"It's really simple ya idjit, you get on the plane, you fly, you land, you fix the problem." Bobby looked at Dean impatiently.
"Easy for you to say, I hate flying." Dean muttered and looked at Sam, Sam offered nothing up in argument so Dean sighed. Great not only was he flying it was to the other side of the freaking world! "Aren't there hunters in England? Why us?"
"Cos I volunteered you to a friend and yes, you're off to meet an old contact of mine that was a hunter."
"You know a lot of old hunters." Dean grumbled.
"It's called getting old, now get outta my sight and go."
Dean shut the door to the Impala and looked at Sam, Sam just sat and smirked before opening a tin of soda and raising his eyebrow. Might as well get the rant over and done with but Dean knew the look and just started the engine. He didn't look back, probably a good job because Bobby Singer was grinning like a Cheshire Cat. FINALLY he might get a bit of peace, he had plenty to be doing around the yard and it was just one more potential distraction out of the way.
"Okay enlighten me with the geek attack." Dean watched Sam trawling through information on his laptop, they had twenty minutes until they hit aerial hell, he needed a distraction.
"Not a lot to go by just yet, there's a couple of news reports in English papers to say that four separate incidents of children going missing have occurred in the last two years in Sherwood Forest, Nottinghamshire."
"Freaking sweet!" Dean exclaimed, Sam looked at him, not the reaction he expected.
"Dude... really? Robin Hood!" He grinned. Sam just rolled his eyes. "No? Oh okay..."
"Well unless Robin Hood is a vengeance ghost who stills poor kids for the rich and hasn't handed them over I somehow doubt it." Sam finished his coffee. "The local reports seem to centre on an urban legend, The Slenderman."
"Oh please..." Dean scoffed. "Bobby is sending us across the world to hunt down a created meme?"
"We looked at things for less. Besides we don't know what this other hunter will have to offer yet." He doubled checked the details of their contact before shutting the laptop down. "Right lets go."
"Wrong freaking side Dean!" Sam yelled for the fifth time that day. Since landing at the Airport it had been a nightmare trying remember what side of the road they needed. Roundabouts had caused a stream of obscenities from his older brother. Sadly Sam was making it worse by laughing every time someone blasted their horn and by the time they had reached the hotel he was in no mood for the jokes.
"Double room sir?" The hotel receptionist looked at them both, why were all the sexy ones gay?
"Two singles." Sam put his card down on the desk.
"You can have a double, there's nothi..."
"I am not gay, he's my brother. Will you just please, please give us a room?" Dean cut her off. "We've flown a long way and to top it all off your driving laws are insane. Who the hell drives that side? It ain't natural."
Sam apologised for his outburst several times but got the impression she didn't really care as long as she was looking at Dean. It was typical really, Sam gave up and grabbed his bags to head upstairs. He had also noted that the accent around the area wasn't too hard to understand, unlike their trip to see Crowley's remains...
In the room Dean opened the mini bar and drank deep from the miniature whisky. Sam left Bobby a message to say they were there and to confirm he was off to make contact with the hunter. Dean opted to crash out and leave his brother to the boring bits, he was more interested in the adult pay per view.
Dean was fast asleep when Sam made it through the door, the jet lag had caught up with Sam too so instead of waking him up to talk about the case he took the chance to grab a few hours too. The few hours took them both to the next day, mid-morning when a knock at the door for room service woke Dean up.
A shower and shave later he smirked and then taking a deep breath he extended a foot, pushed and waited for Sam to yell as he landed. Several snappy comments later they were sat at the table in the breakfast room, the full English fry-up had at least improved his mood. Food, plenty of it, that was the bit he liked about hotels like the ones they had hooked up in. Sam turned the machine around to face Dean.
"Okay so all the kids that went missing are between 11 and 14. They were all out with other children, adult supervision but here's another reason they think this Slenderman thing has merit, check this out."
Dean took a look at the picture, a large tree held up by a series of scaffolding, the tree was massive and near it were several children from the school outing. It had been the last picture they had handed over to police because it was the most recent of the missing child. The missing child was the one closest to the tree and Sam pointed out what he was looking at.
"Holy.. freaking..." Dean leant forwards and looked at it closer.
Behind the large oak tree was a weird looking shadowy figure, and only a hunter would likely have picked up on it that quickly. It blended into the tree-line at the back of the pictures and was barely recognisable as anything more than pareidolia but Dean could see that instead of it being tree branches they were more like tendrils or tentacles. He shuddered, the weirdest thing about it was that it just seemed to be completely blended in and he doubted anyone there would have noticed it.
"Right so what do we know about this thing? It started off on a paranormal chat board about making up a monster in effect. I'd liken the arrival of this thing to the Tulpa. It likes to torture it's victims and that targets can behave like they are possessed. So if this has become a Tulpa effect it still doesn't say how people believe it to be killed." Sam looked at his notebook, he was trying to make sure he remained sceptical but sadly with the amount of belief in the thing he was starting to fear the other contact was right.
"Blah blah how do you kill it?" Dean was bored already.
