Author's Note: Well, by reading your reviews I've come to the conclusion that many of you seem to feel that I have a reputation for being somewhat cruel to Dean. I have no clue where anyone could come up with such a ridiculous idea... Anyway, I want to send a ton of thanks to TheBigChillQueen, new21writer, Eliza Ghost, emebalia, Julefor, Hasmik Aharonyan, PsychoPicasso, NewbieOnTheBlock, snseriesfan, agent iz hyper, and Meggin Lane for their wonderful reviews. And now read on to see if the rumors of my cruelty are true...

Chapter Five: Burned

Dean raised his weapon at the dark figure in front of him. The being's entire body was covered in a cloak that seemed almost impossibly black, and a large hood obscured its face. A strange rotted smell drifted from the man-shaped darkness. The hunter squinted to try and get a better look at the thing, but then it reached its right arm out and a hand emerged from the black sleeve. It was long and thin with leathery looking burnt-orange skin and sharp pointed fingernails. The tips of the fingers touched Dean's head and he felt cold where they rested. But then they started to heat up. Dean didn't hesitate a moment more as his finger tightened around the trigger. A shot rang out and the burning sensation on his forehead ceased as the creatures fingers left his skin. The thing jerked backwards and then burst into flames. The hunter used his arms to shield his eyes as the fire burned bright and hot. Then the fire seemed to explode, expanding briefly before collapsing in on itself and disappearing.

Dean stumbled back, feeling as though his skin were on fire. Lowering his arms from their protective position, the hunter looked around the room. It was all quiet. Everything looked just as it had before the intruder had attacked him. Dean glanced down at his wrists and hands and saw that the skin not covered by his jacket had gotten burned. His right one wasn't bad, just slightly red, but he must've had the left one over it because the back of that one was a deep red as though he'd gotten the world's worst sunburn and was starting to blister. But other than that and a sore spot on his forehead from the creature's touch, he seemed to be fine.

The hunter walked over and picked the jack o'lantern up from the floor. It was no longer lit. Tucking it once more under his left arm, Dean surveyed the room. Finding it still clear, he left the apartment and hurried down the stairs. Dean wanted to toss the jack o'lantern into the trunk but was mindful of what Timmy had said about it magically appearing back onto the coffee table and decided to put in next to himself where he could keep an eye on it. Stripping off his leather jacket, the hunter opened the passenger side door and dropped the pumpkin onto the seat. Then he covered it with the jacket so that he wouldn't have to see the creepy-ass thing stare at him the whole trip to the motel.

As he drove, Dean kept sending sideways glances at the lump under his jacket, but it didn't move or disappear. Nor did his leather jacket spontaneously combust. Which was a good thing since he'd really be pissed then.

Dean pulled into the motel parking lot and then called his brother.

"Yeah?"

"Dude, what room did we get?"

"Thirty-eight."

"Okay." Dean hung up and then drove over to park in the spot right in front of their room. He took the wrapped jack o'lantern out of the car with him and approached the door. Sam answered a few seconds after Dean knocked.

"Good, you're here. I was just… what the hell happened to you?"

"What do you mean?" Dean asked as he pushed back past the taller man to enter the room.

"You have like, burn marks on your forehead and your wrists and hands look like you fell asleep while sunbathing… in a microwave."

"Yeah well, I had a run in with a… how did you put it? A self-igniting, indestructible, evil jack o'lantern that sounds like the plot of a horror movie."

Sam looked confused. "A jack o'lantern did that to you?"

"No, but it did self-ignite and it is indestructible. The burning came from Jacky's buddy, Mr. Tall Dark and Hooded."

"You saw what's been doing this?"

"Sort of. The son of a bitch was hidden under his dark side sith cloak so I couldn't see much." Dean placed the still wrapped pumpkin on the small table and then sat down on the bed closest to the door. "He was slightly taller than me, and he smelled like rot. All I saw was a hand. It was long and thin and the skin looked like dull orange leather. And that's really all I could tell you. Oh, and his touch did this." He pointed at his forehead.

