Twelve
Bobby pulled the Chevelle onto the side of the road and turned off the engine. Sam twisted in the passenger seat and reached into the back, grabbing the bag he had helped Bobby pack. "How many do you think are in there?" he asked as he turned back to Bobby, pulling the bag into the front seat.
"Hard to say. They like to travel in packs, like vampires." Bobby opened the door and squinted across the road at the rusted, overgrown iron gate that surrounded the property. "Not exactly inconspicuous, is it?" Sam followed his gaze and shrugged.
They got out of the car, still gazing across the road. The sun shone high in the sky above them yet it hardly broke through the trees. Sam shivered as a gust of wind whipped around them and he raised the zipper on his jacket a little higher. Bobby sighed heavily and Sam looked over at him.
"What's up?" Sam asked.
"I'd feel better if I knew what exactly we're about to walk into. You know, just a little more time."
"We don't have time, Bobby. The ghouls have Dean and Reggie and are doing who knows what to them at this very moment. Every second we waste is another second they could be dying. This is the plan we've got."
Sam shouldered the bag and started across the road. He heard Bobby sigh heavily again, then the sound of the man's footsteps following behind him. Sam led the way through the woods surrounding the large house, keeping to the outer lining of trees which would hide them from immediate view.
"You said these things don't really like the sunlight, right?"
"Yeah, it goes back to their origins. See, the ancient Egyptians worshipped Ra, the god of the Sun, and made sacrifices to him. The human kind of sacrifices. Lore goes that an alchemist, angry that his beloved wife was to be sacrificed to the god, created a potion to bring her back to life. The night after she died, he snuck into the temple and stole her body.
"The alchemist took her body back to his home and administered the potion. Ra, enraged that a sacrifice had been taken from his sacred temple, condemn the alchemist for his actions. The god stole the alchemist's wife soul, makin' sure that it would neither return to her body nor enter the afterlife. So when the potion revived the body, it came back inhuman."
"Sounds like a really bad Sci-Fi movie," Sam said, stopping at exactly the same spot he'd stood when he had been there with Reggie and Dean.
"It probably seemed like one too. Havin' your wife come back as this creature that craves blood and flesh," Bobby said, shuddering.
Sam knew what Bobby was thinking about; his wife. She had been possessed by a demon, and fearing for his own life, and not knowing at the time what was wrong with her, Bobby had killed her. The guilt of knowing what he knew now and how, if he'd only known it sooner, he may have been able to save his wife, fueled Bobby down the twisted path of becoming a hunter.
"Legend says that the alchemist tried to destroy the creature after realizin' it was not his wife, but it killed him instead and disappeared into the night, takin' with it all of the notes and recipes for his potions.
"For decades, the creature fed mainly on the flesh of the dead, preferrin' to remain hidden from both the livin' and the gods. A diet completely consistin' of death altered its body, turnin' the skin a bluish-gray and makin' it ice cold. As you already know, they have razor sharp teeth and claws and can move wickedly fast."
"If a ghoul started out eating dead bodies, why'd it change? Why'd they start taking live people and eating them like in some George A. Romero movie?" Sam asked. He dropped the duffle bag onto the ground and pulled out a long Bowie knife.
"Well, from what I've read, supposedly a person mournin' the loss of their loved one went into a graveyard where the ghoul had been feastin'. So insatiable was its hunger, that it attacked the poor soul, and ate 'em. The livin' flesh returned some of its former state, some of its more human characteristics. Reactivated its brain, in a way.
"With this newfound consciousness, the ghoul returned to its lair and began recreatin' some of the alchemist's potions. Eventually, the creature found the right combination to make more of its kind. They don't just eat the livin' because we taste better either. Eatin' us alive makes them stronger and faster, not to mention gives them their cloakin' abilities. Gives them those red eyes, too."
"The thing I don't get is the seven year gap. Why are they taking a specific amount of people during a specific amount of time and then stopping?"
Bobby shrugged. "I don't really know, Sam. My best guess is that they stick to a cycle to keep from bein' discovered. Or maybe it just has somethin' to do with the ritual that created the first ghoul." Bobby took the Bowie knife from Sam and tucked it into an inside vest pocket. "Whatever the reason, they've gotta be stopped."
Sam nodded at Bobby as he stood up. "You think Reggie and Dean are still alive, right?"
"Of course they are," Bobby snapped, hoping Sam hadn't noticed the hesitation in his response.
The floorboards creaked loudly under Sam's weight and he grimaced at the sound as it echoed through the old building. Sam and Bobby moved through the entryway into the living room, the entire house eerily quiet. Sam pulled out a flashlight, the beam bouncing off the cracked walls. "They could be anywhere," he whispered.
