"Yeah. You probably missed something, that's what." Dean said as we cruise down a country road. "Dude, I ran LexisNexis, local police reports, newspapers, I couldn't find a single red flag." Sam said, shaking his head. "Are you sure you got the coordinates right?" I asked Dean.
"Yeah, I double checked. It's Fitchburg, Wisconson. Dad wouldn't have sent us coordinates if it wasn't important guys." He replied. "Well I'm telling you I looked and all I could find was a big steamy pile of nothing. If Dad's sending us hunting for something I don't know what." Sam said, getting frustrated.
"Well maybe he's going to meet us there." Dean suggested. "Yeah. Cause he's been so easy to find up to this point." I said, sarcastically. "You're a real smart ass you know that?" Dean spat, looking at the review mirror to glare at me.
"Don't worry I'm sure there's something in Fitchburg worth killing." Dean said, putting his eyes back on the road. "Yeah? What makes you so sure?" Sam asked. "Cause I'm the oldest, which means I'm always right." Dean replied. "No it doesn't." Sam said. "It totally does." Dean said, glancing at Sam then looks back at the road with a little grin.
Reaching Fitchburg, Sam and I were leaning against the Impala and staring ahead at a deserted playground, with only one child climbing around. Dean crosses to the road to us, holding a drink carrier with three coffees. "Well... the waitress thinks the local freemasons are up to something sneaky but other than that no one's heard about anything freaky going on." He said as he handed Sam and I our drinks
"Dean you got the time?" I asked him. "Ten after Four. Why?" He asked, looking at his watch. "What's wrong with this picture?" Sam asked, indicating to the playground ahead. "School's out isn't it?" Dean asked. "Yeah. So where is everybody?" Sam asked.
"This place should be crawling with kids right now." I said. Dean went over to the playground to talk to a woman sitting on a park bench reading a magazine, while Sam and I stayed back to talk.
"I really don't like this. I mean monsters by themselves are bad... but the ones that go after kids." I said, stopping to shake my head. "That's a whole other type of evil." I said. "Yeah." Sam muttered.
After Dean was done talking to the woman, he told us that the kids around town have been getting sick. With six already in the hospital. We got into our fed outfits and headed over to the hospital.
Dean handed Sam and I each a card before we enter the building. My face fell when I read what kind of card it was. "Dude. Dude We are not using these IDs." Sam growled. "Why not?" Dean asked. "Cause they say bikini inspector on it!" Sam exclaimed. "Why is that even a card? And why do you have two of them?!" I asked in disgusted.
Dean grins at us. "Don't worry she won't look that close all right? Hell, she won't even ask to see it. It's all about confidence guys." He said, then he spins Sam and I to face the desk and kept walking. The receptionist looks up us. "Hi. I'm Doctor Jerry Caplin, this is Doctor Laura Wilder. We're from the Centers for Disease Control." Sam said, trying to be confident.
"Can I see some ID?" The receptionist asked, further down the corridor Dean sniggers. Sam and I threw him a dirty look before reaching for our IDs. "Yeah of course." Sam said and we quickly flashing the ID. "Now could you direct us to the pediatrics ward please?" I asked, quickly putting my ID away along with Sam.
"Okay well, just go down that hall, turn left and up the stairs." She said and we walks over to Dean, who was stilling grinning. Sam and I gives him a irritated look. "See. I told you it would work." Dean said. Sam glares at Dean and shakes his head, irritably. "Follow us. It's upstairs." He growled.
We headed upstairs and walk down the corridor, just as we were about to turn the corner we notice Dean had stop to look into a room. "Dean!" Sam called out, his brother jump slightly and hurry to catch up to us, glancing back toward the room.
"Well, thanks for seeing us, Dr. Hydecker." Dean said to the doctor as we walk down another corridor. "Well I'm glad you guys are here. I was just about to call CDC myself. How'd you find out anyways?" He asked. "Oh some GP, I forget his name, he called Atlanta and, uh, he must've beat you to the punch." Dean replied.
