BAIT

he Impala pulls up to a motel reception and they get out. "So what the hell is a shtriga?" Sam asks.

"Kinda like a witch I think. I don't know much about them." Dean says.

"Well I've never heard of it. And it's not in Dad's journal." Sam says.

"Dad hunted one in Fort Douglas, Wisconsin, about 16-17 years ago. You were there, you don't remember?" Dean asks.

"No."

"Guess he caught wind the things in Fitzburg now and kicked us the coordinates." Dean sates

"So wait, this..." Sam starts.

"Shtriga." Dean says.

"Right, you think it's the Same one Dad hunted before?" Sam asks.

"Yeah maybe." Dean says.

"But if Dad went after it how come it's still breathing air?" Sam says.

"Cause it got away."

Elena watched as Dean talked. For some reason, she always knew when he wasn't saying the whole story. "Got away?" Sam asks.

Dean starts to get frustrated. "Yeah Sammy it happens." He says.

"Not very often." Sam points out.

"Well I don't know what to tell ya, maybe Dad didn't have his wheaties that morning." Dean says

"What else do you remember?" Sam asks.

Dean gets defensive "Nothing, I was a kid all right?" He enters reception and rings the bell. A boy of around 10-12 comes from the back room where a younger boy sits watching TV.

"A king or two queens?" The boy asks.

Dean looks back at Elena and Sam. "Two queens." Dean says.

The boy Follows his look and begins sniggering under his breath. "Yeah I'll bet." He says.

"What'd you say." Dean asks.

The boy smiles. "Nice car!" He says.

A woman enters, smiling at them both. "Hi." She says.

"Hi."

"Checking in?" The Woman asks.

"Yeah." Dean says.

The Woman turns to the Boy. "Ahh, do me a favour, go get your brother some dinner." She says.

"I'm helping a guest!" The Boy yells. She gives him a look and he grimaces and turns to go. He turns to his mother, while raising his eyebrow at Dean. "Two queens."

Dean fakes a laugh. "Funny kid." He says.

"Oh, yeah. He thinks so. Will that be cash or credit?" She asks.

"Do you take mastercard?" Dean asks. She nods. "Perfect. Here you go."

Dean watches through the door as the boy pours a glass of milk for his younger brother.

[ ☾]

oung Sam sits at the table. Young Dean pours him a glass of milk. "When's Dad going to get back?" Sam asks.

Dean grabs a pot from the stove. "Tomorrow." He says.

"When?" Sam asks.

Dean begins pouring from the pot into a bowl. "I dunno, he usually comes in late though. Now eat your dinner." He says to his brother.

"I'm sick of spaghetti-ohs." Sam says.

"Well you're the one who wanted 'em!" Dean yells.

"I want lucky charms!" Sam yells back.

"There's no more lucky charms." Dean says.

Sammy gets defensive. "I saw the box!" He yells.

"Okay, maybe there is but there's only enough for one bowl and I haven't had any yet." Dean says.

Sammy gives puppy dog eyes. Dean grimaces, dumps out Sam's bowl in the trash and thumps the cereal box on the table instead. Sam reaches into the box and grabs the toy. He holds it toward Dean. "Want the prize?"

[ ☾]

he Woman holds out Dean's card. "Sir?" She asks.

"Thanks." Dean says, coming back to reality.

Later in the Motel Room, Sam sits at a laptop. Elena eats popcorn. "Well you were right. It wasn't very easy to find but you were right. Shtriga's is a kind of witch. They're Albanian, but legends about them trace back to ancient rome. They feed off spiritus vitae." Sam says.

"Spiri-what?" Dean asks.

"Vitae. It's Latin, translates to 'breath of life'. Kinda like your life force or essence." Sam says.

"Didn't the Doctor say the kids bodies were wearing out?" Elena asks, mouth full of popcorn.

Sam stares at her weirdly, then laughs. "It's a thought. You know she takes your vitality maybe your immunity goes to hell, pneumonia takes hold. Anyway, shtriga's can feed off anyone but they prefer..." He starts.

"Children." Dean finishes.

"Yeah, probably because they have stronger life force. And get this. Shtriga's are '...invulnerable to all weapons devised by God and man." Sam says.

"No, that's not right. She's vulnerable when she feeds." Dean says.

"What?" Elena asks.

"If you catch her when she's eating you can blast her with concecrated wrought iron. Ahhh...buckshots or rounds I think." Dean says.

"How do you know that?" Sam asks.

"Dad told me. I remember." Dean says and Elena squints her eyes at him.

