Author's Note: And, for the second week in a row, I present a third weekly update! I'd like to thank new21writer, Hasmik Aharonyan, TheBigChillQueen, Julefor, Eliza Ghost, mic19671967, guest, DWMutt, agent iz hyper, Supernaturalfreak, emebalia, and O'erTheHillsandFarAway for their awesome reviews.

Chapter Six: Collecting Pumpkins and Putting Together Clues

Dean pulled up outside of the motel long after dark had fallen. He climbed out of the Impala and snatched the bag from the passenger seat. The hunter trudged to the door of the Winchester's room and knocked loudly enough to get Sam's attention but not so loud as to disturb the neighbors and get themselves thrown out. The door swung open and Dean walked past his younger brother, leaving the taller man to close and lock the door. He dropped the bag onto the table and the flopped back onto the bed.

"Everything go well?" Sam asked.

"I talked with that nurse chick. Not as hot as Jill but not bad looking either."

"Dean."

"What? Anyways, all three coma vics are fine. You know, except for the whole not waking up thing. But medically, there's no reason for them to be comatose. No head trauma, no illness, nothing to explain why they're in that condition."

"Well, this isn't the first time this has happened." Sam informed him.

"Really?"

"Twenty-five years ago and three states over, there was another rash of violent murders that coincided with strange comas in October. That time there were seven deaths and five coma patients. Twenty-five years before that, there was two murders and five people comatose in yet another state. And twenty-five years before that, four deaths, five comas. I haven't checked further back yet but I think we can assume what we'd find."

"So the number of murders change, but it's always five coma victims."

"Yep."

"Sounds like that's our connection then. So what happens to the coma patients? Are they still in comas?" Dean asked.

"No. They all died. At the same exact moment. On October thirty-first."

"So, they check out on Halloween. Because that's not creepy. Sounds like some kind of ritual or something. Probably where we should start our research."

"Exactly what I was thinking." Sam agreed.

"Great. You get on it. I'm going to rest here and try to forget about the last hour."

"Why? What happened?"

"Well, there was a creepy ass jack o'lantern at the hospital. So I picked it up and brought it with me. But then I got to thinking, so I swung by the first coma patient's house on the way back and sure enough, he had one too. I was just putting it in my bag when I was jumped. Dude was single but apparently lived with freakin' Cujo."

"He had an attack dog?"

"Yeah, and the bitch decided to try and take out the guy trying to help his owner."

"You didn't kill it, did you?"

Dean put on his best wounded look. "Your brother tells you he was almost mauled to death by a vicious beast and your first concern is for the mutt? Nice Sammy. I'll remember this."

"Well, you're obviously not torn to shreds."

"Only because I smacked it away from me and hid in the bathroom. Had to climb out the window and make a run for it." By this point Sam was chuckling. "Dude, it's not funny."

"Actually, it is."

"Just for that, I'm going to sneak one of these jack o'lanterns into your bed with you tonight."

Sam sobered up immediately. "You have all three jack o'lanterns in that bag? Isn't that risky? If they do summon whatever is doing this, then you've got a neon sign on you now."

"In all the cases, the victim was alone at home. I don't think we're at risk."

"Just keep them in that bag, okay?"

"No, I was thinking of taking them into the shower with me, then brushing their teeth, and finally snuggling up with them in bed. Dude, of course they're staying in the bag. I'm not an idiot."

"Well…"

"Shut it, Sam." Dean closed his eyes. He heard Sam close the laptop and the lie down on the other bed. They would need rest if they wanted to piece together the clues they'd spent all day gathering. With any luck they'd be able to finish up this job before Halloween, which was still a few days away.

The next morning, Dean woke to the sound of his phone ringing.

"Hello." He mumbled into it.

"Agent Hetfield?"

"Carol? Is everything alright?" Dean sat up, completely awake. The nursing assistant sounded upset.

"No. My cousin was just brought to the hospital. He's in a coma. I'm scared. What if this is a contagion?"

"It's not." Dean assured her. "Can you give me his address? I want to go over to his place to check something out."

"Is it the pumpkins you asked me about yesterday? Are they a source of this contagion?"

"It's not a contagion. Look, I need you to keep a secret, okay? We believe it's somehow connected to the serial killer in your town and that pumpkins are his calling card. I need to check your cousin's house to be sure."

"Oh. Okay, yeah that makes sense. And I won't tell anyone. I don't want to cause any panic. That's why you're keeping this quiet right?"

"Exactly."

"Okay. His name is Jeremy Gorham. He lives at 295 Riverview road, apartment B."

"Thanks."

"Do you think I'm safe? I mean I knew two of the victims…"

"You'll be fine. You have no connection to the other coma patients or any of the murder victims. This is probably just a coincidence due to the fact that this is a small town. With seven victims total, most of the town is probably connected to at least one of them."

