PhantomNatural

Ch. 3

The hours had crept by, and Dean's eyes were growing heavy. He wanted to give up and head to bed, but that insistent nagging kept telling him to stay awake. He glanced back at Sam, who was sound asleep on one of the twin beds. Dean envied him at that moment. His eyes drifted over to the digital clock, where the red numbers read 4:45. A silent sigh escaped his lips as he turned back to the window. 

The night was cold, so condensation gathered on the glass in front of him. A dull light flashed in the parking lot, and Dean reached up, using his sleeve to wipe away the condensation. A white car had appeared in the parking lot. Strange, seeing as Dean hadn't heard a thing. A tall dark figure stepped out of the vehicle and headed towards the motel. They avoided the office and instead turned onto the old wooden porch. Making their way down the porch, they would pause by each door, seemingly waiting for something. This only happened a few times before they came to a stop outside of the teens door. Dean leaned closer to the window, watching as the figure turned towards the door, reaching out a long, spindly hand to grab at the door handle. Dean swiftly tucked his pistol into his belt, before grabbing and tucking the ice bucket neatly against his side and exiting the room. He closed the door quietly behind him, and acted surprised to see the figure. He didn't have to act tired however, because he already was.

"Oh, out to get some ice too?" Dean asked, looking the figure up and down. From this angle, he couldn't see their face, but it was obvious the person was taller than him. "Usually I'm not one to get ice at this hour, but I just had to watch a horror movie and now I can't get back to sleep, heh.." He tried to start up a conversation, to act friendly and lure them into talking, to see just what exactly they were up to. The only thing he got in return was cold, dead silence. Dean cleared his throat awkwardly and braved himself to take a step closer. "I think you've got the wrong room ther-" He stopped talking when the figure's head snapped in his direction with a sickening crack and a dark, freezing stare locking onto him. 

Back away

Dean was taken aback by the voice sounding in his mind. It's not the first time he'd had a voice in his head, but it was definitely different than those previous times. He felt like something was stabbing at his mind with every sound and syllable. He dropped the ice bucket and whipped the gun from his belt, pointing it at the figure. "I'm going to have to ask you to take a step back now." The figure glanced at the gun and produced a sly sneer, as well as a shrill snicker, before disappearing through the door, without even having opened it. "What the.... Sam!" Dean called, before trying to open Danny's door. To his dismay, the door was completely and utterly locked. Sam came out of their room, looking a bit frazzled and irritated.

"What?" Sam asked, noticing his brother trying to break down the teen's door. "Woah, what are you doing?!"

"Some kind of thing appeared and was heading for his door. When I confronted it, it spoke in my head and went straight through the door! Like it was air!" Dean explained in a rush. "Kid!" He called. "Get out of there!" Sam, seeing the situation in a new light, joined him and the two slammed their bodies repeatedly against the door. The wood splintered and gave way, bursting open to allow the hunters through. 

The figure towered over the single bed, where Danny's small frame was sleeping. Some sort of smoke or fog seemed to seep out of the boy's skin, and up to the figure, where it promptly inhaled it. Once again the figure's head snapped towards them, its neck producing an audible crack. Dean lifted his gun, firing off a couple of rounds at the stranger. It dissipated into smoke and Sam didn't hesitate to run forward, picking up Danny. The smoke regathered into the far corner of the room, reforming into the figure. Sam dashed out the door, followed by Dean who had just fired off a couple more rounds, causing the figure to burst into smoke once more. 

"Get to the car! I'll grab the stuff!" Dean ordered, rushing into their room and grabbing their bags. Luckily, they were used to keeping everything gathered in case they needed a quick escape. He kept his gun ready as he ran out to the Impala, not even bothering to close the motel door behind him, or return the room keys. Dean tossed the bags into the trunk and hopped into the drivers seat. He sent the car into drive, after checking that his passengers were indeed there, and peeled out of the parking lot. In the rearview mirror he watched as the figure climbed into the white car, and as both disappeared into a cloud of smoke. He glanced back at where Danny was still asleep in the backseat.

"He really slept through all of that?" Dean asked, returning his attention to the road ahead.

"Didn't even stir. I have to wonder if it had something to do with what that thing was doing to him." Sam answered thoughtfully, thinking back to what they had seen. He couldn't fathom anything about what that creature could be, or what could kill it. At least they could rule out Dean's silver bullets, after having witnessed the creature come back from at least five of them. 

"I'll keep driving for a while, hopefully we can shake whatever was chasing the kid. And hopefully he'll wake up so we can get some answers." Dean decided, already knowing he himself wouldn't get much sleep for a while.