A gentle shake on Sam's shoulder is what brought him out a nightmare, his forehead covered in a thin film of cold sweat as he jerked up with Gabriel's name on the precipice of his lips, finding nothing but the bedroom and Bobby in his eyesight. Slowly, his heart calmed down, and the headache that had suddenly appeared was subsiding the smallest bit as he turned his head to Bobby, looking at him with tired eyes.

"I found something," Was all Bobby said, but it made Sam shoot up with energy as he got out of bed and followed Bobby into the room, looking at the desk and frowning when he saw a map, a few x's littering the large paper. Bobby circled around to the other side, a frown on his face.

"I couldn't find anything near Palo Alto or the cities around, so I took your story and went farther," Bobby said, placing his finger on Oregon, where one of x's were, "The first story I found was in Salem, Oregon, and the trail goes cold for about three hours and then the next was in Trinity Village, California. Nothing happens for four days and then that's when Gabriel disappears."

"So it moves fast," Sam commented his eyes trained on the map and allowing him to push his emotions away and focus completely on what was being told to him right now, "Why did it wait so long to attack Gabriel if the thing could move that quickly?"

"Well, I took a look at the reports, and they were not pretty," Bobby said, his mouth twitching and Sam could have sworn he turned a little pale, "To be honest, if that thing was there to kill Gabriel, you wouldn't be able to find a single body part, only a mush of blood and flesh."

Sam felt sick at that and turned his eyes away, taking a deep breath before clenching his hands and looking back at Bobby, "What are the rest of these x's?" Sam asked.

"About a day after Gabriel disappears, it attacks again in Fallon, Nevada," Bobby said, sliding his finger in the path the creature took before halting on an x, "It's moving slower now, but it's still faster than I would have anticipated a creature to move. I think it might still have Gabriel if that's the case. It can't be easy lugging another being with it."

"So, Gabriel's alive?" Sam asked, a little hope fluttering into his voice. Bobby gave an awkward nod, but that was all Sam needed to put his dedication back into this, "Where do you think its heading?"

"I think its heading northeast. There's a stretch of land in Idaho that's lower than the rest of the rocky mountains. It would be the fastest way to get through them and still go in that direction. What I want to know is why," Bobby said, frowning as he studied the map quietly and carefully with dark eyes. Sam stared at it for a moment longer before he looks around, noticing the excessive amount of books open and spread around everywhere.

"Have you got a clue what creature it is?" Sam asked, narrowing his eyes as he realized that most of them were books of creatures. Bobby just shook his head, letting out a sigh at the mess.

"No, nothing fits the description, not that there's really one to go on. We're just going to have to wait and see what it does and hopefully predict where it will go," Bobby said, though his tone left Sam's faith quickly falling.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sam barely noticed how beautiful Boise City, Idaho actually was as he drove into the entrance of the city, the trees towering above his car with rows of orange, reds, and yellows leaves streaking against the blue sky. In the distance, he could see the towering of buildings, looking more like an artistic combination of nature and urban life together rather than an actual town.

As he turned onto the street that he was supposed to be heading, he slowed down, his car barely gliding across the asphalt as he looked at the clean and neat little homes that stood tall and proud. He pulled into the third house on the right, adjusting his suit and fishing out his fake I.D. before he took a deep breath and got out, is eyes wandering over the neatly cut grass and pretty little flower bushes that made their way across the wall of the home.

When he knocked on the door, he was greeted with a weepy-eyed woman as she clasped her hand onto the doorframe, as if that were the only thing keeping her up. She was pale, and her hair was a mess, stuck to her face with the tears that made her eyes puffy and red.

"Mrs. Jerald? I'm with the FBI," Sam said gently, almost as if he was talking to a wounded animal as he showed her his I.D. "Is it alright if I come in and ask questions?"

The woman whimpered, but gave a slight nod before stepping back and allowing him to enter. "I hope you can help us better than the police," She whispered, walking through the foyer to a kitchen. On the other side, he could see the yellow tape that stretched across a closed doorway into what he assumed to be a living room.

"Is that where...?" Sam trailed off, but the woman wrapped her arms around herself, her tears welling again as she nodded.

"The police left it there so my daughter wouldn't go in. They cleaned up the bo-...the mess, but until we can get someone in here to tear up the carpet..." She stopped talking after a moment, a sob wracking through her throat before shaking her head and sitting down at the dining table, "He didn't deserve it, you know. He...he was a good man, and w-we never even fought."

"I know. It's difficult to lose someone you love," Sam replied gently, sitting across from her and watching her with sad eyes, "Could you tell me what happened?"

Mrs. Jerald let out a sad laugh, more of a single note of pain actually, before shaking her head, the tears beginning to fall again. She used the sleeve of her sweater to wipe them away, a shiver running through her, "I don't know what happened. I was doing the dishes while Jason was playing with Laura, and the next thing I know, I here Laura scream when I get there, he's...."

She stopped, letting out a full sob before hiding her face in her hands. Sam stood, crossing over and resting his hand on her shoulder in a gentle comfort, "I'll do my best to find what did this, alright? But before I do, I need to talk to your daughter to know what she has seen," He said softly, and when she finally found the strength to push away her tears and nod, she shakily stood, using his shoulder as a support as she led him further into the house.

Up the stairs and at the end of the hall was a bright pink door, decorated in glittery letters that spelled out 'Laura.' She opened the door, where a little girl sat at a Disney princess themed table, coloring on a piece of paper. The girl seemed to be in a frozen state, her hand moving on its own as she stared off at the empty space across the table.

Sam gave Mrs. Jerald a nod of thanks before he walked into the room, crouching beside the girl. Her hand slowed down to an eventual stop before she turned her head, her eyes wide open but unseeing as she faced him.

"Laura? Can you tell me what you saw last night?" He asked, watching her with worry as she turned her head back to the empty side of the table, her eyes welling with tears before falling silently.

"Bright light," She said softly, pulling out a yellow crayon and staring at it with such sudden hatred before she flung across the room, sniffling, "Big monster with long claws. He grabbed Daddy and tore him into two pieces. I couldn't see nothing else."

Sam frowned, watching the little girl as she shifted in her seat before tapping her ears several times, rocking back and forth a little bit, "Did you hear anything, sweetie?" He asked, a sense of protectiveness washing over him as the little girl closed her eyes, mumbling to herself before nodding, keeping her eyes closed as she continued talking.

"It was a loud yelling noise. The monster was sad," Laura said, looking down at her piece of paper and staring at it. It was only scribbles, nothing that Sam could make out to be legible, "There was also a man other than Daddy. He was yelling for the monster to stop. I remember he grabbed me and covered my eyes until the monster dragged him away."

After that, Laura went back to her scribbles, and Sam could only stare at her in complete shock as Mrs. Jerald asked again and again if he was alright.