"So you say you got six cases so far?" I asked "Yeah, five weeks. At first we thought it was garden variety bacterial pneumonia. Not that newsworthy. But now..." Hydecker said, trailing off. "Now what?" Sam asked.
"The kids aren't responding to antibiotics. Their white cell counts keep going down. Their immune systems just aren't doing their job. It's like their bodies are... wearing out." He explained. "Excuse me, Dr Hyecker." A nurse said, coming up to hand him some forms to look over and sign.
"You ever see anything like this before?" Sam asked Hydecker. "Never this severe." He replied. "And the way it spreads... that's a new one for me." The nurse said. "What do you mean?" I asked her. "It works its way through families. But only the children, one sibling after another." She replied.
"You mind if we interview a few of the kids?" Dean asked. "They're not conscious." She replied. "None of them?" Sam asked, shocked. "No." She said, shaking her head, sadly. "Can we, uh, can we talk to the parents?" I asked. "Well, if you think it'll help." Hydecker said. "Yeah. Who was your most recent admission?" Dean asked.
A little later, we were questioning a man, who sat in a chair against the wall. "I should get back to my girls." He said, depressed. "We understand that, and we really appreciate you talking to us." Sam said. "Now you say Mary is the oldest?" I asked him. "Thirteen." He replied.
"Okay. And she came down with it first, right? And then..." Sam said. "Bethany, the next night." The man said. "Within 24 hours?" I asked. "I guess. Look, I, uh, I already went through all this with the doctor." He said.
"Just a few more questions if you don't mind. How do you think they caught pneumonia? Were they out in the cold, anything like that?" Dean asked. "No. We think it was an open window." The man said. "Both times?" Dean asked.
"The first time, I, I don't really remember but the second time for sure. And I know I closed it before I put Bethany to bed." The man replied. "So you think she opened it?" Sam asked. "It's a second story window with a ledge. No one else could've." The man said.
Getting all the information we could out of the man, we walk back down the corridor. "You know this might not be anything supernatural. It might just be pneumonia." Sam said. "Maybe. Or maybe something opened that window. I don't know man, look, Dad sent us down down here for a reason. I think we might be barking up the right tree." Dean said.
"I'll tell you one thing." Sam said. "What?" I asked. "That guy we just talked to? I'm betting it'll be a while before he goes home." He replied, giving Dean and I a knowing look.
We track down the man's home and broke into his house. Checking out Bethany's room with the EMF. "You got anything over there?" Sam asked us. "Nah, nothing." Dean replied. "Yeah, me neither." I said. We kept checking around, when Sam went over to the window. "Hey guys?" He said. "Yeah." Dean and I said in unison
"Dean, you were right. It's not pneumonia." Sam said, staring at the windowsill. We walk over and stared at a handprint rotted into the wood. "It's rotted. What the hell leaves a handprint like that?" I asked. Dean stared down at window, looking a little sick. "I know why Dad sent us here. He's faced this thing before. He wants us to finish the job." He said.
At night, Dean pulls the Impala up to a motel office where we got out. "So what the hell is a shtriga?" Sam asked Dean. "It's... kinda like a witch I think. I don't know much about 'em." He replied as he walks to the trunk and begins digging through the duffel bag inside. "Well I've never heard of it. And it's not in Dad's journal." Sam said.
"Dad hunted one in Fort Douglas, Wisconsin, about 16, 17 years ago. You were there. You don't remember?" Dean asked him. "No." Sam replied. "And I guess he caught wind of the things in Fitzburg now and kicked us the coordinates." Dean said.
"So wait, this..." I said, trailing off of as I try to remember how to pronounce it. "Shtriga." Dean told me. "Right. You think it's the same one your dad hunted before?" I asked. "Yeah, maybe." Dean replied, shutting the trunk and walking towards the Motel Office. "But if Dad went after it why is it still breathing air?" Sam asked.
"Cause it got away." Dean said, keeping himself froward. "Got away?" Sam and I asked, surprised by this. Letting something get away, doesn't really sound like John Winchester at all.
Dean stops walking and turn around to face us. "Yeah guys it happens." He said, seeming to frustrated. "Not very often." Sam said. "Well I don't know what to tell ya, maybe Dad didn't have his wheaties that morning." Dean said, heading towards the office again.