"We'll just have to start in the basement and work our way up," Bobby said as he started forward, heading down the short hallway that led to the kitchen.
They made their way down the stairs, the warped, rotten wood sagging under each step. Bobby took the lead, holding his flashlight in front of him. They moved silently through the basement, clearing it within minutes. Bobby followed Sam back up the stairs and they made their way back into the living room.
"It doesn't seem like anyone's here, Bobby. Maybe we have the wrong place." Sam glanced anxiously around, seeing the faint traces of Dean's footprints from the last time they'd been there.
"They're here all right. Look," Bobby hissed, pointing at a dark stain on one of the stairs leading to the second floor. Sam bent down and ran his finger over it.
"Blood," he muttered and stood up. Sam was just about to step onto the first stair when Bobby grabbed his arm, stopping him.
"We gotta go about this the smart way, Sam. There might still be innocent people in this house and they gotta be our first priority."
"Dean and Reggie are my first priority, Bobby," Sam snapped, yanking his arm out of the man's grasp. "But if we find anyone else, I know what I need to do." He started up the stairs, taking them two at a time, the beam of his flashlight bouncing erratically. Sam heard Bobby curse from the base of the stairs and looked over his shoulder.
The man was glaring at him. "We gonna do this together?"
He waited for Sam to reply.
"Yeah, of course."
"Then you might wanna remember that," Bobby grunted as he finally started up the stairs
Sam smiled, realizing what the man had been implying. He waited for Bobby to reach the landing before heading down the left end of the long hallway.
"Can you smell that?" Alexander hissed. He darted to Reggie's side and took a deep breath through his nose. "She smells glorious." He stroked Reggie's cheek with one of his long thin fingers and she jerked her head away, causing her body to swing.
"Get the hell away from her," Dean growled. Alexander turned to face him, a twisted smile stretched across his face.
"Are you trying to give me orders?" Alexander laughed loudly and strolled over, glancing at Cassandra and Adrianne as they hovered on either side of Dean. "Meals do not give orders." He smacked Dean across the face, the sound echoing around the room.
Dean shook his head, trying to clear the stars from his vision, and glared at the man. Alexander raised his hand, waiting eagerly for Dean to say something else. Dean could feel everyone's eyes on him, including Reggie's. He met her gaze and held it, trying to focus on her instead of what was around them.
"You okay?" he asked her.
Laughter bounced off the walls, pounding in Dean's ears. "What a stupid question," Cassandra cried, stepping in front of Dean to block his view of Reggie. "Of course she's not okay. Neither of you are! What you've failed to grasp, Dean, is that you're both going to die.
"We're going to slowly torture you, enjoying each scream, each tear you shed. And once we've gotten tired of your pleas for mercy, we're going to eat you!" She turned her back on Dean and stalked toward Reggie. Dean struggled against his chains, the muscles blazing in his arms as he twisted and jerked. "I never would have believed it if I hadn't seen and smelled it for myself."
"What's that," Dean asked, trying to get the woman to turn back around and focus on him.
Cassandra ignored him, stopping in front of Reggie.
"I never would have guessed that you would care more for his life than your own," she said directly to Reggie. She stroked Reggie's cheek with the back of her hand. "Hurting you is what makes her afraid," Cassandra said over her shoulder. "You must be really special, Dean."
Cassandra raised her other hand and ran a thin finger down Reggie's suspended right arm, cutting into the smooth skin of her bicep. Reggie screamed, the sound making Dean's heart constrict painfully, as the blood ran down her arm. Adrianne was at Cassandra's side, her hands clenching and unclenching eagerly. Dean grimaced as she pressed two fingers into the flowing wound, then stuck them into her mouth.
"I'm so hungry and she tastes so good," Adrianne groaned, repeating the action.
Alexander stood so close now that Dean could smell the decay, the result of years of eating human flesh, oozing out of his skin. "It was just going to be an experiment, torturing you in front of her to see how she would react, but you've both exceeded our expectations.
"By putting the two of you in the same room, to make one watch as we cause the other pain…it fills the room with such exquisite aromas. I can smell it even now, as I stand so close to you, the fear pouring off of Reggie. Fear for what I could be doing to you while she's being tortured over there. And I can smell your fear for her just as strongly. You humans are such unpredictable things."
Reggie screamed again as Adrianne cut another gash alongside the first.
"I'm going to cut you into tiny little pieces you smelly son of a bitch," Dean snapped, kicking his legs out.
Alexander chuckled and pushed Dean lightly so that he swayed back and forth before turning away and strolling back over to Reggie.
"Promises, promises," he called over his shoulder.
