Journal of John Winchester (Supernatural)

May 2

Sammy is four today. And sure enough, we’re in Colorado.

That’s three out of four birthdays we’ve been visiting Daniel.

The mountains are a good place to spend early May. Maybe

we should make a tradition of it—but I have a feeling that

we’re not in any place to start traditions. I had to pull Dean out

of school when I got a note from Ellen that someone passing

through the roadhouse had just exorcised a demon that knew

where we were.

I think hunters call something a demon when they don’t

know what it is. The word is easy to throw around. But whatever it was, if the Winchesters were on its mind, it’s the enemy.

So we’re moving for two reasons. One, the enemy knows

where we are. Two, I’m going to go after him where he is . . .

as soon as I gure that out. So we’re in Colorado, on our way

to Texas. Dean understands.

Sammy gets Daniel’s books down from the shelves and

pretends to read them. He can pick out some words, but

what he’s really after is the pictures. Like any kid his age.

We stopped by here because I took out a

strange kind of revenant in April, one I’ve

never seen before. It was in Greektow

Detroit. Daniel gured it out right away

VRYKOLAKAS: Unconsecrated burial,

returns to either murder people in the

graveyard or cause problems in the

house it left. Sometimes appears as human,

other times as a sort of werewolf

(although in some versions, the vrykolakas

is destroyed by being dug up and eaten

by a wolf). Can drain the life force of

the sleeper, similar to succubus/incubus or mara

Stories vary widely, often incorporating elements of the

poltergeist. Sometimes the vrykolakas attacks and kill peopl2

other times it plagues their sleep; other times only chidren die;

other times it is only waiting to be dispatched by its

surviving family members’ fulfilment of a promise. Much

overlap between vrykolakas lore and that of vampires. Not

sure if one is a subspecies of the other or if confusion in

the lore has obscured the real dfferences.

VETALA: Hostile evil spirits from Indian lore animated

corpses—their own or others—to move around. Haunt

cemeteres and creation grounds. Will attack in cemeteries.

can also drive people mad,Will kill children, possibly to eat.

and are known to induce miscarrages. Trapped between

the materal word and the afterlife can be dispelled by

the performance of funeral rites. NOTE: Exorcism will not

work on a vetala. They aren’t demons in the sense of the

judeo-Christian ritual. If caught in the right mood, a vetala

might tell you the past and future for this reason they’re

much sought after by sorcerers . . . mostly resuting in fatal

mishaps for those sorcerers, since if caught in the wrong

mood, a vetala is lethal before you know it’s there. Best

deal is to get on with the funeral rites and send them on

their way.