"What else do you remember?" Sam asked. "Nothing. I was a kid all right?" Dean replied, defensively and he enters the office. "Is it just me or has your brother seem a little tense ever since he saw that handprint?" I asked Sam, who leans against the car, taking out the journal to skim through it.
"It's not just that. It's feels like he's hiding something." Sam said, glancing over to the window to look at his brother inside. Right at that moment, a little boy behind the desk looks out the window at us.
"Our Dad would never let something get away." Sam said, turning his head away to look at me. "No Hunter would. Especially not him." I said, crossing my arms in discomfort. "This whole case is giving me the heebie-jeebies." I said, Sam scoffs. "I know what you mean." He said, glancing at the window again, to look at Dean.
Later, the boys and I were in their motel room. Sam was on his bed doing some research on his laptop. I sat at the bar while Dean was on the other side of the counter looking at some books we had laid out on the counter. "Well, you were right. Heh. It wasn't very easy to find but you were right. Shtriga is a kind of witch. They're Albanian, but legends about them trace back to Ancient Rome. They feed off spiritus vitae." Sam explained.
"Spiri-what?" Dean asked. "Vitae. It's Latin, translates to 'breath of life'. Kinda like your life force or essence." Sam explained. "Didn't the doctor say the kids's bodies were wearing out?" I asked. "It's a thought. you know she takes your vitality maybe your immunity goes to hell, pneumonia takes hold. Anyway, shtrigas can feed off anyone but they prefer..." Sam said.
"Children." Dean and I said in unison, finishing his sentence. "Yeah. Probably because they have stronger life force. And get this. Shtrigas are '...invulnerable to all weapons devised by God and man.'" Sam said. "No, that's not right. She's vulnerable when she feeds." Dean said, walking over to the duffel bag on his bed.
"What?" Sam asked. "If you catch her when she's eating you can blast her with consecrated wrought iron. Ahhh... buckshots or rounds I think." Dean said, taking out a small black book from the bag and walking back over to the kitchen area. "How do you know that?" Sam asked him. "Dad told me. I remember." He replied, simply.
"Oh. Huh. So uh, anything else Dad might have mentioned?" Sam asked. "Nope, that's it." Dean replied, Sam and I stared at him suspicious. "What?" He asked us. "Nothing." Sam said, while I shook my head and Sam continues. "Okay. So, assuming we can kill it when it eats we still gotta find the thing first, which ain't gonna be a cakewalk. Shtrigas take on a human disguise when they're not hunting."
"What kinda human disguise?" I asked. Sam sets his laptop aside and walks over to us into the kitchen area. "Historically, something innocuous. Could be anything, but it's usually a feeble old woman, which might be how the witches as old crones legend got started." He explained.
"Hang on." Dean said, stepping away. "What?" We asked. Dean grabs a map and laid it out on the counter. "Check this out. I marked down all the addresses of the victims. Now these are the houses that have been hit so far, and dead center?" He said, pointing at the map.
"The hospital." Sam and I said, Dean nodded. "The hospital. Now when we were there I saw a patient, an old woman." He said. "An old person huh?" Sam asked. "Yeah." Dean replied.
"In a hospital? Phew." Sam said, shaking his head and sniggering. "Better call the Coast Guard." He said and I laugh. "Well listen, smart-ass, she had an inverted cross hanging on her wall." Dean said. Sam and I quickly look up, serious and Dean raises an eyebrow at us.
We return to the hospital that night and walk down a hallway, quickly ducking back when we saw Hydecker. "Good night Dr Hydecker." A nurse said to him. "See you tomorrow Betty." He said. "Try to get some sleep." The nurse told him.
We stayed hidden until Hydecker passes, then continue on to the old woman's room. We open the door and snuck in, Dean takes the front, while Sam and I hanged back, guns drawn. The woman is in her wheelchair facing toward the corner. She seems to be sleeping.
