Chapter Text
The alcohol burned as it slid down your throat. Although, it was only a mere pinch compared to the pain you had once felt. The pain you still feel.
It kept you awake at night. The flashbacks, the nightmares, your own little dose of post traumatic stress disorder. The visions never went away. The blood splattered windows and walls, the endless rows of animalistic teeth, the life fading out of every creature’s eyes you had killed. The smells were worse. The rotting flesh, the dust of old bones, the distinct smell of death that never quite left you alone. You had tasted more of your own tears than you could ever count, and you knew the unique taste of your own blood. That wasn’t normal for most. But for you, it was everything you had ever known.
“Another one, ma’am?” The bartender’s voice shook your from your thoughts. He was cute. His smile was bright, and he had a handsome face. It was a shame that you had forgotten what it was like to feel. To harbor a small crush, to love.
“No, thank you. Not tonight.”
“Just let me know if I can get you anything.”
“Will do.” You sighed, resting your elbow on the bar and pinching the bridge of your nose with your fingers. Before more thoughts could rush back into your mind, you finished your drink and let yourself slide off the barstool.
***
The door to your motel room swung open slowly with a slight creak in it’s hinges. You flicked on the light to reveal faded wallpaper and worn features, only proving that the room had seen better days.
You locked the door, tossed your purse on the bed, and slipped into the tiny bathroom. Your clothes seemed to vanish from your body. You saw your reflection in the mirror. Scars littered your skin. Most were from hunts. Some were from the endless years of torture. There were rows of scratches, bite marks, gashes, and a handprint burned into your left shoulder.
The lukewarm water felt so gentle against your skin. So soft compared to the pain you always felt.
***
“Four women were found dead in Ann Arbor, Michigan last night.” Sam broke the silence that had fallen between him and his brother yet again.
“And?” Dean responded, his eyes locked on the road.
“And, they were all pregnant. Not far along, either. They were all less than month in.”
“That is weird.”
“Oh, and they were all young. Like, really young. 25, 23, 18, and 16.”
Dean whistled. "That’s...That’s just sad.” He paused. “So, what is this, a backwards dragon? Instead of virgins it’s feeding on young, pregnant girls?”
“I don’t know. But we’re gonna find out.”
Dean glared at Sam. “You’re so dramatic.”
***
You had hit a roadblock. The article in the paper about four young, pregnant girls being found dead all with similar wounds called your attention days ago. You had finally made it to Ann Arbor, and you had found nothing.
It was times like this when you wished you weren’t alone. But then you remembered why it was for the best.
“Y/N! Duck!” Your sister screamed, you spun around and obeyed her command. A gunshot rang out, and the ghost that had been looming over you faded into thin air. You kept your face in the grass and held your breath. “I-Is it gone?” You finally stammered.
“Yeah, but not for long. Come on-” She held out her hand to help you up. Her hand was warm, and soft. Something so simple made you feel at home.
You both ran back over to the freshly uncovered grave of Edna Miller, the vengeful spirit who had been busy at work taking out her old enemies for about a month. You fell to your knees and began digging through your duffle, until you finally found the small cardboard box of matches.
Edna had a grasp on your sister. She was choking the life out of her, literally. “Hold on, Quinn!” You lit the matches and dropped them onto the pile of bones as fast as you could. The screams made your ears ring as she went up in flames and dropped Quinn to the ground. You rushed over to your sister, helping her up. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I’m good.” She breathed. “Let’s get outta here.”
Your sister always had your back, and you always had hers. You felt the hot tears bubbling in your eyes. God, you missed her.
As always, you wiped the tears away and went back to work. You dressed up in your FBI pantsuit and headed out to town.
The locals were nice, and you interviewed the family and friends of each of the young women who had died. Seeing these families so broken up over loss made you flinch. It hurt to see innocent people in pain like this.
By the time all of your investigating was over, you had found out some more interesting facts that linked the girls together. Now it was time to grab a burger, your laptop, and try and figure out what killed these girls and why.
