I've had family visiting all weekend and while it's been wonderful, it also has sucked balls as I haven't had a single moment to myself, so here I am quickly trying to get this chapter posted before I go to work!
Years of midnight flits and bug outs gave the brothers the experience to be packed up and on the road in less than twenty minutes. There was a pensive silence filling the car as Dean sped across the country.
"You're planning on driving straight through." The statement, not question, fell from Sams lips as he reached back and grabbed his computer.
"Yep. Gas and coffee, them's the only stops allowable so if you have to pee, hold it or wait until Baby needs filling up again." Dean said eyes focused on the road ahead.
"Noted. Let me know if you need to switch out driving." Sam replied as he booted his old laptop up to begin researching the area Amy went missing.
Tense silence continued to fill the vehicle, broken only by Sams clicking on the keyboard and Baby's tyres eating up the road beneath them.
"So what's the game plan here?" Sam asked.
"Well, first things first, I'm going to shoot Derek in the face." Dean stated, gripping the wheel tightly.
"Dean!" Sam said looking at his brother shocked. "Why on earth would you do that?"
"Think about it Sam. He did something to Amy. They went into that forest and only he came out? He's done this, he's hurt her."
"Dean don't be ridiculous! He called us to help find her." Sam argued.
"Yeah, two days later! She's been missing for two days Sam, and he only calls us now? Totally suss if you ask me. Perfect way to throw us off his scent."
"Maybe he thought the search and rescue team would find her?"
"You're taking his side?" Dean asked risking taking his eyes off the road long enough to throw a look of betrayal at his little brother.
"No Dean! I'm not taking his side, but look at it this way, if he did do something to Amy, we're going to need him to tell us where she is and we can't do that if you blow his face off as soon as he opens his door." Sam reasoned.
Dean slumped in defeat.
"You're right. I'm sorry. Just..l…you know, it's Amy."
"Yeah, I know Dean, besides, we might have to 'interrogate' him first to find out where he's left her."
"Then I can shoot him?" Dean asked hopefully.
"Then you can shoot him." Sam agreed. "Huh…"
"What? You got something?" Dean asked flicking his eyes between the road and his brother.
"Maybe." Sam adjusted himself in his seat, twisting slightly towards his brother, a sure sign he was about to launch into some long winded explanation, normally that would drive Dean nuts, but this was for Amy, and anything for Amy, Dean would bear. "So this forest, this…Freetown Forest, is reportedly the most haunted forest in the country."
"So you think a ghost took her?" Dean asked.
"I don't know, maybe?" Sam read on. "It says there were reports of Satanic rituals back in the late 70's, early 80's. There have been multiple murders over the decades."
"So we're back to ghosts." Dean said.
"No, not necessarily, there's also been reports of strange orbs of lights, UFO's…"
"UFO's." Dean snorted.
"Don't scoff. It says here, President Reagan reportedly saw the lights."
"Okay, so a Reagan gets a pass. What else?"
"Really. Reagan gets the pass?" Sam asked.
Dean shrugged.
"He was a cowboy." As if that explained everything.
"Uh, okay, where was I?" Sam scanned the page. "Right! There've been aggressive dogs, abductions, reported poltergeist activity. Wires have been stretched across trails.."
"Oh, that's nasty." Dean grimaced.
"Yeah." Sam agreed. "Okay, so don't laugh at this but there's also been reports of giant snakes and a rogue emu."
"Emu?"
"That's what it says."
"Huh. And just rewind a bit…how big were these snakes?"
"Dunno, doesn't say." Sam replied rubbing at his chin. "Alright listen to this, 'Many people believe the forest exerts a dark influence that drives people to suicide, while even older legends assert that Pukwedgies, humanoid creatures from Wampanoag native tradition, are known to stalk the woods.'." Sam read.
"Okay, so what? This Pantswedgie…"
"Pukwedgie." Sam corrected.
"Pukwedgie, whatever. This creature took off with Amy?" Dean asked.
"Don't know. I've never heard of it and this article doesn't have much information."
"Well then google it." Dean said.
"Gee, thanks. I'd have never thought of that." Sam replied sarcastically.
He opened a new page and entered 'Pukwedgie' into the search bar. A moment later the screen fill with information. Sam read through several different pieces of information before shaking his head.
"I don't think this is it."
"Are you sure?" Dean asked.
"It doesn't fit. I mean it could if I twisted the mythology around, maybe, but this says the Pukwedgie can appear and disappear at will and lures people to their death. It says they use magic, launch poison arrows and creates fire. According to the lore it's more likely to kidnap its victim and push them off a cliff and attacks with short knives and spears, using sand to blind their victims, but it only really attacks if it's been bothered by the victim. None of this really fits."
The brothers fell silent for a while.
"Derek said Amy was hearing jokes, um, riddles. What about that?" Dean asked suddenly.
"Well there's a few creatures in mythology that use riddles…" Sam trailed off as he typed.
"The Sphinx." Dean supplied.
