Chapter Nineteen

Dean took another swig of his beer as he thought about the implications of what Sam had just said. His father had always said that when you were dealing with the supernatural simple solutions were always the best. Especially solutions that were closest to the elements of the earth itself. It was one of the reasons that they often used fire, salt and even certain metals in their work.

But if what Sam said was right then that meant…

"Wait," Dean stopped his own train of thought. "Are you saying, what, that we're gonna have to burn the whole house down?"

Sam nodded soberly. "I really don't see any other way. Although, unfortunately…."

"Unfortunately what Sam?"

"Even that won't work on its own. We're gonna have to get the ghost-creature-thing-whatever-it-is in there and trap it. I think that if she, it, whatever, leaves the house while it's burning then it might still survive."

"Why? I think burning down the entire place is gonna be pretty final, Sam"

"Maybe not. I mean Delores wasn't only protecting her home, she was also protecting her property. What if her spirit and her totem are attached to the land as well?"

"Well if that's right then burning the house won't work at all."

"Not on its own, no." Sam agreed. "But I'm going to try a binding ritual to keep her in the house while it burns." He said, looking almost proud of himself for coming up with the idea.

"A binding ritual? We're not dealing with a demon, Sam." He knew just as well as Sam that those were used when a demon wanted to keep itself inside a human host.

"I know but I still think it will work. The premise is the same, to keep something evil and supernatural trapped to a certain location or….body." Sam added the last part quietly and Dean looked at him sharply.

Dean always wondered just how much Sam remembered from the time that a demon had decided to take up residence in his younger brother's body for a while. Dean realized he shouldn't be surprised that Sam remembered at least some of the incident. After all, the thing had burned a symbol into Sam's flesh. The fact that Sam hadn't ever asked about the symbol being all the proof Dean needed that his little brother knew exactly why it was there, even if only vaguely.

In fact it was that incident that had led them to a little tattoo parlor not too long after. Wearing anti-possession charms that could be taken off or lost hadn't worked all that well. Dean discovered this sad fact one scary night when he hadn't been able to find his for the longest two hours of his life. He'd been sure that a demon was going to find him any second. He and Sam had searched frantically for the thing. Putting the symbols permanently on their bodies seemed like a logical solution after that. The tattoo artist hadn't even given them a second look. He'd seen a lot weirder things in his time. But the deceptively simple design now etched into their flesh would ensure that what happened to Sam would never happen again, to either of them.

"Okay," Dean agreed, breaking the silence that had grown between the two of them. "So we go burn the bones, get to the house, somehow get the thing to show itself and then keep it there while you perform a binding spell and I burn the place down around us. Did I get it all?"

Sam shrugged. "You got any better ideas?"

Dean had to admit that he didn't though he did have one more question. It was time to bring up his own plan. "How do you plan on keeping the thing still long enough to start doing your spell? Somehow I don't think she's just going to sit down like a good little kitty while you start spouting Latin at her."

Sam looked a little sheepish. "Okay so I hadn't really figured out that part yet."

"Well it's a good thing that you have a genius for a brother then, otherwise you'd be screwed, wouldn't you?"

"You have an idea?"

"Don't I always? I was looking up weaponry and ammo and I think I came up with an idea to fight this thing. It won't kill it but it should keep it at bay and maybe even weaken it enough to give you a chance to start the spell."

"What did you find?" Sam asked eagerly, happy that Dean had apparently solved the one hole his scheme.

"Well we know that hitting it with both rock salt and silver bullets worked. But even though we both shot it at the same time it still had time to switch in between and never get the full brunt of the attack. So what if we hit it with both from one source?"

"How?" Sam liked the sound of this, though he wasn't sure how his brother planned to do it yet.

"Well I'm just gonna have to use some of that armory training Dad gave us and make something new, something that combines both in one piece of ammunition."

"How?" Sam asked again.

"That's easy Sammy, I'm gonna put silver into the rock salt bullets." Sam still look puzzled and Dean added. "You remember those silver ball bearings we've been holding onto in case of a rainy day?"

Finally catching on, Sam nodded with a smile, seeing how Dean's plan could work.