"It doesn't really say." Sam looked at him, he kicked his shin to make Dean sit upright. "the only known things are the idea is that you can look at it directly and it can make him pause, but if you look at him too long he strikes. So there's a brief window of opportunity."
"Well rock salt and guns work on most things..." Dean shrugged.
"Guns are not legal in England Dean." Sam reminded him. "So that's not an option."
"What a stupid country, how the hell do people defend themselves then?"
"We totally had this conversation the last time around, and I reminded you then that England doesn't have a constitution like America, the closest thing is the Magna Carta... ah forget it." Sam stood up, ignored the blank look and closed his laptop.
They pulled up at the forest without incident, the car had utterly bemused them, it wasn't even a big car and yet they had seen these tiny ass things driving around. Even Sam had to agree they wouldn't be practical around the roads they travelled. The walk to the tree relaxed them both, this was semi-familiar at least and amongst other tourists they didn't find their accent particularly drew attention.
They wandered around, their investigation wasn't really hindered because just like they were doing other people had taken to checking around the place. However unlike most tourists and visitors they were just interested in looking for clues about something paranormal, because it was such a popular place they found it hard to understand how the children had gone missing. People just seemed to be around there all the time but towards the end of the afternoon it was quietening down.
They took seats on a park bench and watched people going past, for the fourth time that afternoon a sudden shower of rain had broken out. Dean wondered why England had been such a popular place for people to want to visit, the weather went through every season in practically two hours!
"Hey Sammy..."
"Yeah Dean?"
"What do the English call an English Muffin?"
"I would guess a muffin..."
"Nope cos their muffins are like err... cup-cakes."
"Why are we having this conversation?" Sam looked at him, honestly what was the freaking point in that?
"Passing the time..." Dean stood up. "There's no one around we might as well do a quick hike around, then if we get zip we can go start trying to get to the witnesses, only problem is we got jack squat influence here and can hardly pass ourselves off as English."
They hiked through a few of the woodlands, worked their way through some obvious trails and slowly made their way along through the woodlands. Dean pointed to a trail that looked fresh, as though someone had decided to make a new investigation through some woodlands not usually traversed. They made their way cautiously as they didn't know the area and they couldn't take their usual equipment with them, Dean had to admit without a gun he felt pretty exposed and the knives the retired guy had given them were good but still he would prefer not to have to get up close to something akin to some dodgy Japanese hentai with aliens.
Whilst the area wasn't that massive as the night drew in they had to admit that like any woodlands, it could be creepy as shit. Sam took a break to load up some batteries to the torches they had packed, Dean took the opportunity to finish eating the rest of the chocolate bars he'd brought. English chocolate was WAY different to what he was used to, but hey... when in Rome!
Sam figured that Dean would end up on a major sugar high if he didn't stop eating the snacks but then again, he was pretty used to that. They broke through the trail and found what looked to be a hidden cave, the natural rock had been carved out. This wasn't unusual because Nottingham contained many natural and man-made caves around the city. This one however looked to have only recently been used which was the more concerning part.
"Dean..." Sam pulled him back before he headed in blindly. "It's dark and we don't know what we're facing."
"Yeah, but they don't get grizzlies and wendigo here so what you worried about?" And with that Dean wandered in, but not before turning to Sam and grinning as he burst into song... "Sometimes it's hard to be a woman, come on Sammy this is your song... giving all your love to just..."
Sam wondered why he hadn't punched him in the face far more times than he currently had but then took a deep breath, family, family, patience. Nope, he still wanted to punch him, maybe later on after the hunt was done he could sort it out, after all Bobby had buried bodies before, so had he. In the end he settled for silently amusing himself with the idea but knowing he never would. Once Dean realised it wasn't working on Sam he gave up singing, which was also a blessing to the ears.
Inside they saw that the cave carried on for a while, so with knifes out and torches pointed it was decided they would follow the trail. Sam was the first one to hear the muffled whimper, he nudged Dean and so they both stood to listen for a short while. Dean turned to tell Sam he was sure it sounded like a kid and then Sam watched as he yelped and tried to tell him something.
It went hideously wrong, one minute Dean was there stammering at him, so he turned to look, the next... Dean was gone.
"DEAN!" Sam yelled out instantly. "DEAN! Damn it..."
Dean woke up, he felt a trickle of cold liquid down his neck, he wanted to brush it away but found he was stuck to a wall. In the distance he could hear Sam's yell and shouted back. From beside him he heard a muffled whimper and looked over, his torch was on the floor just beside something he vaguely recognised as a cage.
"Hey?"
"Help!" A child's voice broke the curious silence. "I want my mum!"
"I came to help..." Dean sighed. "Didn't turn out so good, hoping my brother gets here soon."
"The strange man keeps coming..." Another child was crying, and Dean felt that familiar sickness that came with knowing children were hurt by all these troubles.
"SAM!" Dean's voice was strong and echoed through the cave but judging by the footsteps and his brothers continuous yelling he felt that his words were not getting through at all.
