So…this fic is dedicated to my crazy friends Leah and Jess. You two rock! Enjoy!
A/N: This story takes place after the episode Croatoan…sometime long after; most likely early spring. May have some spoilers.
Note: When Jess and Leah's conversations are italicized, they are reading each other's minds.
Chapter One:
The wind blew through the open window of the black '67 Chevy Impala and rustled the short brown hair of the man driving it down the desolate road; only a small forest lay about a mile from his right. Dean Winchester looked through his dark sunglasses over at his younger brother asleep in the seat next to him. The man smiled and turned back to face the long road in front of him. The sun was high up and created heat waves off the paved highway.
Dean reached down and turned on the radio, keeping the volume low as he tuned it to an acceptable station. He let out a sigh of relief as he took in the soothing sound (to him) coming from the speakers. He leaned back and relaxed as he kept his eyes on the road.
The elder Winchester looked further down the road just in time to see a woman running into the middle of the highway. He pressed on the brakes, watching as the woman waved her hands frantically, pulling the car to a stop behind the car parked off to the side. Sam awoke with a start and bolted upright as the frantic woman approached Dean's window. She grasped his door, a trickle of blood seeping from the wound on her forehead, her long, tangled brunette hair falling in her face.
"Please," she gasped. "You have to help us." The young woman pointed to the car and ran over towards its back seat, opening the door. Her short-sleeved navy blue shirt was torn, and the hem and knees of her jeans were tattered. Dean opened the creaky door of his own car and his younger brother followed suit. They walked over and noticed another young woman laying in the backseat of the teal Toyota Camry; the car looking to be around five years old. The other woman's shirt and chest was covered in blood as she lay still, holding her chest. Her gray-blue eyes looked up into Dean's as he opened the door.
"What happened?" Sam asked the frantic woman as Dean pushed her aside and helped the woman in the back seat.
"It's still out there! We have to get out of here," she replied. Terror was in her eyes, but she tried to stay calm. Sam reached over, placing his large hands on her smaller shoulders.
"What's still out there?" he asked her, looking into her blue eyes. She stared right back into Sam's blue-green eyes.
"A werewolf," she replied, almost at a whisper. Sam turned his head and eyed the surroundings. Only a small forest lay about a half mile from the road. Other than that, it was all barren. "Please, get us out of here!"
Sam nodded and held her arm, walking her towards the Impala. "Get in," he said. "My brother will take your car and follow us."
"That's not our car…it was just here. It's dead," she stated, sliding into the back seat and slamming the door shut.
"Sam, help me with her," Dean said, hearing what the frantic woman had said. He motioned towards the bloody girl and Sam ran over to help. Together they dragged her out and carried her back to the classic car, placing her gently in the back with her friend.
The Winchesters got back into the Impala and Dean took off the layers of coats, then his white tee-shirt, tossing it into the back. "Put pressure on her wounds," he told the woman. The bloodied woman was awake, but only moaning in pain. Dean started the car and took off towards the nearest town, hoping it wasn't too far off.
It only took him twenty minutes to drive the eighty mile stretch, reaching a small town, where Sam spotted a clinic. The elder Winchester pulled his car up into a spot in front, and together, he and his younger brother got the two women inside.
Sam and Dean waited in the small, puke-green plastic, not to mention uncomfortable, chairs as the girls were examined in the back rooms. The boys didn't say much but merely gave questioning glances. Sam sat in thought about the werewolf, and how the woman wasn't completely terrified over the fact. He wondered how she'd known how to avoid it, and escape, considering most wouldn't have survived such an attack without the proper knowledge. Werewolves were keen in all senses and meticulous hunters.
Dean left the room and went outside. He opened the back door of his car, removed the bloodied tee, cleaned up the blood on the leather (he was pissed about that), and walked around to the back of the car. He opened the trunk and tossed the shirt. He found his forest green duffle and searched for a cleaner shirt, eventually finding his black Pink Floyd shirt with the Dark Side of the Moon logo on the front. He shut the trunk, locked the car and went back inside.
Eventually the young woman Sam had talked to before, walked into the waiting room, while in a white gown. There were a few bruises on her arms, and one on her leg, along with a bandage over the cut on her forehead, but she didn't seem to mind as she sat down next to Sam. She sighed and turned her head, looking right at Sam.
"Thank you," she said, her voice smooth and pleasant. Fear still lingered in her eyes, but she was calm. She gave a weak smile and Sam returned the gesture.
"You're welcome," he replied. He averted his eyes from hers for a second before moving them back. "Um…how did you know it was a werewolf?"
Dean leaned over in his seat to listen in on the conversation. Normally, he'd be the one doing all the talking to such a beautiful girl as her, but Sam seemed to have her attention.
The young woman took a few seconds before replying; "How come you don't think I am nuts for saying it was a werewolf?" she asked slyly.
"You're avoiding my question," Sam stated.
"So I have a werewolf fascination…I mean, come on, you have to think they exist, considering you two aren't taking me to a nuthouse. Sam glanced at his brother with a raised eyebrow then turned back to the woman.
"So, what's your name?" Dean asked. The girl leaned over to get a better look at the man, then fell back towards the wall, placing her head against it.
"Leah," she announced. Dean opened his mouth and was about to ask her another question, when she interrupted and answered it, "And my sister here is Jessica," she said, pointing to the girl who just walked out wearing the same gown as Leah. She looked similar to her sister, but her lighter brown hair was shorter, about shoulder length, and her large, gray-blue eyes watched the three. She was limping and holding her arm against her chest as she made her way over to the chair across from her friend. They could all see bruises on her arms and a large one on her left upper thigh, along with some bandaged scratches.
