Chapter 17 – I am human The night had fallen over Carbonado, WA and the Winchester brothers were on to a new case. Between two and three hours away from Port Angeles and only one hour away from the capital of Washington, five men had been committed to the nearest Mental Institution for their minds had gone on a fast ride with madness being the destination. Two of them had died 5 days after being admitted, death by suicide – or so the local authorities thought. There was no record of something similar in that small and nice town's past – Sam checked it very thoroughly. They were at their motel room; Sam searching every book and every website even remotely related to what was happening in town and Dean was on its way to talk to the victim's husbands. It seemed like a rough case to solve and they had already done one questioning to each family: the Thorssen's, the Lutz, the Gilligan's, the Clearwater's and most recently the Pierce's. Dean was certain they must have missed something that connected the four men to each other. It was when Dean reached the second's wife house that he noticed something that stood on the coffee table, something he saw on the balcony at the Thorssen's kitchen: a box of matches from the Black Oyster Pub, the only pub in town. Upon asking, the three last wives confirmed that the deceases were regular costumers at the mentioned pub. "But how can a damn pub make five men go crazy?" Wanted Dean to know. "Maybe it's another case of contaminated food, like in that Leviathan case we had." "I covered that, the owner says they have deals with the same producers and distributors of 20 years ago and they have no new stuff on menu. All they have new is the bartender… Damn, that was a foxy lady... That snake tattoo on the end of her back." Sam rolled his eyes as his phone sent a sound to the air, announcing a text message. "Is it my pseudo sister in law?" Sam answered his brother with just a smile. "Is she already complaining about Cas?" "No, not yet." "Yeah, just wait until he shows up naked and covered in bees." "I think Cas is way passed that. So get this, I think I got something, but it's really a stupid idea." "It's better than nothing. Shoot." "I have been thinking about this for the last hour but now that you talked about a girl with a tramp stamp it's really the only possible thing, at least that I have knowledge off. I mean, we've been at this for three days now." "I said shoot not make the words ballet their way to my ears, damn it." "I think it's something called Encantado. It basically takes the shape of beautiful creatures and makes people descend to madness until they are in such suffering that they kill themselves." "Why?" "There are local legends that say they feed on the soul of that person, stealing whatever makes them hold together. With the 'light', as they call it, gone, they just rot inside until they can't take it no more." "How come I've never heard of it?" "Well, usually the Encantado takes the form of a water snake, during the day, to pass under the radar, and it lives in a very specific part of the Amazonas." "Like in South America? What the hell is it doing in the states?" "This is not the first time a creature has travelled far away from its original home. We have met a few in the last years." "Okay, let's say it is, indeed, this Encantado, or whatever. How do we kill it?" "Well… That's the tricky part. There's not much lore about that. It is said a black wood stake drenched in the last victim's blood during a full moon and right in the heart will do the trick. Burning the dead body is the final step so the creature won't be able to come back." "That seems pretty simple." "Yeah, except the next full moon is two days away, Dean. This town doesn't need any more dead nor crazy people. " "Well, we'll just have to catch it first." Dean and Sam made their way to the pub that night and waited until it closed. They saw the waitress, named Phoebe, leaving the building with some guy they did not know: it was probably her next victim. They got out of the car ant trying to follow them discreetly. It was only when she took him to an alley that the Winchesters found their shot. As they got to her, she was already starting to feed on him. His eyes were cold, fixed on hers, and her mouth was opened, sucking this blue light out of his mouth. Her face was no longer beautiful for her skin was all scaly looking and her eyes were completely colored in silver, like the moon light upon their heads. The creature was distracted from her snack when the Winchester tried to catch her. Fortunately, she wasn't stronger than the next girl weighting 140 pounds. The Encantados had no other power than being very attractive and steeling your reason to stay sane and alive. They start with seducing man and moved to enchant you with their voices and eyes. They, they'd feed and in a few days you would kill yourself for all the memories you retained were the bad ones, you knew nothing of love, nor happiness, and the faces of your loved ones were known, but every time you looked at them you would see horrifying destroyed faces, like the ones of demons, and you would not associate them to anything good. The Winchesters trapped her in the motel room, tied to a chair, with an eye fold and a cloth on her mouth so she could not speak nor captivate you with silver treasure looking eyes. The man went home, not remembering what happened and Sam swore he would check on him the next day. It was around 10 a.m. when the man woke up, on that Saturday morning. Peter, that