"Yeah, that's one. The most popular at least." Sam said as he scrolled past the ten thousand links for the Sphinx. "But it doesn't sit right."
"Besides, I'm sure there would have been reports of a giant human, lion, bird hybrid thingy by now. It'd be pretty hard to blend in in Massachusetts."
Sam looked over at Dean.
"How did you know that?" He asked.
"I do read you know!"
"Right! Sorry!" Sam quickly apologised to his brother.
"What else?" Dean huffed angrily.
"There's a legend about Vikram and Betel. There's different interpretations of the lore but from what I can see the main gist of it is Vikram is a king and has to take Betel somewhere."
"And what's Betel?"
"It's different in each of these. He ranges from a ghost, to a celestial spirit to a type of vampire." Sam said.
"Nice range." Dean snarked.
"Anyway, whatever he is, the basic story line remains the same. Betel agrees to accompany Vikram as long as he gets the riddles right."
"What riddles?"
"So he tells Vikram these stories right? And each one ends with a riddle. If Vikram gets it right, Betel stays with him. If he gets it wrong…"
"Betel flys away."
"Yep." Sam nods.
"Okay, so why would Betel suddenly dump Vikram and come here?" Dean asked.
"I don't think he would." Sam sighed.
"Well then let's put our riddle telling ghostpire? Vampost? on the 'maybe' pile and keep looking."
Sam was still looking when Dean pulled in for gas. He looked over at his brothers screen.
"What page are you on?" He asked.
Sam glanced at the top of his computer.
"Five."
"Oo, page five of Google suggestions, we are desperate!" Dean joked as he pushed his door open.
"Sure are." Sam agreed. "But I think I may have found something."
"What?" His brother sat back in his seat and looked at him.
"Not sure yet. Go fill up, I'm going to hit the bathroom and grab something to eat, then I'll look into it further." Sam said, laying his laptop to the side and got out of the car.
"Okay. Grab me something other than grass or granola!" Dean called to his brothers retreating back.
…
"Okay, so what did you find?" Dean asked as he pulled away from the gas station.
"Okay, there were a few obscure creatures that popped up but this one seems to fit best." Sam said as he situated his laptop back on his knees. "Der Einsame. Literally translates to 'the lonely one'. Originates from Germany. Lore states it's a type of hobgoblin, catching its prey and terrorizing them with endless riddles. As long as the victim correctly guesses the answer, they live, when they get one wrong…" Sam trailed off.
"When they get one wrong, what? What happens to them?" Dean asked, glancing across at his brother.
"Doesn't really say, exactly, just that the victims are left to be 'forgotten'." Sam replied leaning closer to his screen as if that was going to give him any extra answers.
Dean pressed the accelerator a little harder. He didn't quite understand the meaning behind that but it was enough to want him to get to Amy even quicker.
"Alright, give me some more information on this little fugly." Dean said.
"Like I said, the legend originated in Germany. The lonely one likes thick dense forests and lures it's victims in with the 'promise of fun and merriment'." Sam sat back raising his eyebrows and furrowing his forehead. "Do you think that's what it did with Amy? Tested her with the riddles then took her when she kept replying?"
"I guess. But why did she hear it and not Derek? And why just take Amy and leave douchewad behind?" Dean asked.
"Remember Niahm said Amy shone like a beacon to them? Maybe that's what attracted this…this Der Einsame thing? He saw her and couldn't resist." Sam suggested.
"Yeah, maybe. Maybe she shone so bright that this goblin thing couldn't even see Derek."
"That's possible." Sam answered as he continued to scroll through the information.
"Awesome." Dean muttered. "So assuming it was attracted by Amy's 'glow', how the hell do we get it to come after us? And will it even, I mean, if it's still got Amy and she's still playing it's game, why would it come after two great big dark spots like us?"
"According to this, Der Einsame doesn't really have any type of territory it protects, but I would assume there would have to be some kind of cloaking around its lair. We could go in and make a lot of noise around where Derek last saw Amy? Use some type of revelation spell?"
"Okay, but how do we pinpoint where it took her? It could have carried her for miles after snatching her up." Dean pointed out.
"We'll do a location spell once we enter the forest. I still have the crystals Bobby gave us, we'll grab a map of the forest from the ranger and when we get close to where Amy was grabbed, we'll use them." Sam said.
"And what if that doesn't work?" Dean asked, unusually quiet.
"Then we do what we do best Dean. We go in and make a whole heap of noise and hope to piss it off enough to come get us. We're gonna find her Dean." Sam assured his brother.
"Yeah" Dean nodded and tightened his grip on the wheel. "So how do we kill this bastard?"
"We can break its spell just by defeating it, giving it a riddle it can't answer. Once it's been defeated and it's 'prize' taken from it, all it's powers are lost."
"That's not enough. It took Amy, how do I kill it?" Dean pushed.
"Bronze knife."
"And do we have one of those?" Dean asked.
"Sure do."
"Excellent." Dean grinned menacingly at the road ahead as Baby ate up the miles between them and Amy.
…