However, just as you had settled down to do some research, the roar of a car’s engine disturbed your thought process. You weren’t the only one staying at this motel anymore.
***
Dean swung open the motel door, bags of food in his hands. “Hey,” he called.
“Hey.” Sam replied, staring at his laptop screen. “Find anything?”
“Yep, two things actually.” He sat the bags down on the table. “All of the girls were sexually assaulted.”
“That’s awful.”
“Yep. I also found out that somebody else is on our case.”
“What do you mean?”
“Each family I spoke to said they had a fed drop by this morning. A woman. Agent Smith.”
“Hm. Interesting. You think she’s a hunter?”
Dean unwrapped his burger and took a bite. “Apparently, since she was asking all of the same questions I was.”
“Well, if we find out who she is, maybe we can team up with her?” Sam inquired.
“I say we just gank this thing and move on.”
“I’m just sayin a little help can’t hurt, Dean.”
“We don’t even know what this thing is yet, Sam. Just relax.”
“Actually, I’ve got a hunch.”
Dean perked up. “I’m listening.”
“So,” Sam sighed. “Lore says it’s a Manananggal. It’s basically the Philippine's equivalent of the American vampire, except a Manananggal has wings and feeds on fetuses.”
“That’s disgusting.”
“It gets worse. This thing can literally separate itself into two halves. The top half flies around at night when it’s hunting, and it’s lower body just, waits for it to come back. But that’s how to kill it, sprinkling a mixture of salt and ash will prevent the beast from forming back into one full body and it’ll die by sunrise.”
“So, we go in at night and find the lower half of its body and salt that baby up, and the job’s done?” Dean inquired.
“I guess so. But if this thing just had four meals, I highly doubt it’ll be hunting again for a while. It says they only feed one week out of every month.”
“Great, so how are we gonna kill it?”
“It says that silver slows it down.”
“So we stir it up, keep it busy, one of us sprinkles the salty-ash whatever and boom. Case closed.”
***
You held your breath as you slowly walked through the Manananggal’s den. Your flashlight only lit up a small portion of the abandoned warehouse at a time. You snuck from room to room in search of the beast, a gun loaded with silver bullets tucked in the waistband of your jeans and a silver knife in your palm. You also had a bag full of mixed salt and ash in your back pocket.
All of a sudden, you heard something move that wasn’t from your own two feet. You swallowed thickly, standing your ground. “Come out come out wherever you are-” You hummed.
Your flashlight began to flicker, and you hit it against your wrist. “No, no no no-” It went out. You couldn’t see anything. All the windows had been boarded up. There wasn’t a single spec of light to be seen. “Crap.” You whispered. You really didn’t think this one through.
***
The Impala rolled up outside the old abandoned energy factory, a crescent moon providing little light in the starry night sky.
“Alright, Sammy, let’s do this.” Dean sighed, Baby’s doors creaking as both of the boys simultaneously shut them. Before either of them could get to the trunk to grab weapons, a woman’s scream from inside the factory pierced their ears. They exchanged a quick glance of panic before running towards the doors.
“Damnit, locked.” Dean mumbled.
Sam began ramming into the doors with his shoulder, and Dean started used his legs.
“I don’t think it’s locked.” Sam panted. “It’s sealed.”
The scream returned, multiple gunshots ringing out after. The beast roared in pain, but your silver bullets didn’t stop it by any means.
“You keep working here, I’m gonna try and get one of these windows open.” Sam said.
The boys worked and worked, but they weren’t working fast enough.
You cried out in pain as the beast bit into your abdomen and clawed at your arms and legs. It hurt, but you almost couldn’t feel a thing. The adrenaline was numbing you, and you were beginning to lose consciousness.
Suddenly a bright light blinded you. Your vision was blurred. The beast was a black blob on a canvas of white. You saw something move out of the corner of your eye. The beast retreated, and you felt your skull crack against the cement floor. Gunshots rang faint in your ears. Everything slowly faded to black.