Dean slowly leans in closer and closer to her face. "Who the hell are you?!" The woman asked, turning her head. Dean freaks, leaping back against a wall cabinet, pulling his gun up. "Who's there? You trying to steal my stuff?" The woman asked, before she started grumbling to herself. "They're always stealing around here."
Sam turning the light on and I walk over to see she has cataracts. "No! Ah, ma'am, we're maintenance. We're sorry. We thought you were sleeping." Sam said. "Ahhh, nonsense. I was sleeping with my peepers open." The woman said and she laughs, then gestures at the wall. "And fix that crucifix, would ya? I've asked four damn times already!" She said. Dean, still looking slightly freaked out, jogs the crucifix and it swings the right way up.
We made it back to the motel by dawn, pulling up into the parking lot. Sam and I laugh as we got out of the car. "I was sleeping with my peepers open?" I said, mimicking the woman, making Sam and I laugh harder. "I almost smoked that old girl, I swear. It's not funny!" Dean grumbled.
"Oh man, you shoulda seen your face." Sam said, still sniggering. "Yeah, laugh it off. Now we're back to square one." Dean said, looking away as Sam unlock the door to their motel room. "Hang on." He said, Sam and I look over to see the little boy from last night, sitting behind the office looking forlorn.
"Hey what's wrong?" Dean asked the boy as we walked over to him and crouched down to his level. "My brother's sick." He replied, sadly. "The little guy?" Dean asked, the boy nodded. "Pneumonia. He's in the hospital. It's my fault." He said.
"Ah c'mon, how?" Dean asked. "I shoulda made sure the window was latched. He wouldn't've got pneumonia if the window was latched." The boy said, sniffing, Dean looks away for a moment. Sam and I watch him, frowning thoughtfully.
"Listen to me. I can promise you that this is not your fault. Okay?" Dean assured the boy. "It's my job to look after him." The boys said. Sam and I looks back and forth from Dean to the kid. The boy's mother then hurries out of the motel toward her car. "Michael." She said, the boy stands up and walks over to her as she puts what she was carrying in her car.
"I want you to turn on the no vacancy sign while I'm gone. I've got Denise covering room service so don't bother with any of the rooms." She said to her son. "I'm going with you." Michael said. "Not now, Michael." She said, firmly. "But I gotta see Asher!" Michael exclaimed.
"Hey Michael. Hey." Dean said, walking over to them. "I know how you feel... I'm a big brother too... but you gotta go easy on your Mom right now, okay?" He told the boy.
"Dammit!" The mother exclaimed as she drop her handbag in a haste. "I got it." Sam said, picking it up for her. "Thank you." She said, taking the bag. "Listen, you're in no condition to drive... why don't you let me give you a lift to the hospital." Dean said to her.
"No, I couldn't possibly..." She started to say, but Dean talked over her. "No, it's no trouble. I insist." He said, taking her keys "Thanks." She said and she turns to her son. "Be good." She said. Dean helps her into her seat then turns to Sam and I. "We're gonna kill this thing. I want it dead, you hear me?" He said, firmly.
Sam and I headed over to the library to do more research. Sam was using at a microfiche machine, while I sat beside him skimming through one of the books we grabbed. Sam picked up his phone and called up his brother. "Hey. How's the kid?" He asked.
I look up from the book and at Sam. After a pause, Sam glance over to me shaking his head, indicating he's not doing well. I frown and drop my gaze back on the book. "We're at the library. We've been trying to find out as much as we can about this Shtriga." Sam said to Dean.
"Well, bad news. We started with Fort Douglas around the time you said Dad was there? ....Same deal. Before that, there was, uh, Ogdenville, before that North Haverbrook, and Brockway. Every 15 to 20 years it hits a new town. Dean, this thing is just getting started in Fitzburgh. In all these other places it goes on for months. Dozens of kids before the shtriga finally moves on. The kids just... languish in comas and then they die." Sam explained.
I closed the book I was reading, slightly frustrated. Siding the book away I grab another book to read through. "Ah, I don't know. The earliest mention I could find is this place called "Black River Falls" back in the 1890s. Talk about a horror show.... Whoa." Sam said, making me look up from the book at him.
