Supernatural: Wendigo

A/N: Hello! Now I know that I said I probably wouldn't update again until before or after Christmas, but I'm taking a short break from my homework to post this new story, which my wonderful Beta Reader, and little sister, Yami Faerie edited for me.

Read, review, and enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Supernatural. I just own any and all characters that I just happen create.

CHAPTER ONE: MYSTERIOUS DISAPPEARANCES

Blackwater Ridge

Lost Creek, Colorado…

On the outskirts of a campsite that had three tents in it, small growls could be heard; inside one of the tents, two guys were playing video games very loudly.

"Dude, you're cheating," Brad complained to his friend Gary.

"No, you just suck," Gary retorted.

Outside the growling was growing louder and closer, but in the second tent, a guy named Tommy was recording a message on his cell phone, completely unaware of a dark shape moving past the back of his tent very fast. "Hey Hailey, day six, we're still out near Blackwater Ridge, we're fine, keeping safe, so don't worry, talk to you tomorrow."

In the first tent, Brad got tired of playing his video game, shut it, and tossed it aside; he then got up and moved toward the door of the tent.

"Hey, where ya goin?" Gary asked, surprised. "It's my moment of victory."

Brad rolled his eyes and said, "Nature calls," before opening the tent's flap, stepping outside, and zipping up the tent behind him. He walked over to the nearest tree to relieve himself, and looked in the woods, where he saw some of the trees rustling. He knew there were supposed to be grizzlies around the area, but there was something that just set his nerves on edge.

Gary was intensely focused on his game, so he jumped when Brad's scream rent the air, followed by several loud growls. "Brad?"

In the second tent, Tommy also jumped and called through the fabric. "Gary, what's goin' on?"

Gary opened the tent and stuck his head out to look around. There was silence, followed by more growling and Gary screamed as he was violently pulled from his tent.

Tommy turned out the lantern he had on at once and fearfully watched the shadows that were moving very quickly along the outside of the tent. He swiveled around with every growl, scared. Suddenly, it grew very quiet, and he almost let out the breath he was holding when the something outside slashed opened his tent. He screamed.

Palo Alto, California…

Sam, wearing a black dress suit, walked up to Jessica's grave with flowers. "I… um…" he nervously laughed to himself. "You always said roses were… were lame, so I brought you uh…" he stopped and looked at the small picture of Jess that was on her gravestone, sighed and choked back the tears that were threatening to break loose. "Jess… oh God… I should have protected you. I should have told you the truth."

He bent down to set the flowers on the stone, when an arm suddenly reached up out of grave and grabbed his wrist — and then Sam jerked awake in Dean's car.

"You okay?" Dean and Liz both asked, concerned.

"Yeah I'm fine," Sam lied.

Dean nodded, not believing that for a second. "Another nightmare?" he asked and Sam shook his head, clearing his throat. "You wanna drive for a while?" he offered.

Sam laughed, surprised by the offer. "In your whole life you never once asked me that," he remarked and Liz agreed since it was a first.

Dean shrugged. "Just thought you might want to, never mind."

Sam sighed, realizing what was going on. "Look man, you're worried about me, I get it and thank you but I'm perfectly okay," he said in a reassuring manner that didn't fool Dean or Liz for a second.

"Mm-hmm."

"Sure you are, Sam."

"So, where are we?" Sam asked, changing the subject.

"We are just outside of Grand Junction," Dean answered.

Sam looked at a map. "You know what?" he said after a moment. "Maybe we shouldn't have left Stanford so soon."

"Sam, we searched the campus for a week, and we didn't find anything," Liz reminded him gently. "If you wanna find the thing that killed Jessica…"

"We gotta find Dad first," said Sam, his voice going slightly cold, and Liz held back a long-suffering sigh. She was hoping (probably against all odds) that Sam wouldn't try to start yet another fight.

"Dad disappearing, and this thing showing up again after twenty years, it's no coincidence," Dean stated, eyes glued to the road. "Dad will have answers; he'll know what to do."

