After settling the girl in, Sam and Dean turned once more and headed deeper into the forest.
They needed to rescue anyone they could and use these monsters as kindling to awaken their father.
The brothers soon vanished into the vegetation, leaving behind only the faint sounds of footsteps and weapons lightly knocking together.
As they ventured deeper, the stench of blood in the air seemed to grow stronger, mixed with the rot of the primeval forest and a sickeningly foul animal odor.
The two followed the drag marks and scattered bloodstains they had discovered earlier.
After advancing another kilometer, they slowed their steps and swept their sharp gazes across their surroundings.
Just then, Sam suddenly stopped. He crouched down and used his dagger to part a clump of ferns stained with dark red blotches.
Scattered there were several scraps of fabric torn to shreds, bearing trendy patterns, along with a small finger bone still attached to a fingernail, as though it had been gnawed on by a beast.
In the soft mud nearby were strange, inhuman footprints with sharp claws.
"They wouldn't waste any 'food,'" Dean said in a low voice, barely containing his anger. "Looks like there's another victim."
The discovery made both their hearts sink. The remaining people were clearly in grave danger; someone could die again at any moment.
They picked up the pace, following the footprints and the increasingly pungent stench.
At last, after passing through a dense grove draped in vines, they found a cave entrance hidden behind a massive boulder.
A great number of animal bones and bones of unidentifiable origin were piled outside the entrance, and the foul odor was coming from within.
From inside the cave came a chaotic din of ape-like shrieks, along with the bubbling gurgle of some viscous