Sam glances at me and gestures to machine with his head. I scoter closer looking at the old photo he had pulled up. "What the hell?" I said, narrowing my eyes at one of the doctors that look identical to Hydecker.
"Hold on.... we're looking at a photograph right now of a bunch of doctors standing around a kid's bed. One of the Doctors is Hydecker...... And this picture was taken in 1893...... Yeah. Yeah absolutely." He said to Dean. After moment he pull his phone away, looking at it before setting it aside.
"That sneaky bastard." I grumbled. "Yeah, it's the perfect disguise. Everyone trust him and he can keep a close eye on his victims." Sam said. "Damnit!" I exclaimed, hitting the table with my fist. "Shhh." Someone near by shushed me. "Shhh yourself!" I spat.
"(Name), calm down." Sam said. "How can I calm down? This shaiga..." I started to say. "Shtriga." Sam corrected me, snickering at my mispronunciation. "Whatever! Has been hurting innocent kids and then acting like their saviors. It just makes my blood boil." I said, crossing my arms and leaning back in my seat frustrated.
"I know. Trust me I feel the same but this is not the place to vent frustration." Sam said, indicating to the people near by, that we're looking at me with shock or anger. "Take a picture it'll last longer." I said, sarcastically, letting out a angry sigh.
Later we return to motel, meeting back up with Dean who told us about his time at the hospital. "We should have thought of this before. A doctor's a perfect disguise. You're trusted, you can control the whole thing." Sam said. "That son of a bitch." Dean said, throwing off his jacket, pacing agitated.
"I'm surprised you didn't draw on him right there." Sam said to him. "Yeah well, first of all, I'm not going to open fire in a freaking pediatrics ward." Dean said. "Good call." I said.
"Second, wouldn't have done any good, because the bastard's bullet proof unless he's chowing down on something. And third, I wasn't packing, which is probably a really good thing cause I probably would have just burned a clip in him on principle alone." He said, angrily. "You're getting wise in your old age Dean." Sam remarked.
"Damn right. Cause now I know how we're going to get it." Dean said, walking over to us. "What do you mean?" I asked. "Shtriga, works through siblings right?" Dean asked. "Right." Sam replied. "Well last night...." He started to say. "It went after Asher." Sam said, finishing his sentence.
"So I'm thinking tonight it's probably gonna come after Michael." Dean said. "Well we gotta get him outta here." I said, Dean shook his head. "No. No, that would blow the whole deal." He said. "What?" I asked, confused. "Yeah." Dean replied.
"You wanna use the kid as bait? Are you nuts? No!" I told him, appalled he would even considered this idea. "She's right, forget it. That's out of the question." Sam said. "It's not out of the question guys it's the only way. If this thing disappears it could be years before we get another chance." Dean argued.
"Michael's a kid. And we're not going to dangle him in front of that thing like a worm on a hook." Sam said. "Dad did not send me here to walk away." Dean said, angrily. "Send YOU here? He didn't send you here... he sent us here." Sam said.
"This isn't about you or (Name). I'm the one who screwed up, all right. It's my fault. There's no telling how many kids have gotten hurt because of me." Dean said, turning away and taking a few steps away from us.
"What are you saying, Dean? How is it your fault?" I asked, Dean doesn't answer me and just took a seat on his bed. Sam sighed. "Dean. You've been hiding something from the get-go. Since when does Dad bail on a hunt? Since when does he let something get away? Now talk to us, man. Tell us what's going on." He said and Dean let out a breath before he speaks.
"Fort Douglas, Wisconsin. It was our third night in this crap room and I was climbing the walls. Man, I needed to get some air. You were asleep in bed, Sammy. So I figured it be safe to step out for a bit. I step out to play some stupid arcade game... I couldn't have been gone for more than 20 minutes. I went back to the room and..." Dean stop to swallow and prepare himself before continuing.
"I came back and that damn thing was leaning over you, Sammy." He said. My breath hitching and I glance over to Sam, who looked at his brother shocked. Sam walk around the counter to sit down on the bed next to his brother.