"It's weird man," Sam said, staring at the map, frowning. "These coordinates he left us, this Blackwater Ridge."

"What about it?" Dean and Liz both asked.

"There's nothing there, it's just woods," Sam said, gesturing to the map. "Why is he sending us to the middle of nowhere?"

Dean met Liz's eyes via the rearview mirror, neither sibling having an answer for the youngest Winchester. Just then, they drove past the National Forest sign that said, "Welcome to Lost Creek, Colorado" and they soon arrived at what appeared to be the Visitors Center.

VISITORS CENTER…

"So Blackwater Ridge is pretty remote," Sam said, reading from a brochure as they got out of the car and headed for the doors to the center. "It's cut off by these canyons here, rough terrain, dense forest, abandoned silver and gold mines all over the place."

Inside, Dean noticed a picture of a fallen bear and a man standing near it with a rifle. "Dude check out the size of this freakin' bear," he exclaimed, amazed at the size.

"I think that's a grizzly," Liz corrected her twin.

"There's a dozen or more grizzlies in the area," Sam said, also glancing at the picture. "It's no nature hike, that's for sure."

Just then, they were approached by a forest ranger. "You folks aren't planning on going out near Blackwater Ridge by any chance?" he asked.

"Oh no sir, we're environmental study majors from UC Boulder, just working on a paper," Sam lied.

"Recycle, man," said Dean with a grin while Liz stifled a sigh at her twin's antics.

"Bull," said the ranger, not believing it for a second. "You're friends with that Hailey girl right?"

There was a moment of silence

"Yes, yes we are, Ranger Wilkinson," Dean said with a sheepish-looking grin as he glanced at the man's nametag.

Ranger Wilkinson sighed. "Well I will tell you exactly what we told her," he said sharply. "Her brother filled out a backcountry permit saying he wouldn't be back from Blackwater till the 24th, so it's not exactly a missing persons now is it?" and Dean shook his head. "You tell that girl to quit worrying, I'm sure her brother's just fine," he added in a more mellow tone.

Dean nodded again. "We will. That Hailey girl's quite a pistol, huh?" and then winced when Liz jabbed him in the ribs.

"That is putting it mildly," Ranger Wilkinson grumbled.

"Actually, you know what would help is if I could show her a copy of that backcountry permit, you know, so she could see her brother's return date for herself," Dean suggested, getting an idea.

Sam, Liz, and a laughing Dean walked out of the building with the copy of the permit.

"What, are you cruising for a hook-up or something?" Sam asked, surprised that Ranger Wilkinson was so helpful.

"What do you mean?" Dean asked.

"The coordinates point to Blackwater Ridge, so what are we waiting for, let's just go find Dad," Sam suggested. "I mean, why even talk to this girl?"

Dean shrugged. "I dunno," he said, and Liz could hear the sarcasm dripping from his voice, "maybe we should know what we're walking in to before we actually walk into it."

"I'm with Dean on this one," Liz agreed after a moment, "I'd much rather look before I leap."

Sam was surprised. "What?"

"Sam, since when are you all shoot first and ask questions later anyway?" Dean asked.

"Since now," Sam answered shortly, turning away and heading for the car.

Dean and Liz were both skeptical and exchanged yet another look before following Sam.

HAILEY'S HOUSE…

After driving a bit, they found the house; Dean knocked on the door and a young woman with dark eyes and long dark hair opened it with the screen door still closed.

"You must be Hailey Collins," said Dean. "I'm Dean, this is Liz and that's Sam. We're rangers with the park service. Ranger Wilkinson sent us over, we wanted to ask you some questions about your brother Tommy."

"Let me see some ID," Hailey requested.

Dean nodded and held up fake ID. "Here ya go."

Hailey looked at the ID through the screen door for a moment. "Come on in."

"Thanks," Dean said.

Hailey just happened to notice the Impala as she opened the screen door. "That yours?" she asked.

Dean grinned. "Yeah."

Hailey was impressed as she led them inside. "Nice car."

