They stepped out of the elevator and walked down the hall until they reached room 311. "Mr. Seville?" Dean said as they stepped into the room. Inside of the room there was a young man with messy dark brown hair laying propped up slightly in the hospital bed. He turned his head toward them as they entered. He yawned a little and sighed some.
"Who... who are you?" He whispered weakly.
"FBI," Sam said, holding up his badge. "We just want to ask you a few questions..."
"O-okay..." The young man said, breathlessly, his eyelids drooping. "Just... make it quick.. I'm... I'm really tired..."
"Of course, we understand," Ella said with a nod.
"So, Mr. Seville.. have you noticed anything strange at your home? Uh... flickering lights... noises like mice... or any-" He stopped as Seville's eyes closed and his chin fell against his chest. The heart monitor suddenly began to shriek with alarms as the patient flat-lined. Nurses came rushing into the room and shoo-ed the group out. Oshea's eyes were wide.
"Did he just...?"
Ella was quiet as she widened her eyes and peered into the room, watching the nurses try to revive him. "Well that hasn't happened before..." She mumbled.
"Dean...," Sam said shaking his head. "Whatever this is... it just claimed another victim. This is no spirit... there was no cold spot... the lights didn't flicker... nothing. He just..."
"Died.." Oshea finished for him, feeling a little shaken.
"Hey... uh... guys...?" Chuck squeaked nervously, idly scratching at his chest.
"What?" Dean barked, looking from the room back over to Chuck.
Chuck cleared his throat and tugged down the collar of his shirt, exposing the rash that had begun to ooze the black fluid. "I think we have a problem..." He said, looking very nervous.
Ella's eyes widened and she gasped quietly.
"I've got to make a call," Dean mumbled, pulling out his phone.
Bobby picked up the phone on the third ring and placed it against his ear. "Hello?"
"Hey, Bobby. We're in Pierce County, Iowa, and something definitely weirder than the usual weird is going on here," Dean spoke into the phone.
"Alright, talk to me." Bobby said with a nod.
"Cas sent us here about some seal, and there are people dropping dead all over the place with some black inky rash right over their heart. The fifth victim just keeled over right in front of us, and now, apparently, Chuck's got it too. I've never heard of anything like this, Bobby," Dean shook his head.
"Hm... well, what does this rash look like?" He asked as he moved to his bookshelf and started to pull out a few thick, old looking volumes.
"Well we thought it was ectoplasm at first, but spirits don't normally leave that stuff laying around on random victims, do they?" Dean asked. "Whatever it was, I think it was draining the victims energy, because the guy we spoke to, complained of being really tired. How any of them got the rash, I don't have a clue."
"Oh crap." Bobby said as he flopped down into the chair behind his desk. He flipped through a large book. "This isn't good, Dean. Seems like what you've got is a Kere. They are death spirits. They look like a woman with talons and fangs, but the only person who can see them is the victim. The choose a victim and they mark them by touching them. After they have made skin contact, a rash develops over the victim's heart. And yeah, it drains their energy, makes the person very fatigued until they go to sleep. Once asleep, the Kere comes and rips out the person's soul."
"So, we're dealing with a female Freddy Kreuger? So, Chuck's pretty much screwed if he so much as takes a nap. Wonderful. Didn't see this coming, did you, prophet boy?" He glanced over at Chuck who stood nervously and fidgety against the wall in the hallway.
"This isn't funny, Dean!" Chuck said, his eyes growing wide. "I.. I'm going to die. Just like that guy in there." He said, gesturing toward the hospital room.
Dean rolled his eyes. "You're not going to die, Chuck. So, Bobby, any idea how to get rid of this thing?"
"The only way to kill it is for the intended victim to stab it through the heart with a holy blade." Bobby said after a moment. "But you cannot let Chuck go to sleep. The moment he loses consciousness, they will be able to tear out his soul. If he is able to stay awake long enough, the Kere will get desperate and come for him and he can kill her."
"We'd better start loading the poor guy up with coffee then," Dean said. "So, holy blade, huh? Would an archangel's sword do the trick?"
"Yep, that'll about do it." He said with a nod, looking up from his book. "And it has to be directly in the heart."
"Thanks, Bobby, we'll give you a call if anything else happens."
xx
It had been three days since the rash had been discovered on Chuck's chest. They had all taken turns sitting up with Chuck to make sure that he did not fall asleep, but it was getting harder and harder for Chuck to stay awake. The prophet was sitting in a chair in front of Sam's laptop, typing quietly. His eyelids were drooping over his eyes and he had typed the same word three times in a row without realizing it. He sighed softly, leaning his chin into his hand as his eyes closed.
Ella sighed and walked over to the dozing prophet, smacking him hard on the back of the head with a copy of "No Rest For The Wicked" that had been laying in a pile of books next to the computer. Chuck gasped and opened his eyes a little, glancing over at her with a small frown. "I thought I wrote you nicer than this..." He sighed, rubbing his eyes and reaching for his cup of coffee that had a pink bendie straw inside. He took a long drink then shook his head. "I don't know how much longer I can stay awake, Ella... "
"Do you want your soul ripped out of your body by a female Freddy with talons and fangs?" She replied.
"No," Chuck whined a little as he ran a hand through his messy hair. "But it's been three days, Ella... I can't eat... I'm even starting to see little... little pink elephants." He said, lifting his hands and wiggling his fingers in front of himself.
Dean was laying on his bed on top of the covers with his hands behind his neck. He moved them and rubbed his eyes. "For the love of God, shut up Chuck. You are not the only one lacking in the sleep department these days."
"I'm sorry, Dean," Chuck said sincerely, glancing over at him with a small frown. He looked into his cup of coffee, finding it empty and stood up to go fill it. When he took a step away from the chair, however, he swayed and started to fall to the floor.
Ella pulled him back up by his arm, "A little help, somebody."
Dean groaned and dragged himself out of bed, helping Ella sit him back upright in the seat. He smacked him a little across the face, jolting him awake. Chuck blinked and looked up , his eyes growing a little wide as he saw a grotesque female creature hovering just over Dean's shoulder. He jerked backwards, knocking the chair over as he reached for the archangel's sword. The Kere shrieked and lurched toward him as he fumbled with the weapon. He was thrown to his back as the creature forced him backwards. He pushed the sword upward as she came at him again and the blade pierced through her chest. The Kere screeched and burst into flames before fading away into ash. Chuck panted softly and let his arms fall to his sides.