The light from the torch was pretty much all they had to go by and the kids went silent which prompted Dean to look up. It was a brief look but he got all he needed. The figure of the man in the black and white suit must have been easily 7 feet tall. It was abnormally thin and it's featureless face sent a cold shiver down his spine, why the hell did people want to make this shit up? Wasn't there enough trouble in the world without wishing for more?
Dean felt his head spinning, his eyes ached and he looked away, it was probably the best move he could have made because he didn't want to imagine how much more intense the pain could have become. One of the kids let out a cry as the creatures bizarre tendrils came across the floor threatening up towards the grown man.
"Dean!" Sam's voice echoed around the walls. It made Dean even more nervous, the cave hadn't looked that big that they could get lost in fact his judgement had been it was literally only one long chamber so what the hell was going on? "Dean where the hell are you?"
Dean wanted to tell Sam to watch his back but he found his voice choked off, it was getting harder to breathe and he was really worried when he noticed that the children's voices had stopped altogether. He suddenly heard metal strike stone, Sam must have been close and seen something.
Sam saw a shadow in the distance, he couldn't hear Dean's warning yells but he sure as hell knew something nearby was dangerous. He almost growled in impatience as he spotted the same strange shadow pass nearby, with a wild swing he hoped to catch the creature, but he also recognised that looking around too much could bring him face to face with it, and that had been where Dean went missing.
Whatever the thing was it was solid, as Sam's knife slid across the stone it also caught the edge of flesh. Sam jumped for joy on an internal level, if it was killable with their knives they just had to play savvy to do so. He swung again and this time as he pulled back he could feel the light breeze of air that came from a tunnel he had missed the first time he walked down the corridor. Sam ducked through to see what he could get out of the new area to explore.
It was fortunate that he noticed it when he did, Sam stepped behind the rocks and was met with the strange tall creature once more. This time the difference was that Dean yelled freaking loudly and was heard, Sam whipped around to see him on the wall crudely roped up and near an old metal cage. He didn't stop to think, he swung the blade wildly across the thing, it moved out of the way and disappeared. That was fine, it brought him the precious moments he needed to get to his brother and start to cut him free.
Dean grabbed the knife from his pocket the second one hand was free and set to work with Sam guarding them. Sam kept the knife ready, and the torch up so that the light carried on shining at the entryway. Once Dean was free he opened the cage, the kids were mute with fright but he was able to get the two they found conscious up and moving. The other child at the back was not moving and if there was any sign of life Dean couldn't find it.
"Sammy I gotta carry this one. You need to guard us." He pulled on the frail form, towards him. "There's no sign of the fourth one..."
"I think that one's likely too old to be found, it was over a year ago." Sam sighed, he moved forwards. The knife was swung several times before they got to the entrance of the cave. "I'm gonna go back and finish it off."
"You can't go back on your own, we can take the kids back and get them to a hospital." Dean lay the youngest one down, a girl that looked about thirteen who looked pretty emaciated.
"Dean think about it." Sam turned and looked at him. "We are about to drop off three of four missing kids, we've been here what 24 hours at best? Don't you think they will try and ask a ton of questions whilst in the meantime whatever this Slenderman, or whatever thing, is still out there and no one else will be taking the shot at it."
"Ah God Damn it." Dean sighed, Sam was right. "I am giving you five before I come in after you."
"Understood." Sam nodded and moved back in, the torch was turned off once he got inside. He needed to draw it closer so he could get a full swipe at it. The blade was the best shot against the son of a bitch and he knew it. He felt the thing appear, moving quickly he snapped the torch back on and was met with the torso of the creature. Sam plunged it deep into the chest, praying that whatever belief had been made up about it, the heart was still a death strike.
Jackpot, the creature crumbled to it's knees, Sam took no chances and moved in with a decapitation. At the same time the thing lashed out in it's death throes and pulled him with the strange tendrils, as it released him Sam was thrown into the cold stone of the cave wall. There was a loud crack and Sam knew for sure that yet again a rib had been taken out in the process. He slid down just in time to see the thing turning into black wisps of smoke before dissipating to leave no trace.
Sam limped out holding his side and Dean rushed over to check him, it wasn't the best result but three of the four kids were found. It was decided than an anonymous call from a phone booth would be the better option and having left the kids at the local Burger King they headed straight off to the airport. Fortunately, they were able to take cancelled flight seats out and because of the adrenaline Dean didn't get time to argue about it.
Back at Bobby's place they talked about the weird affair, the creature was cropping up as internet meme's more and more. Games and movies were growing in the internet cultured world and people were talking more and more about seeing them. How much was fake? Well, that was going to be a pain in the ass to work out but one thing was sure, hunters had a new creature to be looking for.
"So overall this thing ain't gomna be limited by geography is it?" Dean sighed.
"No but at least we can confirm it's something you can kill with the good old, good old..." Bobby put the scotch on the table. "I almost prefer demons. At least they are bound by rules."
"Good point." Sam nodded. "Besides... Dean's getting used to kinky straps with these other monsters. At least with Demon's he fights back."
"Bitch." Dean muttered.
"Jerk." Sam replied as he downed the shot.
"Idjits."