"So, if Tommy's not due back for a while, how do you know something's wrong?" Sam asked.

"He checks in every day by cell," Hailey explained. "He e-mails photos, stupid little videos… but we haven't heard anything in over three days now." She let out a sigh, clearly frustrated.

"Is it possible he just couldn't get phone reception?" Liz suggested.

Hailey shook her head. "He's got a satellite phone, too."

"Could it be he's just having fun and forgot to check in," said Dean.

Just then they entered the kitchen, and a young man with black hair, Ben, was sitting at the table. "He wouldn't do that," he snapped.

Hailey sighed. "Our parents are gone," she explained. "It's just my two brothers and me. We all keep pretty close tabs on each other."

Sam could understand that well enough. "Can I see the pictures he sent you?" he requested.

Hailey nodded. "Yeah." And she opened a series of pictures on her laptop. "That's Tommy." And she played the video.

`" Hey Hailey, day six, we're still out near Blackwater Ridge, we're fine, keeping safe, so don't worry, talk to you tomorrow."`

Sam frowned slightly, spotting something in the video the rest didn't pick up on.

"Well, we'll find your brother, we're heading out to Blackwater Ridge first thing in the morning," Dean assured her.

"Then maybe I'll see you there," said Hailey and Sam, Liz, and Dean all looked over at her. "Look," she said after a moment, "I can't sit around here anymore, so I hired a guide. I'm heading out in the morning, and I'm gonna find Tommy myself."

"I think I know how ya feel," Dean agreed after a pause.

"Hey, you mind forwarding these to me?" Sam requested, changing the subject.

Hailey nodded. "Sure."

LOCAL BAR…

After talking a bit more with Hailey and some research, Sam, Liz, and Dean were now in the local bar, and Sam was showing the other two everything that he'd found, pulling newspaper articles out of a briefcase. "So, Blackwater Ridge doesn't get a lot of traffic, local campers mostly," he explained. "But still, this past April two hikers went missing out there, they were never found."

"Any before that?" Dean asked.

"Yeah In 1982, eight different people all vanished in the same year," Sam confirmed. "Authorities said it was a grizzly attack. And again in 1959 and again before that in 1936. Every 23 years, just like clockwork." He then pulled out his laptop. "Okay, now watch this. Here's a clincher. I downloaded that guy, Tommy's, video to the laptop. Check this out." He played the video frame by frame so that both Dean and Liz could see a shadow of something moving extremely fast outside the tent behind Tommy.

"Do it again," Dean requested, frowning.

"What was that?" Liz wondered.

Sam played it again. "That's three frames," he explained. "That's a fraction of a second. Whatever that thing is, it can move."

Dean hit Sam's arm lightly. "Told ya something weird was goin' on." Sam gave him a scowl, but nodded.

"Weird is right," Liz agreed.

"I got one more thing," Sam added. "In '59 one camper survived this supposed grizzly attack. Just a kid. Barely crawled out of the woods alive."

"Is there a name?" Dean asked eagerly, and Sam smiled.

SHAW HOUSE…

"Look ranger, I don't know why you're askin' me about this," Mr. Shaw grumbled. "It's public record; I was a kid. My parents got mauled by a…"

"Grizzly? That's what attacked them?" Sam asked, cutting in.

Mr. Shaw paused in silence, and then nodded his head, but it was clear on his face that even he didn't believe that.

"The other people that went missing that year… those bear attacks too?" Dean asked. "Or how about all the people that went missing this year? Same thing?"

"If we knew what we were dealing with, we might be able to stop it," Liz said.

Mr. Shaw didn't look convinced. "I seriously doubt that," he said with a shake of his head. "Anyways, I don't see what difference it would make. You wouldn't believe me, nobody ever did." He sighed and looked away.

"Mr. Shaw, what did you see?" Sam asked quietly.

"Nothing," Mr. Shaw admitted. "It moved too fast to see, it hid too well. I heard it though, a roar, like…no man or animal I ever heard."