"Well I think it's finally raining and it's raining cats and dogs….okay well maybe just really big cats." Dean said and Sam laughed again.

Sam took the car and went to the local market to get things he'd need for the binding spell. It was pretty simple, not exactly like witchcraft but still requiring a few odds and ends. While he was out Dean got to work.

He got out the box of ball bearings and extra buckshot rounds he'd pulled from the trunk before Sam had left. He carefully measured out precise amounts of each. Putting rock salt into emptied buckshot rounds had been something that he and his father had come up with while Sam had been off at college. He'd gotten very proficient at it after doing it for so long and soon he had everything prepared the way he wanted it.

He'd never added anything but salt before but it turned out to be ridiculously easy. Dean had found the silver ball bearings while shopping. They'd been in an odd little store in one of the many odd little towns they'd visited. He couldn't resist buying them. Certain metals repelled certain creatures, from silver for shapeshifters, to iron for spirits and as they'd discovered their first year hunting together, brass for rakshasas, a creature that liked to eat humans. So anytime they found something made from any of those metals, especially in an unusual form (like a brass knife, of which they now owned two), they kept it.

At the time, Dean had no idea what he might ever use the ball bearings for but his dead-on instinct told him that there might be a use for the metal. It seemed especially useful in such an unusually small state. As he poured the combo of salt and silver into the shells, he thanked that gut of his. He also silently thanked his father as well, for teaching him to trust it.

By the time the sun had set, they were ready. Dean had loaded both their shotguns with his handmade specialties. He set both of them up with plenty of ammo and gave himself extra. They each had a job to do once they reached the house. Sam would be handling the ritual. It would be Dean's job to lure the creature into the house with them and hold it at bay while Sam bound it there.

Once Sam was done, they would head out. Then they'd start the fire to destroy the house and the ghost-shifter with it.

"Alright Sam, let's go hunt us some kitty-cat." Dean said, checking both his and Sam's guns one more time before handing one to his brother.

Sam took the proffered weapon, stopping one more time before he walked out the door to silently go over everything he'd need and making sure that he'd left nothing behind. Assured that he had everything he needed (including his father's journal, inside which he'd found a ritual that should work), he followed his brother out of the door.

They did not head straight for the house however and instead drove on the familiar road to the cemetery. Dean pulled over in the same place they'd use before. They made short work of climbing the fence and getting to Delores' gravestone. Buried next to her husband as they'd been told, she was easy to find. Pulling out their shovels they began the arduous job of digging down to the coffin.

Sam's shovel hit pay-dirt first and with a "chink" they knew they were there. Jumping out of the hole, Dean waited until Sam had wrested open the coffin to give them access to the body. Then he reached down and pulled his brother out. Once again Sam poured the salt and Dean poured the gas, Sam lighting a match and throwing it inside.

They waited for the body to burn completely and got out their shovels once again, Dean with a protest.

"I can't believe you're making me do this, man," Dean griped as he started to throw dirt back on to the coffin.

"Yeah well, you know what happened the last time we were here. We gotta cover our tracks a little better this time. Especially since the job isn't done yet. It's not like we're just gonna drive out of town now and be gone from these people's lives forever."

"I know Sam but it's just that we don't usually bury people. We're usually digging them up, not putting them back in the ground."

"You know, the more you complain instead of digging, the longer this will take," Sam pointed out and Dean shrugged, going back to work.

Afterwards they headed back to the car and got ready for the rest of their job that night. Normally finishing up at a graveyard would mean they were done and could move on to the next town - but not this time.

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A few minutes after the Impala roared out of sight another vehicle rolled up slowly. The driver pointed a flashlight out of the window, looking at the tire tracks the Impala had left behind.

"Dammit," the man mumbled, getting out of the car and following the tracks of the two men into the cemetery. He knew where they would lead but followed anyway, hoping he was wrong.

"Dammit," he repeated. His flashlight showed him the freshly dug grave and he knew what that meant.

Something would have to be done now. He had to stop them.