"Well, tell me everything while I get you patched up." Sam started to go for the front door, obviously planning on getting the first aid kit from their car.

"Dude, I'm fine." Dean called after him.

"If I don't get something on those burns, they're going to start to peel. And the ones on your forehead might scar. You want that?"

"Fine." Dean conceded. He watched as his brother left their room and then glanced over at the lump under his jacket. It was still under there, but Dean felt as though it was somehow staring at him through the leather. But that was ridiculous. Right?

Sam reentered the room carrying all of their bags. He dropped them by the bed and then dug through one of them to retrieve their well-stocked first aid kit. Sam pulled out a small jar of silver sulfadiazine cream and used a gauze pad to apply it to his brother's wrists and hands. Then he covered the back of Dean's left hand with a sterile pad and gently wrapped it with gauze to protect the blistered skin. As the younger brother turned his attention to Dean's forehead, he got a puzzled expression on his face.

"You said that this happened when he touched you?"

"Yeah. I wouldn't recommend shaking hands with this guy. Why?"

"It's just… when we were at the hospital, I got a closer look at Mike Norton. He had some faint marks on his head. And now that I think of it, they look exactly like those burns." He gestured at Dean's forehead. "They were just older and almost completely healed."

"So coma boy met up with this guy too. Makes sense."

"But why are you not in a coma too then?"

"Because I shot his freaky ass. That's when he burst into flames and gave me these." Dean raised his hands.

"So do you think he was trying to put you in a coma too? Why not just kill you? Because he had to have been responsible for the three deaths here. There's no way that there's more than one creature in town."

"I agree." Dean nodded. "And trust me, his nails looked like he could rip someone apart if he wanted to."

"So he kills some and not others." Sam was quiet for a moment, seemingly deep in thought. "All three victims that were torn apart were major jerks. One was abusive, one a bully, and I just learned that the first victim was cheating on his wife. But I can't find any really bad dirt on Mike Norton or the other coma patient, Derek Boothby." Sam pointed at his open laptop. He'd obviously been looking into the personal lives of those involved.

"So he goes around ganking assholes. Why?"

"Yeah, and why didn't he kill you?" Sam added with a smirk.

"Ha ha. You're a riot. But seriously, why kill douches and put nice guys to sleep. What's the point?"

"Hopefully that nurse can give us some more info on the kind of comas that the two men are in. Maybe there's some clue there."

"Well, there's something else to check into." Dean pointed at the jacket covered pumpkin he'd brought with him.

Sam walked over to the table and pulled the leather jacket off of the object. Just as Dean had been expecting, the jack o'lantern was facing him.

"Man, that's creepy looking." Sam exclaimed. "Why would anyone carve a face like that into it?" Dean watched his little brother pick up the gourd and turn it around in his hands. "You say it self-ignited? And it was indestructible?"

"Yeah. It lit itself twice while I was there. And it withstood being thrown and stomped on. I was thinking that we could try some other experiments while we have it here." Dean responded as he rummaged through a bag.

"What kind of experiments?"

Dean pulled a huge hunting knife from the bag. "Kind of like this." He replied as he stood and walked over to the table. He raised his arm high into the air and brought the sharp weapon down with all his strength. The blade cut right through the jack o'lantern's thick skin and flesh.

"Doesn't look very indestructible to me." Sam commented.

"Dude, I was sure the blade wouldn't penetrate." Dean admitted. He went to pull the knife from the pumpkin but it seemed to be stuck. He tightly grasped it with both hands but hissed from the pain in his burned left one.

Sam pushed him out of the way. "I'll get it out, Dean. You're going to burst those blisters if you're not careful."

Dean shrugged and resisted the urge to get into a juvenile shoving match with his brother. Truth be told, he was glad that Sam had taken over. The older Winchester was going to need something to take the edge off the pain before he could comfortably use his left hand.