Sam exchanged a look with Dean and Liz. "It came at night?" he asked, and Mr. Shaw nodded. "Got inside your tent?"

"It got inside our cabin," Mr. Shaw corrected. "I was sleepin' in front of the fireplace when it came in. It didn't smash a window or break the door, it unlocked it. Do you know of a bear that could do something like that? I didn't even wake up till I heard my parents screamin'."

"It killed them?" Sam asked, wondering what of all the supernatural creatures out there could possibly unlock a door or even a window.

Mr. Shaw nodded. "Dragged them off into the night," he added, sighing again. "Why it left me alive… been askin' myself that ever since. Did leave me this though." He then opened the collar of his shirt to reveal his chest, which had three huge scars that looked like they were made by three huge claws. "There's something evil in those woods. It was some sort of a demon."

After thanking Mr. Shaw for his time, Dean, Liz, and Sam left the house, and walked out to the Impala.

"Spirits and demons don't have to unlock doors," Dean stated. "If they want inside they just go through the walls."

"Which means we can rule those types out," Liz said, agreeing.

"So it's probably something corporeal," said Sam, thinking.

Dean gave Sam an exasperated look. "Corporeal? Excuse me professor."

"Shut up. So what do you think?" Sam retorted.

"The claws, the speed that it moves, could be a skin walker, maybe a black dog," Dean guessed. "Whatever we're talking about, we're talking about a creature and it's corporeal." He shot a small grin at Sam for his use of the fancy word, and Sam rolled his eyes. "That means we can kill it." He then opened the trunk, propped it up with a shotgun, and put some pistols in a duffel bag.

Sam nodded. "We can't let that Hailey girl go out there," he pointed out.

"Oh yeah? What are we gonna tell her?" Dean asked. "That she can't go into the woods because of a big scary monster?"

"She won't buy it," Liz stated. "She's determined to find her brother."

Sam sighed, realizing that she was right. "Yeah… but —"

"She's not just gonna sit this out," said Dean, agreeing with Liz. "Now we go with her, we protect her, and we keep our eyes peeled for our fuzzy predator-friend."

"Finding Dad's not enough?" Sam asked angrily, and slammed trunk shut. "Now we gotta baby-sit too?" and both Dean and Liz stared at Sam, surprised and concerned. "What?"

Dean shrugged. "Nothin." And he threw the duffel bag at Sam before exchanging a knowing look with Liz. Sam was getting to be out of control at the rate he was going, and he wasn't sure that either of them would be able to get through to him before he went too far.

The next morning out by the mountains…

"I'll tell you again, I don't think Ben should come," Hailey's guide, named Roy, said as he shouldered his pack. "You're paying me good money to keep everybody safe, and I think Ben's safest at home."

Just then, Sam, Liz, and Dean pulled up in their car.

"You guys got room for a few more?" Dean asked, getting out and throwing a backpack over one shoulder.

"Wait, you want to come with us?" Hailey asked, surprised.

Roy eyed the Winchesters suspiciously. "Who are these guys?" he inquired.

Hailey shrugged. "Apparently this is all the park service could muster up for search and rescue."

"You're rangers?" Roy asked, clearly not convinced.

Dean nodded. "That's right."

"And you're hiking out in biker boots and jeans?" Hailey asked, eying their choice of clothing.

Dean smirked. "Well sweetheart, I don't do shorts." Both Sam and Liz sighed.

"What, you think this is funny?" Roy asked angrily. "It's dangerous backcountry out there, her brother might be seriously hurt."

"Believe me, I know how dangerous this could get," Dean assured him. "We just wanna help her find her brother, that's all."

SOMEWHERE UNDERGROUND…

Tommy and Gary were hanging from the ceiling by their hands. Hearing something, Gary looked down a tunnel and saw the shadow of a creature walking towards them. Moments later, Tommy heard his friend scream as the creature ripped him apart, eating him alive. He shut his eyes tightly and silently prayed for someone to rescue him before it was too late.

A/N: Eww! I just grossed myself out by going to a scary visual place. R&R everyone!