The creature moved faster than anything human should.
Its claws tore through the air as it lunged across the ruined church.
Dean barely had time to react.
He shoved Ben out of the way as the monster slammed into the pews where they had been standing seconds before.
Wood exploded into splinters.
Ben rolled across the dusty floor.
"Okay—!"
He scrambled to his feet.
"That thing is definitely not friendly!"
Dean pumped the shotgun again.
"Good observation!"
The creature turned slowly.
Its glowing eyes locked onto them.
And then it smiled again.
That terrible, broken smile.
Ben swallowed.
"Dean…"
Dean didn't look away from the monster.
"Yeah?"
Ben raised Bobby's journal.
"It says these things feed on cursed ground."
Dean frowned.
"Define cursed."
Ben scanned the page quickly.
"Places where supernatural events happened… places soaked in death… places where something evil claimed the land."
Dean glanced around the church.
Burned walls.
Broken altar.
Black ash everywhere.
"So basically…"
He cocked the shotgun.
"…this place."
The creature suddenly screeched.
Its voice echoed like broken metal.
Then it rushed toward them again.
Dean fired.
BOOM
The blast pushed the creature back again, but it didn't fall.
It only grew angrier.
Ben quickly reached into his jacket.
He pulled out a small metal container.
Salt.
Dean saw it and grinned.
"Now you're thinking."
Ben threw the salt across the floor in a wide circle.
The grains scattered over the burned wood.
The creature stepped forward—
And stopped.
Its foot touched the salt line.
Smoke hissed from its skin.
The creature recoiled instantly.
Ben blinked.
"Okay… that worked better than expected."
Dean lowered the shotgun slightly.
"Salt works on a lot of things."
The creature paced just outside the circle now, watching them.
Waiting.
Its glowing eyes burned with hatred.
Ben whispered.
"So… now what?"
Dean glanced around the room.
His eyes stopped on the altar.
Behind it, the floor was covered with thick layers of black ash.
Dean pointed.
"That."
Ben followed his gaze.
"You think that's the holy ash?"
Dean shrugged.
"Only one way to find out."
Ben looked at the creature.
Then at the ash.
Then back at the creature.
"And how exactly do we get there?"
Dean smirked.
"Simple."
He handed Ben the shotgun.
Ben stared at it.
"…I don't like that look."
Dean pulled a small silver knife from his belt.
"You keep it busy."
Ben's eyes widened.
"Wait—what?"
Before Ben could protest, Dean jumped over the salt line.
The creature shrieked and lunged instantly.
Ben fired.
BOOM
The shotgun blast slowed the monster for a moment.
Dean ran toward the altar.
The creature twisted and charged again.
Ben fired another shot.
BOOM
Dust fell from the ceiling as the sound echoed through the church.
Dean slid behind the altar.
He grabbed a handful of the black ash.
It was cold.
Strangely cold.
Dean frowned.
"That's… weird."
The creature suddenly slammed into the altar.
The wood cracked violently.
Ben shouted.
"Dean!"
Dean quickly filled a small bag with the ash.
The creature's claws smashed through the altar.
Dean rolled away just in time.
Ben fired the last shell.
CLICK
Empty.
Ben stared at the shotgun.
"…Great."
The creature turned slowly toward him.
Dean stood up behind it.
"Hey!"
The monster spun around.
Dean held up the bag of ash.
"Pretty sure this belongs to us."
The creature shrieked in rage.
Then it attacked.
Dean and Ben ran.
They burst through the broken church door and sprinted down the hill toward the Impala.
Behind them—
The creature screamed inside the ruined building.
But it didn't follow.
It stayed inside the church.
Watching them leave.
Waiting.
Dean opened the trunk of the 1967 Chevrolet Impala and threw the bag of ash inside.
Ben leaned against the car, breathing heavily.
"Please tell me that was the hardest part."
Dean shut the trunk.
"You know it wasn't."
Ben sighed.
"Yeah… I figured."
Dean got into the driver's seat.
The engine roared to life.
The Impala rolled away from the burned church.
But high on the hill…
The creature watched them disappear down the road.
And it smiled.
Because the hunters had taken exactly what it wanted them to take.