Dean leaned over his brother and Leah, sticking out his hand. "Hi Jess…I'm Dean, this is my brother, Sam," he said suavely. "Your sister here tells us werewolves did this to you. Is that so?"
Jess nodded and eyed Leah.
You told them?
I had to…they can help. They don't think we're crazy.
Why?
Because…I trust them.
Whatever.
"So are you two going to help us or not?" Jess asked, turning her gaze back to the men.
Sam and Dean shared gazes, then Dean replied; "Yeah, we will. But you have to tell us everything."
Jess and Leah glanced at each other and they both nodded at the men. "Alright…we'll start from the beginning," Leah said. "But first…you need to answer my question." She turned to Sam.
"Right," he said. "We'll just say that we have a werewolf fascination of our own."
Leah nodded, "Right…ok then. Well…we were out hiking when that thing came out of nowhere. We'd been in the forest two days before we finally found the road. We found that car sitting there, but it didn't work, so we stayed there, til I saw you two heading our way."
Dean gave her a questioning look. "That's not everything. I mean tell us everything…like, how'd two women such as yourselves come about to hiking in a forest in the middle of nowhere? It's not a national forest or anything…now be honest with me," the man demanded.
Leah gave her friend another anxious look.
What do I tell them?
I don't know…you're the one who had the brilliant plan of telling them about the werewolf!
Just help me out! Please…
Ugh…alright.
Jess took over for Leah. "So…you want the truth. Well…we're hunters…I am assuming you two know what we mean."
Dean eyed Jess, "You two are hunters?" he chuckled. "Seriously?"
Jess and Leah glared at him. Even Sam joined the girls. Sam was surprised, after all, Jo was a hunter…Dean had never laughed at her. Although Sam could see that these girls didn't exactly look like the bad-ass hunters they claimed to be.
"So we aren't exactly like you two, but we're probably a hell of a lot smarter," Leah declared. Sam stifled a laugh, his brother was pissed.
"Ok…enough…can you continue?" Sam asked, stopping a fight before it started.
"Alright," Jess started. "So…we were on a hunt. We'd found out that this thing was going into the nearby farms and killing their livestock…sometimes even the farmers themselves. We even found out that one of these supposed farmers had turned into a werewolf, so we decided to hunt them down and kill the SOBs before they collected any more minions to join in their pack."
"How many of them are there?" Sam asked.
"We aren't sure, but we are thinking about four to five," Leah stated. "We were close to their lair when one attacked us. We ran, eventually escaping it and hiding in that deserted car for two days until you two came around."
"Two days? You were out there two days?" Sam was shocked. Jess and Leah nodded.
"Ok…so you two can stay here, Sam and I will finish them off tonight," Dean said.
"What?" Jess exclaimed "No!" Leah said. "This is our case! We aren't letting you two chumps take it!"
"Well I don't really see how you two are going to stop these things when she's hurt and the both of you couldn't stop them the first time," Dean replied.
"Then I guess we aren't going to use your help. We can do this on our own," Leah said, standing up and walking over to Jessica. She helped her friend stand up and together they walked into the back room.
Sam glared at Dean again. "Dude," Sam shook his head. "What?" Dean asked. Sam just rolled his eyes. They both stood up as the girls reappeared, fully dressed. Dean approached them. "Listen…we'll help, but I can't let you two go out there alone."
"So you're going to treat us like babies now?" Jess asked, annoyed.
"No," Dean replied. "I'm gonna keep you two safe." Jess and Leah snorted. "Whatever," said Leah.
The four of them walked outside and Dean leaned up against the door to his car and looked over at the girls. "So, can I give you two a ride, or you gonna walk?"
Sam headed over to his side of the car and waited for the girls to reply.
Jess eyed Leah in question.
I still don't trust them.
Well if they are going to help us out, then we have to. Besides, all we need is to kill those furry bastards, then we're done and they are gone. It'll take two days tops.
Jess rolled her eyes, Fine, whatever. I just can't believe that we told them our secret.
Not all of it…we didn't tell them this.
True…and we aren't going to, right?
Right. But we do need to figure out what that thing wants from us.
Yeah…and why he has those plans…whatever they are.
Leah nodded and turned to Sam. "We'll accept the ride, only on behalf of Sam not being an ass." Sam smiled and mentally laughed at his older brother.
Dean rolled his eyes and let out a large breath and opened the creaky door to his 'baby' and slid in, slamming the door shut. Sam and the girls followed, Sam next to his brother up front, the girls in the back. They drove off, all arguing about where to stay in the meantime. The girls wanted to stay in a nice hotel in the next town, closer to the forest, Dean wanting to stay in a cheap hotel in this town, and Sam not really caring at all.
After about a half hour of arguing, the girls finally got their way, and Dean drove them all to the next town over, passing the large wooded area on the way. They found a decent hotel, one more suited for the girl's needs; meaning one more cleanly and better smelling than the shabby motel the boys were going to stay in. Surprisingly, Dean liked the change, and plopped himself down on one of the beds. The girls had gotten a room next to theirs, although not adjoining. Sam had gone out to find coffee for the two of them while Dean took a look at the local papers.
Leah and Jessica enjoyed themselves, managing to find two reasonably attractive guys to help them with their case. And although Jess didn't particularly agree that the boys' help was needed, she was still glad to have them around. The young woman lay on her bed, her laptop open, as she researched more sightings of these werewolves, while Leah cleaned herself up in the bathroom.