was his name, went down the stairs to get some breakfast. His wife was not in bed anymore, so he figured she'd be in the kitchen or living room. As he went down the stairs, he felt kind of weird, like something was missing, as if a part of his brain was still sleeping. He kept hearing something similar to whispering, a woman singing as if she was a mermaid, right into his brain. He felt bumped up, but did not know why. The voice of that non existing sea woman made him feel better, just like a child when hearing a lullaby. Olivia, Peter's wife, served him pancakes with bacon and maple syrup, his favorite. Back home in Oregon, that's what his mother made him every Saturday and Sunday morning, but when Peter took a piece to his mouth, it first tasted bland, then it got worst and by the third bite its flavor indicated the food was rotten. And during the day, it would just get worst. When Sam rang the bell, latter that afternoon, Peter had got worst faster than the other man: the evolution of the disease depended on how strong the man was. A few minutes before Sam got there, Olivia found Peter sleeping in the couch, having a nightmare, screaming in pain: "No daddy, don't." When he opened his eyes, he said he was dreaming about one night, much like many others, when his father got home, drunk, and used his belt to assault his son, that was only 10 at the time. Peter complained it felt so real that his back hurt, it really hurt. He walked up to a mirror and took his shirt off and although Olivia saw nothing, Peter found wounds on his body, as if they were freshly made, instead of his faint scars. The man panicked. When Sam got there, dressed as an FBI agent, asking to speak with Mr. Ferguson, claiming he was checking up on him since he was seen with the woman he was said to be drugging those other man with substances that made them delusional and depressed, Olivia informed it might be too late, she said her husband was not doing so well. Sam found Peter lying on the couch with a lost look on his face, a crazy look, like he had left his sanity some country far far away. Olivia said they had been talking on taking him to the doctor and Sam said he was probably better on the asylum. Sam also informed he would stay outside Peter's room to keep him to end like what was, at that night, 4 of the 5 (now 6) affected men. For the second day and night, Dean and Sam exchanged places. Dean was assign in the loony bin to keep Peter and the other remaining victim alive while the younger man was sent to the motel room to watch the victim. Phoebe looked week. Although Encantados only attack people for 13 days every 13 years, they must consume at least 13 souls and Phoebe was running out of juice. When Sam entered the room and Dean left, she felt warm and hopeful… If only her eyes were not covered. Sam's presence was stronger, his light was bigger than his brothers, and he had more happy moments than him. She felt his love for his brother and his dead family just like she sensed on Dean. He had a love waiting for him, she heard it in his voice when he said to Dean "I'll see you in a few hours." It was the kind of happiness every one hopes to achieve, that kind of happiness that makes its presence known in everyway possible. At the same time, Phoebe felt the pain. The weight of once having demon blood on him and being the reason his mother died. Being the man who let Lucifer out and the thousand times he let his brother down. His mothers, dad's, Bobby's and Jessica's death. The darkness and sadness it left on his soul when he became evil. The memories he had from the cage. Oh, how Phoebe wished she could be free and steal the light out of his eyes. All she could do was mumble a song, but when Sam noticed what she was trying to do, he hit her in the head, leaving her unconscious for a few hours. Sam did not sleep that night. He could not sleep while that monster wasn't dead. A small jar of Peter's blood that Sam took while he was sleeping was in the mini bar waiting to be used. When the moon started to rise, Sam got a call from Dean: Homer Pierced had killed himself during dinner hour, in front of everyone. According to the fake FBI agent, Peter was moved to a secure room where there was nothing he could use to kill himself. There was no certainty that Peter would get better after the monster was dead, but it was his only shot. While Sam used the stake to kill the monster, Dean had just left the ward to get back to the motel and help his brother burn the body. The next morning, there was no more Encantados in Carbonado and after they called the hospital, they were informed Peter was getting better, and by that rhythm he would be out in a few days. When Sam opened the door of Marie's house so him and his brother would enter, they were surprised with Cas standing right there with a face that transmitted bad news. "She didn't call you because she didn't wanted to interrupt your case…" "What happened? Where is she?" "Upstairs." Sam ran to their room, but entered quietly. He found his girlfriend lying on the bed, covered by some sheets in her blue flannel pajama. She was in silence, but a heavy atmosphere filled the room. "Marie? What's wrong?" His voice was soft. Sam was worried. He sat next to her and Marie looked at him. Her eyes were red from crying and her eyes had lost some of the light they had. She sat down and let Sam hug her. With her face hiding on his chest, she started to tremble, customary of someone who was, once more, on the edge of tears. "My dad, Sam. My dad is dead."