Dean - 28; Sam - 24; Casey - 19;
Casey Winchester prided herself on being tough as nails. She could say with certainty that almost nothing scared her. And with a job like hers, it had to be that way. It would be mighty hard for a hunter to do their job if they were terrified of every monstrous thing that entered their path.
There were, however, a few select things that made her mildly uncomfortable. Snakes, for instance. She never did like those. And bats. But if there was one thing Casey could truly say she was scared of, it was being yelled at.
It was an old, deep-rooted, and frankly embarrassing fear. She had grown up in an abusive household, always being carted off to abusive foster home after abusive foster home before ultimately landing back in the original craphole. She had been trained from the get-go that if somebody yelled at her, they were going to hit her, or worse. Casey had been put through the wringer, and no amount of love or reassurance that it would never happen again would ever convince her that she was completely in the clear. Because of this, she had a very hard time trusting people, men in particular.
If there was anybody she could without a doubt trust, it was her brothers. Sam had never raised his voice at her and promised he never would. And Casey believed him. Dean yelled on occasion, but almost never at her. She could count the number of times he had yelled at her on one hand. She knew above all that they would never, ever hurt her.
There were other people she trusted as well. Bobby, for instance. Underneath his gruff exterior, he had a heart of gold, especially when it came to her. Castiel was nice as well, but she still didn't really know what to think of him. Ever since Dean and Sam had explained her situation to him, he'd almost been walking on eggshells around her. One of these days she'd have to sit him down and explain things properly.
Today, Casey and her brothers were meeting a fellow hunter with a son about her age. She would be lying if she said she wasn't nervous. Meeting new people was never fun, especially for her. Cas was sitting in the back seat with her while the two boys sat up front.
"You have no reason to be afraid," Cas said suddenly.
Casey turned to look at him. "Were you reading my thoughts again?"
Cas shrugged. "You seemed distressed. I merely wished to know what was upsetting you."
Casey shook her head. "I'm not afraid, necessarily. I just get nervous when I meet new people, especially when the new people are men."
Cas nodded. "Because of what happened to you in the past."
Casey nodded as well. "Yes."
"Do you trust me, Casey?" he asked unexpectedly.
Casey blinked. "I suppose so. I've never really thought about it, but… yeah, I trust you."
Cas, seemingly satisfied with her answer, turned to face the front again.
Less than an hour later, the Impala pulled up to a small brick dwelling in almost the middle of nowhere.
"Here we are!" Dean announced from the front seat. "Told you I remembered where it was."
Sam rolled his eyes. "None of us doubted you for a second," he replied sarcastically.
Casey slid out of the back seat and took in the scenery. They were in a wide, expansive forest with trees surrounding them on every side. It would be very easy to get lost in a place like this. She'd have to be careful.
Dean went up to the small house and knocked on the door. A man, about Bobby's age, answered it with a smile.
"Sam! Dean! Good to see you boys!" he said, putting an arm around the pair.
Casey unconsciously took a step toward Castiel. He noticed this and placed a hand on her shoulder, resolving to keep an eye on her for the duration of their stay.
The man noticed her standing next to the angel. "Who are these two? Friends of yours?"
"Oh right. Howard, this is Casey and Castiel. Casey is our sister and Cas is a close friend," Dean said. "Cas, Casey, this is Howard Kearns. He's one of Dad's old friends."
"Come on in, all of you! We've got quite a bit to discuss." The man moved back, holding the door open to let them all inside.
Casey wasn't sure what she thought of Howard yet. He seemed nice, but she of all people knew that looks could be deceiving. She decided not to form an opinion until she knew more about him. Besides, she had thought the exact same thing when she first met Bobby, and he turned out to be perfectly trustworthy.
Before Casey could go any deeper into her thoughts, a boy about her age entered the room. He was tall, almost as tall as Sam, and lanky. He had sandy hair and a thick pair of black glasses that magnified his green eyes slightly.
Casey's mind came to a standstill. She didn't know what to think. She had been stricken with the inability to create a single coherent thought. When she finally gathered her wits about her once more, a single thought popped into her head.
Gosh, he's cute.
Wait.
No.
Don't think that! Don't think that!
Please Cas, if you're reading my thoughts, don't say anything…
She was pretty sure her eyes were giving her thoughts away; they were as big as saucers.
Lucky for her, the boy in question was too busy having the same exact thoughts to notice.
Wow, she's pretty.
Wait.
No.
Don't! Don't think that! Don't think that!