Sam had just started to extract the knife when Dean saw the blade begin to glow red hot. The heat seemed to be traveling up towards the handle.

"Sam, let it go!" He warned.

"I almost got it." Came the response, followed by a cry of pain. Sam let go of the weapon and jumped away from the table, holding his right hand.

"Tried to warn you."

"What the hell?" Sam looked down at his hand. Dean looked as well and saw that it was just slightly red. He'd released his grip on the knife in time to avoid any serious damage. Just then they heard a clatter.

Both brothers looked over at the jack o'lantern to see that the knife was no longer protruding from the orange gourd but was lying on the table next to it. Dean stepped over and examined the pumpkin. There was not a scratch on it.

"Believe me now?" He asked Sam.

"Yeah, I know. You told me so."

Dean grinned. "I have you well-trained."

"Whatever. So, what now?"

"Well, I don't know about you, but I think the Mr. Wizard portion of this investigation should end for our own safety."

"I agree."

Dean checked the time. "Jill should be calling soon. I'll meet with her and learn a bit about the whole coma thing, while you check on you laptop to see if any of this makes any kind of sense."

"So I do all the hard work while you flirt with a hot girl."

"Dude, I'm the one who got fried today. I think I deserve the better assignment. Besides, she was checking me out, not you."

"Fine. But what are we going to do with that thing?" Sam nodded to the jack o'lantern. "I don't think either of us should be alone with it."

"Aw… is little Sammy afraid of the big, bad pumpkin?" Dean teased. He didn't mention that he had no intention of leaving his brother alone with the jack o'lantern and that the piece of orange crap made him nervous too.

"I'm serious, Dean. Maybe it summons that thing you saw earlier."

"Yeah, I thought about that. Which is why I'm taking it with me. I seriously doubt that creepy cloak guy will magically appear in a moving vehicle."

"I guess." Sam seemed reluctant for Dean to take any action that would put him in harms way. Dean understood where he was coming from but he'd much rather risk his own life than put Sam in any type of danger.

Just then, Dean's cell phone rang. "It's probably Jill." He announced and then answered. "Hello."

"Hi. Uh, is this special agent Dean Hetfield?"

"Yeah. Who's this?"

"Uh, this is nursing assistant Carol Myers. I'm friends with Jill Griffin. I saw her talking with you earlier today and I just found your card in her pocket so I felt I should call."

"Wait, slow down. You found the card in her pocket? Is she okay?"

"No. They just found her out back, by the dumpsters. She's in a coma, just like the two patients she was taking care of. They say she must've fallen or something but it's a big coincidence, don't you think? Besides, I think she was attacked."

"What makes you say that?"

"She's got these, like, cigarette burns or something on her forehead."

"Okay, this may sound like an odd question, but were there any pumpkins near the dumpsters?"

"What? Why… what does that have to do with anything?"

"Please just answer the question."

"I don't know about that because I wasn't there when they found her. Do you want me to go and check?"

"No." Dean answered rather forcefully. "I'll be there soon."

"Okay. I'll be here for another two hours if you have any questions."

"Thanks." Dean hung up the phone.

"What happened?" Sam inquired.

"It got to Jill. She's in a coma."

"Crap."

"Yeah. I'm still going to the hospital to find out more about the coma patients. Do your whole research thing. We'll compare notes when I get back."

"Sure. Be careful, Dean. This thing already targeted you once."

"I won't give it another chance." Dean stated with more confidence than he felt.

The older hunter dumped the contents of one of his duffle bags out onto the bed, and placed the jack o'lantern inside. Then Dean slipped into his leather jacket and walked out of the motel room, carrying the possibly dangerous package in his right hand. He wanted to stop this freak before any other innocent people were attacked. No one else was going to get hurt on his watch.

Author's Note Part Two: See, I wasn't that bad to Dean... but the story is just getting started. Please review and let me know what you think. Please. If you don't review I'm afraid that this jack o'lantern that is currently staring at me may attack...