Closed Store

"You met werewolves that could turn at will? I've never heard of pure-blood werewolves before…" says Sam as he reads through the notes I wrote in Bobby's book.

After dealing with Sue Ann, we split up again. And since it was boring, Cthylla wanted to invite them to a drinking evening where we could drown our sorrows.

But she came back with only one brother, as Dean got a visit from Layla…

And since they've been together for over two hours now, I think Dean finally decided to have some fun. Anyway, since Sam was here, we decided to have a drinking evening with only him.

"Yeah, in Vedauwoo, it seems that there's a whole family clan of them there. So it's not the best place anymore to go camping," I say while sipping my whiskey.

"Yeah, I think most of these old places are haunted by monsters... Dean and I ran into a Wendigo a few months ago, which also lived in the woods."

Cthylla hears the name and asks, while mixing cola with whiskey, "Weren't Wendigos the same as werewolves, but for the indigenous people?"

"Kinda... but Wendigos are much nastier, believe me, and they're really hard to kill," says Sam, continuing to read the entry.

"Wait, what does 'True Name' mean?" asks Sam after seeing the soul name of the werewolves.

"It's my specialty, I can read the souls of the beings I kill, and this name basically represents the being," I say, showing him the folding knife that I earlier enchanted with my blood.

"Are all these names of the beings you've hunted down? What effect does it have on them?" asks Sam after opening the knife and looking at the burned-in symbols.

"Yes… It basically bypasses the natural defenses of these monsters and can wound or even kill them easily if you hit a vital spot."

Sam's chin nearly hits the floor, and he says, "That's insane... such weapons could be really helpful for other hunters."

"Yes, but Aiden is basically the only one who can create them. A normal person wouldn't be able to enchant this without dying or other serious consequences," says Cthylla proudly.

"The only one? Is it a witchcraft thing?"

"No, but it's also a kind of magic that is so powerful that it could even damage a person's soul.

Anyway, the enchanting part is the problem, but as soon as the names are applied to the weapon, anyone can use it without consequences," I say to answer his questions without going into too much detail.

Sam stares at the knife and then continues to look through the notebook while thinking about something.

Since I can guess what he wants to ask next, I open my bag and take out two bushcraft knives and two M9 magazines that I enchanted and lay them in front of him.

"You can have these since you guys would probably be foolish enough to try enchanting some weapons yourselves...

These knives and bullets can kill Werewolves, Witches, Djinns, and Vampires easily so use them as you like.

"I'll ignore the foolish part... but are you sure? Weren't they difficult to make?" asks Sam looking at me seriously, but I can see in his eyes that he's already thinking about how they would benefit him and his brother.

Cthylla sees his reaction too and says, "If he's giving something to someone, he's always sure. So take them. But are you sure you want to use them?"

"What do you mean?"

"She means that if you kill something with these weapons, not only will the being die, but its whole existence would be destroyed...

That means no afterlife for the being, so think twice before using it." I say and open a new bottle of whiskey.

Sam looks shocked at first but then furrows his brows saying, "Dean told me that you were in Stanford that night and you knew that it was a demon who killed Jessica..."

"So you want to ask if I can create something that can kill a demon right? Not yet... but the knives and bullets should make the vessel at least useless for the demon.

You see, I've never killed a demon before to know its soul name, so if you ever encounter one, give me a call." I say and pour him some whiskey too.

Sooner or later, the demon will come after the brothers anyway.

Sam nods and becomes quiet, so Cthylla uses the opportunity to ask him more about his past, especially his time with Jessica.

That resulted in us spending the rest of the night talking about lost lovers and family dramas like people do when they drink.

Until Sam falls asleep on the table, while Cthylla sprawls out on our bed and falls asleep too…

So since I had no bed right now where I could sleep, I used the opportunity to go to the market early in the morning to get a broom.

Then I sneaked into Dean's hotel room to give him a dream where he was being chased by broomsticks that wanted to get intimate with him.

I mean, he called me Broomstick Rider, so this calls for payback. No one calls my car a broom...

Layla was still with him, so maybe she could comfort him afterwards.

After that, I simply went outside and enjoyed the morning with a hot coffee and a broom, while waiting for the others to wake up.

The first person to wake up and leave the hotel was Layla. She looked happy until she stopped and turned back toward the hotel with tears in her eyes.