"Oh. So uh, anything else Dad might have mentioned?" Sam asks.

"Nope, That's it." Dean says. Sam keeps staring at Dean. "What?"

"Nothing." Sam says. "Okay. So, assuming we can kill it when it eats we gotta find the thing first. It ain't gunna be a cakewalk. Shtriga's take on a human disguise when they're not hunting." He says.

"What kinda human disguise?" Elena asks.

"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." Sam says.

Dean crosses the room. "Hang on." He says.

"What?" Sam asks.

Dean grabs a map. "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 centre?" He asks Sam.

"The hospital." Sam says.

"Yeah. Now when I was there I saw a patient, an old woman." Dean says.

"An old person huh?" Sam asks.

"Yeah."

"In a hospital? Phew." Sam begins shaking his head and sniggering. "Better call the coast guard."

"Well listen smart ass, she had an inverted cross hanging on her wall." Dean says. Sam quickly looks up, serious. Dean raises an eyebrow at him.

t the Hospital, Sam, Elena and Dean come down a hallway, quickly ducking back when they see Dr Heidecker. "Good night Dr Heidacker." The Nurse from before says.

"See you tomorrow Betty." Doctor Heidecker says.

"Try and get some sleep." The Nurse says.

Sam, Elena and Dean hide until Heidecker passes, then continue onto the old woman's room. They open the door and sneak in, Dean taking the front, Sam hanging back, guns drawn. Elena walks slowly behind Sam.

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. The Old Woman quickly turns her head. "Who the hell are you!" The lady yells to Dean.

Dean freaks, leaping back against a wall cabinet, pulling his gun up. "Holy..."

"Who's there? You trying to steal my stuff?" The Old Woman asks, grumbling to herself. "They're always stealing around here."

Sam turns the light on. We can see she has cataracts. "No! Ah, ma'am, we're maintenance. We're sorry. We thought you were sleeping." Sam lies.

"Ahhh, nonsense. I was sleeping with my peepers open." She laughs, then gestures at the wall. "And fix that crucifix would ya? I've asked four damn times already!" Dean, still looking slightly freaked out, taps the crucifix and it swings the right way up.

n the Motel, The camera pans across the owners sons sleeping in twin beds, and onto the window. The Shtriga's arm appears and slides the window open.

he Impala pulls up to the Motel and Sam, Elena and Dean exit. ""I was sleeping with my peepers open?" Bahahahaha." Sam laughs.

"I almost smoked that old girl I swear. It's not funny!" Dean yells.

Sam is still sniggering. "Oh man you shoulda seen your face." He says. Sooner than later, Elena joins in. Both of them start slapping their knees.

"Yeah, laugh it off. Now we're back to square one." Dean says and sees the owners son sitting behind the office looking forlorn. "Hang on." Dean walks up to the boy. "Hey what's wrong?"

"My brothers sick." He says.

"Little guy?" Dean asks.

The Boy nods. "Pneumonia. He's in the hospital. It's my fault." He says.

"Oh c'mon, how?" Dean asks.

"I shoulda made sure the window was latched. He wouldn't have got pneumonia if the window was latched." The Boy says.

"Listen to me. I can promise you that this is not your fault. Okay?" Dean says.

"It's my job to look after him."

His mother hurries out of the motel toward her car. "Michael, I want you to turn on the no vacancy sign while I'm gone. I've got Denise covering room service." She says.

"I'm going with you." Michael says.

"Not now Michael." She says.

"But I gotta see Asher!" Michael yells.

"Hey Michael. Hey. I know how you feel, but you gotta go easy on your Mom right now ok?" Dean says. Elena stands next to Dean.

The Woman drops her handbag in her haste. "Damn it!" She yells.

"I got it." Sam says and picks the bag up for her.

"Thank you."

"Listen, you're in no condition to drive, why don't you let me give you a lift to the hospital." Dean offers.

"No I couldn't possibly..." The Mom says.

"No, I insist." Dean says. "It's no trouble."

Dean takes her keys. "Thanks." She says. "Be good." She says to Michael.

Dean helps her into her seat then turns to Sam. "We're going to kill this thing. I want it dead, you hear me?" He says.

[ ☼ ]

am sits at a microfiche machine. Elena stares as him. "What?" He asks.

"It's alluring when you're all research-y." Elena says. Sam scratches the back of his head awkwardly. His phone rings and he picks up his phone.

"Hey." Dean whispers.

"Hey. How's the kid?" Sam asks.

"He's not good. Where you at?"

Dean asks.

Sam looks around. "Elena and I are at the library. I've been trying to find out as much as I can about this Shtriga." He says.