"Yeah, you're right."

"Do me a favor though. If you see any jack o'lanterns, get out of wherever you are and go somewhere where there's more people. Then call me."

"Thank you, Agent Hetfield."

Dean hung up the phone. "We got coma guy number four." He announced.

Sam looked up from the computer screen he'd been staring at. "And murder victims four and five, according to this."

"Two kills and a comatization in one night? Someone was busy."

"Dean, I don't think 'comatization' is an actual word."

"It is now. And the point is that this thing is picking up speed."

"With Halloween just a few days away, it probably has to. This creature seems to have a schedule to keep."

"Okay well, that gives us a schedule too. So, we should give Bobby a call. See if he knows anything."

Sam nodded. "I actually called him a little while ago, while you were asleep. He's looking into it. I'll call back and see if he's found anything. I heard you say something about going somewhere?"

"Yeah, while you and Bobby do the geek stuff, I'm going to go pick up another jack o'lantern. I'll grab breakfast for us on my way back"

"Sure. Be…"

"Careful." Dean parroted at the same time. "Yeah, I know. See you soon."

Grabbing the duffle bag, he walked out the door with a quick wave over his shoulder.

It was a twenty minute drive to the apartment. Twenty-five since Dean stopped for coffee on the way there. Climbing out of the Impala, Dean made sure he had his gun close at hand. He would be ready if Cloak Freak showed up again. The hunter picked the lock on the front door and said a silent prayer that dogs weren't allowed in the apartment. Dean slipped through the now open door and walked into the kitchen. There, on the table, was another creepy looking carved pumpkin. Dean dropped his bag next to it and opened the zipper. Just then, he heard something clatter behind him. Spinning around, Dean pulled out his gun and raised it, finger on the trigger. He stopped himself right before he put a bullet in an orange tabby cat. It had knocked a coffee mug onto the floor.

"Dude, be glad I didn't just shoot your furry ass."

The cat didn't seem particularly threatened as it rubbed around Dean's ankles and meowed. Shaking his head, the hunter turned back to the table. And found four sets of evil looking jack o'lantern eyes staring at him. The three he'd brought with him were no longer in the bag but on the table next to the newest one.

"Oh crap." Dean groaned. He carefully stepped forwards to place the pumpkins back into his bag. He reached out with his bandaged left hand while his right kept his gun aimed at the jack o'lanterns. His hand had just touched one of them when they all spontaneously lit with bright flames. Dean jumped back and pulled the trigger. He assumed the bullet would penetrate just as the knife had but instead, the projectile ricocheted off of the orange gourd and ended up grazing Dean's side before embedding itself in the wall.

"Son of a bitch!" Dean cried and grabbed at the bullet wound. He took his eyes off the jack o'lanterns to check the injury. It was barely a scratch, bleeding but not heavily.

When the hunter looked back up, there was only one jack o'lantern on the table. Turning, he saw that one of the creepy pumpkins was now on the counter to his left, another on the window sill to his right, and the fourth was on the ground by the door behind him. He was surrounded.

"You know, I'd be more threatened if you weren't just useless carved up vegetables."

The fire inside of them seemed to glow brighter.

"Okay, sorry if I offended you."

"They're not offended. Just responding to my orders." A gravelly voice informed him.

Dean turned and came face to unseen face with the black cloaked figure he'd encountered before. He pointed his gun at the thing but this time the creature was ready. It grabbed the weapon in its thin, leathery hand and pointed it up in the air. Dean struggled to get it back in position, even though he wasn't looking forward to getting burned again if it burst into flames. But he certainly wasn't going to let it comatize his ass. Dean thought for a moment that he was getting the upper hand in their struggle over the gun when the weapon began to heat up. The hunter released his hold and stepped back.

"Dude, what is it with you and the whole burning thing? It's getting old."

"You're a hunter." The thing stated.

"And you're the hunted." Dean replied.

"You'll be perfect. Just what I need."

"Uh, thanks but no thanks. I may be perfect but you are so not my type."

The creature didn't respond but instead stepped forward and reached out to touch Dean's forehead once more.

"Oh hell no!" Dean exclaimed as he stepped backwards. And fell over one of the jack o'lanterns that had not been that close the last time he'd looked. The hunter tried to scramble back to his feet quickly but the thing was standing over him, its rotting stench almost enough to make Dean gag. Not about to let the thing get him, the young man kicked out catching it in its middle. It stumbled back and Dean rolled to his feet.

The hunter pulled out a knife and held it at the ready as the creature stalked towards him.

"You want a fight, douche bag? You got one. Let's do this."

With those words, Dean lunged at the creature.

Author's Note Part Two: And yet another cliffhanger! So, round two between Dean and the villian... who do you think will win? Please review and let me know what you thought. Thanks guys.