his heart pounding in his chest as he stared up at the Aswang, but he wasn't quite ready to admit defeat.
"Sorry, Kitty'" he muttered, as he twisted the knife around in his hand and drove it upwards into the creature's chest. "But I never accepted the invite to this dinner party!"
The Aswang reared onto its back legs and clawed at the knife protruding from its chest. As it staggered backward, it let out a high-pitched shriek and closed its paws around the offensive weapon. But try as it might, it was unable to grip the knife and momentarily lost interest in its meal as it struggled to remove the offensive weapon from its body.
This was the opportunity Dean had been waiting for and he tugged at the Aswang's tail to remove it from around his waist. When he had succeeded in wiggling free, he scrambled to his feet and reached into the waistband of his jeans for the gun.
Once he had the weapon in his hand, he turned to face the creature, and murmured, "Time to say good night!" as he pulled the trigger.
But the Aswang had not completely forsaken its meal and as Dean fired, the creature struck him with its tail, knocking him sideways and causing the bullet to miss its target. Dean attempted to regain his balance as quickly as he could in order to fire another shot, but the creature leapt forward and grabbed him by his shoulders. As he aimed the gun at the Aswang, it swung its tail and knocked the gun from his grasp.
"Shit," he muttered, "You and that damn tail."
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John and Sam had just dropped the young boy at his home when they heard the creature's tortured wail in the distance.
"That's my boy, Dean!" John whispered to himself, encouraged by the sound. At least Dean wasn't going to go down without a fight. He turned to Sam and said, "Let's go."
John and Sam took off running as fast as they could in the direction of the Aswang's cry, all their thoughts now centered around finding Dean before it was too late. Father and son raced through the sub-division to the pathway where the Aswang had abducted Dean. They didn't slow their pace as they neared the pathway but ran past it in the direction they had last seen the Aswang, before it had disappeared into the darkness.
John listened intently for any further cries that would help guide him to where he knew Dean would be fighting for his life. They had run about as far as John felt they should without actually knowing where Dean and the Aswang were, and John lifted his arm to signal Sam to stop.
Sam pulled up alongside his father and listened but he couldn't hear anything except the faint rustling of the wind in the leaves of the nearby trees. Sam looked at his father and said, "Dad, what are we going…" but before he could finish, another screech filled the air.
The painful cry had come from a cluster of trees that was about 500 feet away and both John and Sam raced toward them. John was grateful that the Aswang had landed in an area surrounded by trees; this way it wouldn't see them approaching and they would be able to rescue Dean without the creature realizing they were there.
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The Aswang lifted Dean off the ground until it held him level with its face. It stared at him for a moment as if undecided what it wanted to do with him, but then pulled him closer to its open mouth.
Dean resisted the urge to struggle against his captor, waiting instead for the Aswang to draw him closer. He avoided looking at the creature, choosing instead to scan the Aswang's body looking for the knife he knew was still embedded in its chest.
Just as he could feel the Aswang's breath on his face, Dean caught sight of the knife. It was too far down for him to grab with his hands so, instead, he lifted his leg and placed his foot on the handle of the knife. Then Dean pushed his foot down as hard as he could, driving the handle downward and forcing the blade of the knife upward inside the Aswang's chest.
In response to the intrusive slicing of its torso, the Aswang dropped Dean and he tumbled unceremoniously to the ground, but rolled quickly out of the Aswang's reach. He was on his feet before the creature had recovered enough to seize him again. Dean checked the area for his gun, knowing that it couldn't have been knocked far but the Aswang was after him before he was able to locate it.
Dean leapt backwards to stay out of range of the Aswang but continued searching for his weapon. A deadly game of cat and mouse ensued while Dean evaded the Aswang as he sought the gun. Trees surrounded them and Dean used them to his advantage, stepping behind and around them as was necessary to avoid the Aswang.
With any luck his father and brother had heard the Aswang's howls and where zeroing in on his location. All he had to do was stay away from the creature until they got there - or until he was able to find the gun, whichever came first. But it was beginning to look like he was never going to find the gun as he progressed further and further back into the trees.
John and Sam had reached the wooded area and John again motioned for Sam to stop. He listened carefully to the sounds emanating from the trees to ascertain exactly where they were originating. It seemed to him that the noises were slowly getting further away.
John wanted to dash into the trees to find his son, but he knew that would be unwise. He had to co-ordinate a plan of attack with Sam. John was glad to have his youngest son with him as back-up but it also posed a problem. Sam was not as experienced a hunter as Dean and his ability to assess the situation was not as keenly developed either. Even when Dean had been thirteen, he had been more of a natural hunter than Sam was. Regardless, Sam was here and he was eager to help. That by itself was an added bonus.
So John whispered to Sam, "It doesn't know you're here and will think that I'm alone so I need you to be extra cautious and not make any noise. We'll approach it from opposite sides and once we have it in sight, I want you to look for me. When you see me and I give you the go-ahead, I want you to pick up a twig, snap it in half and throw it ahead of you. Then I want you to retreat back in this direction about 30 feet. But you have to be very quiet. Do you understand?"
