Ch Two

On The Drive

"So tell me one more time." Dean urged his younger brother, "where did Selena take her job again?"

"Tlaxcala, Mexico." Sam's words were flat.

"And what was Selena hunting again?"

"A Tlahuelpuchi." The younger Winchester explained, "Tlahuelpuchi are originally from Tlaxcala, Mexico. They are vampiric witches with lycanthropy powers. Her name means 'luminous' and you can see a faint glowing halo above her head. She is the type of vampire who lives with her human family during the day, but goes out and feeds on the blood of infants at night. She doesn't know she's a vampire until puberty. Tlahuelpuchi must consume blood once a month and they are the product of a curse that cannot be avoided. Before entering the house of her choice victim, the Tlahuelpuchi will perform a ritual by transforming into a cross and fly over the house from north to south, east to west. Evidence of a feed is the yellow, black and blue coloring of bruises majorly found on an infants upper body. The only other proof of a Tlahuelpuchi being a Tlahuelpuchi, is when she is caught in the act of feeding. And she must be killed on the spot. The only people who are affected by the Tlahuelpuchi's curse, are her family members if they give away her identity from being consumed by guilt, and the curse will be passed to them."

"Perfect." Dean wasn't too thrilled about the information he had received. Tlahuelpuchi were very tricky to kill if not done right. The eldest Winchester didn't know which was worse: going to Mexico to help kill a Tlahuelpuchi that could be hiding about anywhere, or meeting up with the King of Hell - who apparently happened to know where Selena was in the small town of Mexico. And speaking of The King of Hell...

"Hello, boys." Spoke an all too familiar voice, causing Dean to nearly swerve off the road from the unexpected appearance.

"What the Hell, Crowley!" Dean cried, trying to calm his racing heart from the scare. "Don't sneak up on us like that!"

"How else would I be able to see if you two are on your way?" asked Crowley.

"You have a cell phone!" Dean shot back. He was still trying to calm his racing heart.

"I don't exactly like being on the phone with you two whiny muttonheads longer than necessary."

"The feeling is mutual in that department." Dean confirmed. "But we still do it to get the job done because it's quick and easy, and it keeps us from having to see your ugly face." Dean motioned between he and Sam with one hand while keeping his other hand on the steering wheel.

"I have a handsome face, thank you very much. But that's besides the point."

"You're actually going to cut to the chase and tell us what your point is, for once?" asked Dean.

"If you want to know the situation revolving around your lady hunter friend, then yes."

"What happened to Selena, exactly?" Sam asked as a way to steer the conversation towards the well being of the fellow hunter, and away from the bickering between his older brother and the King of Hell.

"So your precious Selena was leaving Tlaxcala - pulling over to get gas at a stop near the edge of town. She thought the Tlahuelpuchi was dead." Crowley continued in a tone that sounded a little concerned. "But before Selena had the chance to get back in her car, she was abducted."

"Abducted by whom?" asked Dean.

"I don't know. I couldn't see their faces." Crowley informed, "Selena was bound and tossed in the back of some shoddy vehicle. But I did follow the vehicle though."

"Aaand?????" Sam and Dean prompted in unison.

"Selena was taken to some weird architecture 18 km southwest of Tlaxcala city, to be kept as a prisoner."

"Xochitecatl." Sam clarified, "The Pyramid of Flowers."

"What's that?" Dean asked.

"In short," Sam explained with a flat, disturbed tone, "Xochitecatl was a place for ritual activity."

Dean had a feeling there was something bad reviving around the word 'ritual.' He swallowed a hard lump that had formed in the back of his throat. "'Ritual' as in...?" He couldn't utter 'sacrifice.' That single word disturbed him to the core, as was customary in all ancient pagan cultures, people offered sacrifices to the gods of their religion revolving around their culture to please them in order to gain something good or to keep away something bad. Sometimes - depending on the culture and the religion of that culture, a sacrifice consisted of another human being.

Sam didn't iterate the word aloud. Only gave a sharp nod with a flat reply. "Yes, that."

To Crowley, Dean asked, "Selena was taken to Xochitecatl to also be a - well that?"

Crowley, on the other hand, flatly offered the word and his response after. "Sacrifice? I don't know."

In unison - and impatiently, Dean and Sam asked, "what else do you know?"

"Selena's time is running out." Crowley, in a tone that surprised the brothers, then let slip, "she will die if not saved."