Probably because she knows that she won't see Dean ever again...

Afterwards, none of the others woke up, so I went to the Impala and placed the broom inside before walking back to my room to wake up Sam and my girlfriend.

"Thanks again for the equipment and your help," says Sam, shaking my hand. He still seems to have the worst hangover ever but can at least walk.

"Yeah, don't worry about it," I say and step back to let Cthylla say goodbye.

She gives him a small hug and then also steps back while Dean stays cool by the Impala and simply waves at us before entering his car.

This guy is so ungrateful... well, at least he got his attitude back after last night. Maybe he still learned something from all of this.

"Ahh! Get the cursed object away from me!"

Suddenly, Dean screams and falls out of the car, then starts backing off frightened away from it.

"Dean!" shouts Sam, immediately running toward him.

I hold back Cthylla who wants to follow him and say, "Just smile and wave while we get into the car and drive away from here."

She looks confused at me but still imitates me, and we enter the car while Sam opens the passenger seat and takes out the broom, looking confused at his brother.

"What did you do?" she asks, still confused.

"Nothing. Let's get away from here before he calms down and shoots at us."

So I start the engine, and we drive away, only to see Dean in the rearview mirror running after us while screaming something.

I guess he's wishing us good luck on our journey or something like that...

~~~ One month prior, in Whitney, California ~~~

A man in his prime could be seen standing at a payphone, having a heated argument with his son.

"I have given you an order. Now, stop following me and do your job. Do you understand me?" says the man angrily to his disobedient son.

"Dad, it's me. Where are you?" says another voice suddenly through the phone.

"We have no time for this, Dean. I already told Sam everything. So grab a pen and write down the following names."

"Yes, sir. What are these names?"

"Vince Parker, Holly Parker, Harley Jorgeson, Stacey Jorgeson, Shane Walsh, and Lori Walsh. Got it? Deal with the problem, and stop following me. I will find you," says the man and hangs up.

He wished his younger son would be more like his older son. It would make everything easier, but there is always a black sheep in the family, so he had no other choice but to accept that.

There is also good a reason to tell his sons not to follow him, and this time it's not because of the demon who could probably easily rip them apart because they are still too inexperienced.

This time, it was because some of his hunter friends had started to disappear in this area, and he didn't want the same thing to happen to his sons. So he decided to investigate it on his own.

The last information he got was that they walked through an automatic glass door that seemed to have appeared out of nowhere and was embedded into a hill somehow.

So he enters his 1981 GMC Sierra Grande and curses because he misses the old Impala that he gave his older son, and rides towards the coordinates he got from his missing friend.

It took him nearly a whole day to find the spot because he had to leave his car behind and travel through the woods to get there.

And, as his friends told him, it was an automatic glass door that seemingly led into the interior of the massive hill.

It couldn't feel more out of place than here…

The man readies his shotgun and walks towards the door that opens after he comes closer.

It is dark inside, and when he points his flashlight towards the opening, he can only see something like massive shelves inside.

He takes a deep breath, walks through the door, and looks around.

To his surprise, it was really something like a massive store, with ominous music playing in the background.

The only thing that is illuminated is a massive tower that looks like it is in the middle of this building.

He suddenly gets a bad feeling, and when he turns around to leave this place, the door is not there anymore…

"Fuck…" says the man and has no other choice but to walk forward in between the seemingly never-ending shelves.

Suddenly he hears a crackling behind him, and he turns around and sees a large silhouette in the dark. When he shines his flashlight on it, he sees a massive humanoid figure that wears blue jeans and a yellow shirt.

The creature stares at him with its faceless head and says, "The store is now closed. Please exit the building."

Then immediately, it starts to rush towards the seasoned hunter while stretching out its massive arms towards him.

*Bang*

The man doesn't wait long enough to find out what it can do with its massive hands and shoots it down.

Then walks over to it, kicks it to see if it's really dead, and *Bang* fires another time to be sure.

But when he turns around to follow the way he was walking before, dozens more silhouettes in different shapes appear, saying in unison, "The store is now closed. Please exit the building."

*Bang, Bang, Bang*

He starts shooting while running away from these creatures, and at that moment, the man knows that his sons need to wait a bit longer until they can meet again.