"I grab a rifle about to shoot it but I hesitated. That's when Dad came back. He unloaded an entire clip into it. It jump out the window and took off. Dad asked me what happen and I told him. He tear me a new one. After that Dad just... grabbed us and booked. Dropped us off at Pastor Jim's about three hours away, but by the time he got back to Fort Douglas the shtriga had disappeared, it was just gone. It never surfaced until now. You know, Dad never spoke about it again, I didn't ask. But he...ah... he looked at me different, you know? Which was worse. Not that I blame him. He gave me an order and I didn't listen, I almost got you killed." Dean said finishing the story, dropping his head in shame and guilt.
"You were just a kid." Sam said, softly. "Don't. Don't. Dad knew this was unfinished business for me. He sent me here to finish it." Dean said. "But using Michael... I don't know Dean. I mean, how 'bout one of us hides under the covers, you know, we'll be the bait." I said. "No, it won't work. It's gotta get close enough to feed... it'll see us. Believe me, I don't like it, but it's gotta be the kid." Dean said.
We walked over to the motel office and told Michael about the Shtriga. "You're crazy! Just go away or I'm calling the cops." The little boy said, holding up the receptionist phone. "Hang on a second. Just listen to me. You have to believe me, okay? This thing came through the window and it attacked your brother. I've seen it. I know what it looks like. Cause it attacked my brother once too." Dean said.
Michael stares at him a moment, then slowly hangs up the phone. "This thing... is it... like.... it has this long... black robe?" He asked. "You saw it last night didn't you?" Dean asked. "I thought I was having a nightmare." Michael replied.
"I'd give anything not to tell you this, but sometimes nightmares are real." Dean said. "So, why are you telling me?" Michael asked. "Because we need your help." Dean replied. "My help?" The boy asked, confused. "We can kill it. Me and them, that's what we do. But we can't do it without you." Dean said.
"What? No!" Michael exclaimed. "Michael, listen to me. This thing hurt Asher. And it's gonna keep hurting kids unless we stop it, understand me?" Dean asked, Michael stares at him, horrified.
"Well that went crappy. Now what?" Dean asked as we walk back into the motel room. "What did you expect? You can't ask a adult to do something like that, much less a kid." Sam told him.
There was then a knock at the door. Dean opens it to reveal it to be Michael. "If you kill it, will Asher get better?" He asked, Dean glances back at Sam and I. "Honestly? We don't know." He replied, looking at the boy again.
Michael pauses for a moment before speaking. "You said you were a big brother." He said and Dean nods. "Yeah." He said. "You'd take care of your little brother? You'd do anything for him?" Michael asked. "Yeah I would." Dean replied, Michael nodded. "Me too. I'll help."
Sam and I watch the security feed in the other room, as Dean sets the the camera in the corner of Michael's room. The boy was behind Dean, already in bed. "This camera has night vision on it so we'll be able to see clear as day." Dean said to Michael. "Are we good?" He then asked Sam and I.
"A hair to the right." Sam shouted and Dean adjusts the camera. "There, there." He said and Dean steps away from the camera. "What do I do?" Michael asked, as Dean walks over to sit on his bed. "Just stay under the covers." He replied.
"I hate this." I muttered, as Dean tells Michael the plan to reassure him. "Believe me, so do I. But it's the only way we're gonna kill this thing." Sam said. "I know... I tell one thing. Dr. Hyecker better have personal place in hell waiting for him." I said, Sam nodded in agreement.
Later in the night, the boys and I sat, watching the security camera feed. "What time is it?" Dean asked. "Three." Sam replied, checking his watch. "You sure these iron rounds are gonna work?" I asked. "Consecrated iron rounds, and yeah it's what Dad used last time." Dean replied.
"Hey Dean I'm sorry." Sam told him. "For what?" Dean asked. "You know, I've really given you a lot of crap, for always following Dad's orders. But I know why you do it." Sam said. "Oh, god, kill me now." Dean groan, Sam and I laugh softly.
We then sat in silence for a moment. "Wait, look." Dean said, moving a bit closer to the screen. There is movement outside the window and it slides open. We pick up our guns as the shtriga slips inside Michael's room. "Now?" I asked, eager to go in there and kill the bastard. "Not yet." Dean replied.