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Dean pulled the car far off of the road as they neared the entrance to the trail. Sam grabbed his bag with the things he'd need and Dean took his shotgun as well as his pistol. Just because he was pretty sure his nifty bullets would do the trick, he wasn't completely positive. Besides, it never hurt to have an extra weapon on hand. That was something his father had taught him. Part of his job that night was being Sam's wingman and protection as his brother performed the ritual. Dean felt it was definitely better to be safe than sorry in this case.

They walked into the woods and got into the house in no time. The trail was a piece of cake to them even in the pitch dark of night.

Once they got into the house, the next part wasn't as simple. Since the thing had apparently come out of nowhere the night before, neither of them really knew what to do to make the creature appear again. Sam waited patiently with his ingredients. He studied the ritual, doing his best to commit it to memory. He wanted to be ready in case he lost the book somehow in the course of the night.

While Sam did so, Dean patrolled around the house and outside the perimeter. He hoped that his mere presence would bring on an attack much as it had seemed to before. Unfortunately nothing happened and as the night wore on; both brothers had to face the fact that they'd missed something. They still had no clue why the thing had appeared in the first place.

"Man, this is ridiculous!" Dean said in anger, stomping from one window to another. He looked in vain for any sign of the thing they were hunting.

"I don't get it," Sam said quietly. He had been sitting on the floor for at least an hour and his rump was sore from the hard wood. Shifting with a wince, he gave up and got to his feet. Looking out a window behind him, he could see the sky beginning to glow. Sunrise was coming, meaning they'd missed another chance.

"What did we miss?"

"I don't know but I guess there's no point in sticking it out here anymore. Let's get back to the hotel. I'm so tired I can barely focus. Maybe after we sleep we'll figure something out."

Sam agreed and they went back to their hotel. Both of them collapsed in their beds fully clothed and falling asleep immediately.

Dean was the first to wake up a few hours later. Yawning and stretching, he stumbled into the bathroom and took a shower as Sam slept on a little longer. Sam's peaceful slumber was interrupted as a strange sound came from the bathroom. After only a few minutes of standing under the hot water, Dean had woken up completely and cried out in triumph, slapping his hand happily against the tiles of the shower wall.

"That's it!"

Sam flew straight up out of bed at the sound, his sleepy mind not registering exactly what he'd heard. He only knew that he'd heard the sound of his brother screaming. Thinking that Dean was in trouble, Sam ran to the bathroom. He was ready to fling open the door when it opened for him. He found himself face to face with Dean wrapped in a towel and grinning like a maniac.

"What's going on?" Sam asked with a yawn, rubbing a hand through his hair. He sat calmly back on his bed now that it was apparent that Dean was not in fact being attacked by some sort of shower monster. It had been a long shot but one never knew in their line of work.

"I've got it, the way to catch this thing Sammy. I can't believe we missed it. I mean I can believe you missed it but…" Dean was talking quickly. He was pulling on clothes as fast as his hands could move.

"Are you planning on telling me anytime soon because I'm still waiting for an explanation of why you just gave me a heart attack," Sam said, yawning again and trying to get rid of the last vestiges of sleep.

"Aright, alright," Dean said, seeing that Sam was losing his patience. Sitting down across from this brother he began to explain. "Think about it Sam, what were all the victims, at least the ones we know of for sure, doing when they went missing or were killed?"

"What do you mean? They were in the woods."

"That's where they were," Dean agreed. "But I'm asking what they were doing"

Sam started to open his mouth to gripe some more at Dean when he finally got what his brother was trying to tell him.

"Running…."

"Which explains why nothing happened to us when we went out there," Dean went on excitedly. "We weren't doing anything all that exciting and it took no interest in us. And it didn't show itself the previous night until you came running back to the house."

"Okay yeah I guess that makes sense but Dean, people go running in those woods all the time. Why aren't there even more deaths?"

"Dude, how the hell am I supposed to know? Maybe they have to be in an exact spot or maybe she only goes after them at night. Isn't that a cat-like trait?"

Sam nodded that he thought it was. "Okay so what do we do now?"

Dean's grin became wider than ever and Sam knew for a fact that it meant he probably wasn't going to like what Dean was going to say next.

"Feel like going for a run tonight?"