Flickering.

A hut- no, there are trees, a cave? Possibly. Three people, girls, why is he seeing this? One takes another step but the tallest shoves her aside, something hits her, blood, not too leans against the wall, third girl says something- posh voice, British?- it's out, not that dangerous, keep watch, okay? Shorter two go into cave, third looks around, cocks- gun, there's a gun, why does she have a gun? Other two girls walking in, split up, brown hair goes right, black hair goes left; follow black hair, looking around, bones, rot, flesh, talk to self, nothing here, all good- wait, sound, footsteps, too big for man, more beast, but only two, it's back, it's early, oh god oh god, stay calm, duck, roll, sword can't reach sword, coming, pinned down, wake up, wake up, wake up-

"Wake up!"

Sam opened his eyes just in time to be shoved off the bed and hit the ground. Immediately he sat up and looked at his brother over the top of his rumpled, sweaty sheets. "Nightmare?"

"Yeah," Dean crossed his arms over his bare chest. "In pretty deep too. Think it's another of your premonitions?"

"Felt like it," Sam said miserably.

"What happened?"

"Three girls went to this cave, one of them was lookout and the other two went inside and split up. I only saw one, but this creature, it came back early, and-" Sam buried his face in his hands.

"Come on Sam, don't beat yourself up," Dean jumped over the bed and crouched in front of his younger brother. "Maybe we can stop it; do you know where it is?"

Sam shook his head. "It was in the middle of nowhere; no signs, no landmarks, nothing. That girl is going to die because of me, and the monster is going to go after the other one, and the girl standing guard, and she's injured." He made a distressed noise. "And the monster will have had to go through the entrance, it will have killed her first. She's going to die. God, she's probably already dead."

Kyra let the file hit the table with a thud and hopped onto her stool, taking a swig of beer. "That's everything we have on this one."

"Great," Mel replied, and began to leaf through the pages.

"Where's Ebony?"

"Making money."

Kyra glanced over at the extensive game of poker going on at the back of the room. "You told her not to drink tonight?"

"Yep, and I warned the bartender."

"Good."

"Hey, babe." a guy in his early thirties tottered past. "Nice t-shirt," he gestured to the slogan written across Kyra's chest.

"Eyes up and away, buddy," she snapped. "Go vomit in an gutter." Slightly startled by this, the man moved on and Kyra turned back to Mel, who didn't even comment. "So, I've checked on all the disappearances, and they all go by the lunar cycles."

"It's a werewolf?"

"No, the disappearances are in the new moon, near the spring equinox, every seven years. This bastard doesn't have to feed too often, and hibernates the rest of the time."

Mel took a drink of water and pushed her light brown hair over her shoulder. "But it always goes after groups, so does it store them or something, like a wendigo?"

"Pretty much. Now, I also checked the lunar cycles, and tonight's a new moon."

"And the spring equinox?"

"March 20th."

"Ten days time. So it hunts tonight?"

"Yep. Thanks to the reports," Kyra grabbed the book and flipped to a map of the nearby forest, "I've worked out that its lair is most likely in this area." She tapped the red circle which had a series of 'x's with arrows drawn through surrounding it. "There were tracks found headed in that direction, which went cold, so the authorities gave up. But I took note of the directions from the reports, and thank God that they were thorough in their investigation because I just realised something. Check this out." Grabbing a nearby menu, she lined up the edge with an arrow, and, fishing a pencil out of her jacket, drew a long line. She then repeated it with all the others, and it occurred to Mel what her friend was doing.

"They all cross here," she said, putting a finger on the spot where the lines met.

"Thereabouts."

"We need a plan." Mel turned in her seat and yelled across the bar, "hey, Ebby, get your arse over here!"

Ebony looked up from her cards to see her two best friends motioning her frantically. "Sorry boys, looks like I'm needed."

"Oh, but we haven't laid out the cards, sweetheart; you really that eager to get away before you lose?" the guy next to her teased lightheartedly, flashing a dazzling smile.

Ebony thought about it for a moment, then chucked her cards down to reveal a royal flush. "Okay, can I have my money now?"

All jaws unhinged as the other men laid out their cards. The guy next to her had a full house, and some of his bravado had left him, but he still had a grin on his face as Ebony reached out to grab her winnings.

"Sweetheart, careful there," he smirked as she leant over him to take the money from the man next to him. She was so close he could see the electric blue streaks in her choppy black hair. "I've only recently recovered from heart trouble, and you're not doing me any favours."

Ebony turned slightly so she was inches from his face, her green eyes looking into his own. "Really? I'd say you're a little young for heart trouble, but I'd be lying a tad."

Everyone at the table laughed at the burn, and laughed harder as Ebony snaked her hand inside his jacket, brushing her fingers along his chest slightly, and plucked a fifty dollar bill out of his inside pocket.

"Thanks sweetheart," she quipped, and walked off to the sound of cheering.

Dean looked after the girl, still with a smile on his face, and after excusing himself from the game, went to a corner booth where his brother sat reading their dad's journal.

"What a woman!" he exclaimed to no one in general. "And British too!"

Sam's only reply was "I don't want to know."

"C'mon Sammy, loosen up a little bit."

"Dean, focus. We have a job to do."

Across the bar, Ebony waved the bag of money with a smile on her face. "I think we're good for a while, girls. And the bartender kept coming over with rounds, but wouldn't give me any." She wagged a playful finger at her friends. "Did you say something to him?"

"It's going to hunt tonight," Mel said.

Immediately, Ebony's expression sobered. "How do you know?"

"Kyra cross-referenced and it hunts on the new moon before the equinox."
"And that's tonight?"

"Yes, but I think it won't hunt for another few days; the rangers have banned anyone from going out there due to the storm and the flooding."

"So while it runs about trying to find people, we go into the lair, stake out, booby trap, come back the next day and check if it worked," Kyra finished.

"How do you know it won't go somewhere else for food?" Ebony asked.

"In all of the cases, the campers targeted have never been close to the edge of the forest. Whatever this guy is, he hates civilisation."

"Oh, so like you then?"

Kyra punched Ebony on the arm. "Shut up. There have been other times when for one reason or another, there were no campers on the new moon, but the disappearance happens a few days later."

"So, when do we leave?"

"Now," Mel replied, picking up the file and tucking it into her bag; Ebony grabbed her jacket while Kyra expertly twisted her brunette-copper hair into a high ponytail and left a tip on the table. The three girls walked out the door, Ebony turning just in time to see Dean looking over from where he sat opposite someone- she couldn't see who. He winked at her and she blew him a kiss, which he caught and put in his inside pocket, mouthing the words "fair trade".

She chuckled and walked out the door, which turned to jogging as she realised she was a bit behind her friends.

Author's Note:

This story actually originated from a friend's dream after another friend and I got her hooked on Supernatural. We've all contributed to this story, and we're fairly proud of it. So, like and follow!

Peace,

Ciara Wynne