The shtriga moves closer and leans over the bed, Michael is terrified but frozen, unable to move. The shtriga leans closer and opens his mouth, starting to draw Michael's energy. We bolted out of the room and to Michael's room, bursting the door open.
"HEY!" Sam and I yelled. "Michael, down!" Dean ordered and Michael rolls off and under the bed. Once he was in cover, the boys and I open fire, shooting the shtriga multiple times each. It falls to the ground. "Mike, you all right?" Dean asked him. "Yeah." Michael replied, from under the bed.
"Just sit tight." Dean said and he approach the shtriga, gun at the ready. There is no movement. He relaxes slightly and glances at us. The shtriga suddenly rises, grabs Dean by the throat and throws him against the wall. "DEAN!" Sam and I shouted.
The shtriga moves over to us and tosses us in different directions. I slam into a dressier and fell to the ground, hitting my head hard on the ground. I groan, lifting my head barely able to make out anything.
My vision refocuses and I saw Sam on the ground with the shtriga on top him and forcing his mouth open and drawing his energy. "SAM!" I exclaimed fearfully, seeing his skin start to turn grey as he goes still. "HEY!" Dean yelled. The shtriga looks up and Dean shoots it between the eyes. He falls backwards and Sam lies gasping for breath.
"You okay little brother?" Dean asked him, Sam nods and unsteadily holds up two thumbs-up. "You alright, (Name)." Dean asked me. "Yeah... feeling great." I grumbled.
We pull ourselves to our feet and look to the shtriga. The energy the shtriga stole begins to escape from its mouth. Dean raises his gun, shooting it three more times at point blank range. More energy escapes. The shtriga falls in on itself, disintegrating.
Michael peeks from the side of the bed. "It's okay, Michael, you can come on out." Dean said. Michael comes to stand beside us, smiling tentatively. Dean places his hand on Michael's shoulder and smiles.
In the morning, we were packing the Impala ready to head out. When Michael's Mom comes out of the back of reception. "Hey, Joanna. How's Asher doing?" Dean asked her. "Have you seen Michael?" She asked, not answering the question.
"Mom! Mom!" Michael called out as he ran over to us. "Hey!" Joanna said as she hugs him. "How's Ash?" He asked. "Got some good news. Your brother's gonna fine." She replied. "Really?" Michael asked, grinning.
"Yeah. Really. No one can explain it... it's a miracle. They're going to keep him in overnight for observation and then he's coming home." Joanna explained. "That's great." Dean said. "How are all the other kids doing?" I asked.
"Good. Real good. A bunch of them should be checking out in a few days. Dr. Travis says the ward's going to be like a ghost town." Joanna said. "Dr. Travis? What about Dr. Hydecker?" Sam asked. "Oh he wasn't in today. Must have been sick or something." She replied.
"Yeah. Yeah must have." Dean said, smirking knowingly. "So, did anything happen while I was gone?" Joanna asked her son, who glances at Dean. "Nah, same old stuff." He replied.
"Okay. You can go see Ash." She said. "Now?" Michael asked, excitedly. He then looks to Dean who nods slightly. "Only if you want to." Joanna replied. Michael runs to the car making his mother laugh. "I, ah, I'd better get going before he hotwires the car and drives himself." She said, smiling at us before walking to her car.
We turn back to the Impala, closing the trunk. "It's too bad." Sam said, walking to the passenger side. "Oh, they'll be fine." Dean said, going to the driver side. "That's not what I meant. I meant Michael. He'll always know there are things out there in the dark... he'll never be the same, you know?" He said, pausing for a moment. "Sometimes I wish that...." He said, stopping himself.
"What...?" I asked. "I wish I could have that kinda innocence." Sam said. "Yeah... me too." I muttered as we watch Joanna and Michael drive away.
"If it means anything, sometimes I wish you both could too." Dean said and we exchange a look. Dean climbs in the car and starts the engine. Sam and I follow and we pull out of the motel car parking lot and back onto the freeway.