Sam entered what appeared to have been a bedroom long ago, his back against the cracked and peeling wall. The few pieces of furniture that had been left behind were shoved to one corner and in the center of the room sat a steel table. He circled the room once before stepping forward to get a better look at the table.
Sam recognized it as the ones he and Dean had seen plenty of times in county morgues while investigating possible supernatural deaths. It had what appeared to be blood caked on it and Sam leaned closer, trying to identify a small spot near the top of the table. He jerked backwards, realizing with horror, that it was a piece of rotting brain matter. Sam hurried from the room and moved on to the next one, hoping as he clenched the door handle, that he would not find the same thing.
After clearing three more rooms, he met up with Bobby in the hallway. "Every room so far has been empty. Are you sure the Myrrh oil will work against these things?" Sam asked.
Bobby rolled his eyes and nodded at him. "Of course I'm sure. Are you sure this is the right place? That the ghouls couldn't have set up somewhere else in town?"
"This was the only place that fit what the ghouls like. Isolated, empty, plenty of room - this place fits them all. Besides, I found evidence they were here. There was a table with some dried blood and stuff in one of the rooms back there," Sam said, shuddering as he pointed at the door of the room he'd checked earlier.
"So where the hell are they now?"
"Maybe they picked up and moved somewhere else when they realized there were hunters here?"
"I sure as hell hope not. 'Cause if that's true, we have no way to find Reggie and Dean."
Bobby sighed and opened one of the last doors on the left that neither of them had checked. Sam followed him inside and bumped into the man; he was stopped dead in his tracks. Sam's stomach clenched and he bit back against the urge to vomit, bile rising in his throat, as he took in the sight before him.
The room was covered in gore, the walls splattered with blood. Chains hung from the ceiling and suspended in them what was left of what appeared to be a man.
"Jesus," Bobby hissed and covered his face.
Sam could hear the man gagging behind his hand. Sam yanked up the collar of his shirt, covering his nose as the smell of death finally hit him. He took a hesitant step forward, his hand shaking as he pointed his flashlight at the body.
"What the hell...?" Sam muttered, his voice muffled by his t-shirt.
"His name was Robbie Marsten," Bobby said, getting Sam's attention. He was hunched over a pile of clothes thrown into a corner of the room. Sam walked over and took the I.D Bobby was holding out to him.
"This was the last guy that went missing before you called us. He disappeared about nine days ago," Sam said, looking into the tired brown eyes that stared up at him from the driver's license photo.
"Well, I'm no coroner, but it looks like he's only been dead for about two or three days. Which means that if they're not here now, they ain't far." Bobby turned, looking for Sam, but found himself alone in the room. "Sam?" he called, getting up and moving back into the hall. Bobby shut the door behind him, cutting off the ghastly sight.
Unfortunately, the smell still lingered with him as he moved down the hallway. Bobby could hear doors opening up ahead and he quickened his pace. As Bobby got to the first room down the west end of the long hallway, Sam came barreling out, nearly knocking him over.
"Sorry," he said and rushed into the next room.
Bobby followed after him, confused by Sam's erratic behavior. He had only taken two steps into the room when Sam pushed past him back out into the hall again. By the third room, Bobby'd had enough and he grabbed Sam's arm, yanking him to a stop.
"What are you doin'? Ya think you're going to find Dean or Reggie in one of these rooms?" he snapped as Sam tried to jerk his arm out of Bobby's grasp. "They ain't here, Sam."
"How do you know?"
"'Cause they ain't dead, that's how. You said this Marsten guy was taken nine days ago? Well it looks like he's only been dead for at least two. That means that the ghouls keep their meals alive for some time."
"So?" Sam glared at Bobby, waiting for him to get to the point.
"So? Reggie and Dean were only taken last night, right? So that means they're still alive, Sam."
"But if the ghouls know they have two hunters, don't you think that will move them up the food list? If you're right, and they got our scent the last time we were here, then they definitely know that there is at least one more hunter in town. That I'm out here looking for Dean and Reggie."
"You may be right, kid, but ghouls enjoy the torture. They enjoy savorin' the torment of their captives. Even if they're worried about you findin' them, they have to hold Dean and Reggie alive. They can't help 'emselves." Bobby relaxed his shoulders as he saw Sam take in what he said and relax himself. "I don't like thinkin' about what could be happenin' to 'em any more than you do, Sam, but we gotta be smart about this."
"I know, Bobby. It's just...after seeing that guy back there..." Sam stared at the hunter, his hazel eyes trying to convey that the terror and agony he felt were far beyond words.
Bobby laid a hand on Sam's shoulder and gently squeezed it. "I know, kid," he said, his voice hushed.