Man, I'm glad no one in this place can read minds…
Cas just stood next to Casey, smiling to himself.
The boy finally composed his thoughts again and started walking toward Casey. She unconsciously grabbed the edge of Cas's trench coat for comfort. She had no idea how to talk to boys. She couldn't recall ever meeting one her age. Unless Ash counted… no, heck no, Ash did NOT count. Neither did all of those jerks that were always hitting on her whenever she went anywhere without the boys. What was she supposed to say, what was she supposed to say!? What-
"Um, hi. I'm Fisher." The boy, Fisher, stuck his hand out in greeting.
Casey swallowed, hard. "Hi. Casey." She shook his hand, tentatively.
"Nice to meet you, Casey. Who's this?" he asked, pointing to Cas.
"This is Castiel. He's a close friend," she replied.
Dean was grinning to himself, knowing exactly what was going on. Sam punched him in the arm.
"Dude? Ow!"
"If you say one thing to Casey-" Sam started to threaten.
"Cool it! I'm not gonna say anything. This is too good to accidentally mess up."
"Fisher!" Howard called. "Did you grab the files I asked you to get?"
Fisher seemed to snap out of whatever trance he was put into and nodded. "Yeah, got 'em right here."
"Wonderful! Take a look, boys." Howard handed the files to Dean and Sam.
Casey was still standing awkwardly next to Cas. "It's, um, it's really pretty here," she said, trying to make small talk.
Fisher nodded, smiling. "Yeah. I like it a lot. When I was younger I would go exploring in the woods. I would pretend I was a hunter like my dad. Now I don't have to pretend anymore."
Casey nodded. "Yeah."
Casey didn't know why, but she didn't trust Fisher. There was something about him that was bugging her, but she couldn't put her finger on it. Nevertheless, she resolved to stay on high alert whenever he was around.
Sam seemed to notice Casey's discomfort. "Hey, Case!" he called. "Come and take a look at these."
Casey, relieved, made her way across the room to Sam and Dean. Castiel followed her protectively. He could sense that she didn't trust either of the new hunters she'd met, and if she didn't trust them then he didn't either.
"Apparently the Wendigo has been following an irregular hunting pattern," Sam explained to her, glancing back to keep an eye on the teenage boy that seemed to be smitten with his sister. "It's only hunting every other night. Most, if not all Wendigos hunt every night, and sometimes during the day as well."
"Are we sure it's a Wendigo, then?" Casey interjected. "I've never known a Wendigo to act like that. They're the hungriest creatures on planet Earth. Maybe it's something else."
Howard shook his head. "We thought it might be a werewolf, but the lunar cycle doesn't match up."
"Vampire?" Casey suggested.
"No," Fisher piped up. "It can't be. Vampires are extinct in this area. We've taken them all out."
"You absolutely sure about that?" Dean questioned. "Casey knows more about this stuff than Sam and I combined. And trust me when I say that when it comes to vampires, where there's a will, there is a way."
"I know these woods back to front," Fisher defended himself. "There are no vampires here. And besides, there was barely anything left of them anyways. Vampires don't eat their prey."
"Could be a witch," she continued. "Found any hex bags around the woods?"
"I think I would have noticed something like that," Fisher responded, folding his arms.
Casey's senses dialed up a notch. She knew that when a person folded their arms, it meant they were starting to get frustrated. And frustration had a way of escalating quickly.
A switch went off in her head. "How about a rugaru?"
Fisher and Howard both blinked at her. "A what now?"
"A rugaru. They feed on human flesh. They leave almost nothing left. They are methodical about their feeding times too."
"There's no such thing as a rugaru," Fisher said with certainty.
Dean gave him a deadpan stare. "You wanna bet, genius?"
"I have a lore book in my duffel that has information on them. I'll go get it," Casey volunteered.
"I'll come with you," Castiel offered.
She nodded, heading out the door. When she got to the Impala, she took a few deep breaths.
"Are you alright?" Cas asked, though he already knew the answer to his question.
"I'm okay. I just don't know about that Fisher guy."
"You like him," Cas stated definitively.
Casey raised her eyebrows. "You were reading my thoughts! I knew it!" She turned to open the back door where her duffel was stored.
"He likes you too," Cas added.
She stopped and slowly turned to face him.
"What now?"
"He has a mutual affection for you. I read his thoughts as well."
Casey blinked at him, before shaking her head. "I don't know what to do with that information." She retrieved the book from her bag, then locked the car doors again.
"C'mon. That last thing I want is for him to come outside and find out we're talking about him."