"Yeah, what have you got?" Dean asks.

"Well, bad news. I started with Fort Douglas around the time you said Dad was there?" Sam says.

"Yeah?" Dean asks.

"Same deal. Before that there was Ogdenville, before that North Haverbrook and Brockway. Every 15-20 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 languish in comas and then they just die." Sam says.

"How far back does this thing actually go?" Dean asks.

"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 says.

"Sam?"

"Hold on...I'm looking at a photgraph right now of a bunch of Doctors standing around a kids bed. One of the Doctors is Heidacker." Sam says.

"And?" Dean questions.

Sam looks closer. "And this picture was taken in 1893." He says.

"You sure?" Dean asks.

"Yeah. Yeah absolutely." Sam says.

Dean hangs up and turns to watch Heidecker sitting on Asher's bed. "Don't worry, your son's in good hands. I'm going to take care of him." He says. Heidecker moves toward Dean standing in the doorway. Dean looks ready to slit his throat. "So what's the CDC come up with so far?"

"We're still working on a few theories. You'll know something as soon as we do." Dean says.

"Well, nothings more important to me than these kids. Let me know if I can help."

"I'll do that." Dean says.

[ ☾]

"We should have thought of this before. A Doctor's a perfect disguise. You're trusted, you can control the whole thing." Sam says.

"That son of a bitch." Dean mumbles.

"I'm surprised you didn't draw on him right there." Sam says.

"Yeah well, first of all, I'm not going to open fire in a pediatrics ward." Dean says.

"Good call."

"Second, it wouldn't have done any good. The bastards bullet proof unless he's chowing down on something. And third, I wasn't packing, which is probably a good thing cause I probably would have burned a clip in him on principal alone." Dean says.

"You're getting wise in your old age Dean." Elena says impressed.

"Damn right. Cause now I know how we're going to get it." Dean says.

"What do you mean?" Elena asks.

"Shtriga, works through siblings right?" Dean asks.

"Right."

"Well last night..." Dean drones.

Sam remembered. "It went after Asher." He says.

"So I'm thinking tonight it's probably gunna come after Michael." Dean says.

"Well we gotta get him outta here." Elena says.

"No. No, that would blow the whole deal." Dean says.

"What?"

"Yeah."

"You wanna use the kid as bait? Are you nuts? No! Forget it. That's out of the question." Sam debates.

Dean steps up to his brother. "It's not out of the question Sam it's the only way. If this thing disappears it could be years before we get another chance." He says.

"Michael's a kid. And I'm not going to dangle him in front of that thing like a worm on a hook." Sam says.

"Dad did not send me here to walk away." Dean says.

"Send you here? He didn't send you here, he sent us." Sam says.

Elena knew a bomb was about to explode. Dean was finally going to say what was bothering him.

"This isn't about you Sam. 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 says.

"What are you saying Dean, how is it your fault?" Sam asks. Long pause. "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 me man. Tell me what's going on."

"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. Dean's face morphs into Young Dean."

[ ☾]

oung Dean sits watching TV. He turns it off and goes to the front door, looking back at Sammy asleep in the other room before he leaves, locking the door behind him. He plays arcade games in recpetion until the owner tell's them they're closing for the night.

Returning to the room he sees a strange light coming from Sammy's room. He moves closer and sees the shtriga leaning over Sammy.

Dean reaches for the rifle by the door but the shtriga hears him cock it and rears up, hissing. He hesitates, terrified. As he does John bursts through the front door, gun raised. "Get out of the way!" He yells.

Dean ducks and John shoots the Shtriga multiple times with his hand gun. The Shtriga jumps through the bedroom window, glass shattering. John rushes to Sam's bed and pulls him close, cradling him.

"Sammy. Sammy. You ok?" John asks.

When Sam speaks, he sounds confused and sleepy. "Yeah Dad, what's going on?" He asks.

"You all right?" John holds Sammy close while turning to glare at Dean. "What happened?"

Dean hesitates. "I just went out." He says.

"What!"

"Just for a second, I'm sorry." Dean says quickly.

"I told you not to leave this room. I told you not to let him out of your sight!" Young Dean watches as John cradles Sammy. His face morphs back into present Dean.

"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." Dean says. "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." He says.

Elena steps up to him. "You were just a kid." She says.

"Don't. Don't. Our Dad knew this was unfinished business for me. He sent me here to finish it." Dean says.

"But using Michael, I don't know Dean. I mean, how bout one of us hides under the covers, we be the bait." Sam says.

"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."