Sam nodded. He understood that his main job was to provide a diversion so that his father could attack the Aswang without it knowing where he was. He looked at his father with determination in his eyes and stated, "Let's go before it hurts Dean."
Meanwhile, Dean had given up his search for the gun. He knew that he was nowhere near where it had fallen because he had backed himself much further into the trees that he had intended. And now, he was danger of backing himself right out of the trees and into the open field. If he did that, he would lose the only advantage he had right now; as long as it remained in the trees, the Aswang couldn't fly.
Dean knew that he was defenseless and that he needed to remain amongst the trees until his father showed up or he found some way to defend himself. His father had told him that the Aswang would retreat from anything that could defend itself but he had done that already and the creature was still after him. It must need nourishment badly enough that it was willing to deal with a few injuries to get it. But there had to be a point where it wouldn't risk it any longer. If his father wasn't going to arrive to help him, then he would have to find that point on his own.
As Dean contemplated how he was going to deter the Aswang, he heard a branch break in the distance. When he heard what sounded like two twigs hitting the ground just a little bit closer to him, he realized that his father and Sam had arrived.
Dean knew this tactic well; he and his father had used it countless times when they were on a hunt but he wasn't sure how familiar Sam was with it. But he surmised that his father would have given Sam the role he usually performed – initiating the diversion. Dean felt sure that his father would have been reluctant to use this tactic with Sam because it put Sam in danger right at the beginning. So Dean decided that he would do whatever he could to keep the Aswang's attention on him instead of on Sam.
Dean stepped forward a couple of steps, trying to lure the creature to him, but the Aswang had turned its attention toward the noise. It remained transfixed on the area where the noise had generated before it took a couple of steps toward the area. But without warning, it suddenly turned and charged on Dean.
Caught off guard by the actions of the Aswang, Dean jumped backwards, hitting a small tree. He lost his footing and tumbled sideways, falling beside the tree. He swiftly scrambled to his hands and knees but was unable to move fast enough to avoid the Aswang. As he tried to run, he felt the creature's claws dig into his back and he found himself being dragged on his stomach toward the beast.
The Aswang's claws penetrated the skin on Dean's back and he knew he had to do something to stop himself from being hauled back to the Aswang. He tried in vain to grab hold of some of the undergrowth but he soon found himself underneath the Aswang once again. The creature reached out and grabbed Dean with its other paw, sinking its claws into the side of his body and lifting him off the ground. As he screamed out in pain, Dean heard a shot ring out and felt the Aswang release him. He lost consciousness as soon as he hit the ground.
John watched with horror as the Aswang attacked Dean. The Aswang had moved out of range as it lunged at Dean and John had had to reposition himself before he could get a clear shot. He didn't bother to aim to kill; his only goal was to hit the creature. He had to get it away from his son.
The shot he fired hit the Aswang in the shoulder and John watched as it let go of Dean and he dropped to the ground. The creature crouched low to the ground before it sprung up into one of the nearby trees. Keeping his gun aimed in the direction of the Aswang, John sprinted over to Dean. He quickly felt for his pulse and was relieved when he found one.
Sam ran over to his brother as soon as he saw his father emerge from the trees. He reached Dean at the same time as his father, aiming his gun at the trees in much the same manner as his father. But he was shaking so badly that he would be of little use trying to track the Aswang.
John turned to him and barked, "Stay with Dean." before he slowly wandered into the trees where the Aswang had disappeared.
John could hear leaves rustling in the distance and he deduced that the Aswang was leaping from tree to tree until it could make its escape. Soon the rustling stopped and John dashed out into the open field in time to see the Aswang flying clumsily away. As he watched the creature retreat, he suddenly saw it drop rapidly to the ground. But it wasn't dead or even too injured to fly. As he watched it ascend into the sky yet again, John saw something flailing at its feet and knew that it had succeeded in capturing a meal. His fear that the Aswang had successfully hunted down a human dissolved when he heard the captured victim issue a series of sorrowful yelps, identifying it as a large dog.
John knew that the Aswang would have rather feasted on human blood and organs, but that it had had to settle for any type of sustenance and the poor dog had simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time. The Aswang would rest for the remainder of the night after it had devoured the canine in order to try to mend some of its wounds. There was no point chasing after it now so John spun around and ran back to his sons.
As he approached them, he noticed that Sam had stripped off his shirt and used it to cover the wounds on Dean's back. John heard Sam muttering softly to his brother, his small body raked with sobs. John raced the last few feet to his sons and knelt beside Dean.
He took hold of Sam's hand and said, "He'll be okay, Sam." But Sam's grief-stricken response filled him with dread.
"I don't think so, Dad."
John reached out to touch Dean and he was shocked at how cold he felt.