Supernatural: Wendigo
A/N: I know that I haven't updated in a while, but I had to finish my finals, which I did today, and once again I'm thanking Yami Faerie for editing my various stories.
Now on with the story to see how the Winchesters are going to keep Hailey, her brother, and the hunter Roy safe from the monster in the woods.
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 TWO: AMBUSHED!
THE FOREST…
After making it perfectly clear that they were coming along, the whole group was soon making their way on a dirt trail, and Dean was walking next to Roy. "Roy, you said you did a little hunting."
Roy nodded. "Yeah, more than a little."
"Uh-huh…What kind of furry critters do you hunt?" Dean asked.
"Mostly buck," Roy answered, "sometimes bear."
"Tell me, uh… Bambi or Yogi ever hunted you back?" Dean joked and Roy suddenly grabbed him by the arm. "Whatcha doin', Roy?"
Roy grabbed a stick and poked it into a bear trap, setting it off. "You should watch where you're stepping," he advised coldly. "Ranger."
Dean stared, realizing just how close he had come to losing his leg. "It's a bear trap."
"You didn't pack any provisions," Hailey pointed out, frowning. "You guys are carrying a duffel bag. You're not rangers so who the hell are you?" she demanded.
Dean sighed; the gig was up. "We're family, just like you and your brothers, and we're looking for our father," he answered. "He might be here, but we don't know. I just figured that you and me, we're in the same boat."
"Why didn't you just tell me that from the start?" Hailey asked.
Dean sighed again. "I'm telling you now. Besides, it's probably the most honest I've ever been with a woman. Ever." Liz ducked her head to hide her smile from behind her twin and Hailey. "So, we okay?"
Hailey nodded. "Yeah, okay."
"And what do you mean I didn't pack provisions?" Dean asked with a sudden grin, pulling out a big bag of Peanut M&Ms.
Liz rolled her eyes skyward. "Really funny, Dean. Really funny."
After hiking a bit more, Roy stopped and nodded at the area in front of them. "This is it…Blackwater Ridge," he announced.
"What coordinates do we have?" Sam asked.
Roy pulled out a GPS device and checked. "35-111."
"You hear that?" Dean asked, noticing that there was something odd about the area.
Sam and Liz both nodded, realizing the same thing. "Yeah," Liz said, "not even crickets."
"I'm gonna take a look around," Roy informed them, prepping his rifle.
"You shouldn't go off by yourself," Sam cautioned.
Roy smirked. "That's sweet, but don't worry about me." And with that, he walked off into the trees. Dean felt frustration bubbling up within in, but he pushed it down and focused on the people he could protect.
"All right, everybody stays together," he ordered. "Let's go."
But at that moment, Roy called out to them, having found something. "Hailey, over here."
Hailey ran in the direction of Roy's voice, and they all came upon a campsite with tents torn open and blood on them. "Oh my God," she gasped, fearful as Sam, Dean, Liz, and Ben joined them.
Roy examined the damage. "Looks like a grizzly."
"Tommy?" Hailey called out, taking off her backpack. "Tommy?"
"Shh," Sam hissed, but Hailey didn't listen.
"Tommy!"
"Shhhhh," Sam hissed again.
"Why?" Hailey asked.
"Something might still be out there," Sam cautioned.
Dean and Liz were on the other side of the campsite and they found something. "Sam!" Sam joined them. "The bodies were dragged from the campsite. But here the tracks just vanish. That's weird. I'll tell you what… that's no skin walker or black dog."
"Which means that we're dealing with something even more dangerous," Liz agreed, worried.
At that moment, Hailey picked up Tommy's cell phone that had blood spattered on it. The back was torn open, and she started crying.
Dean immediately went over to her and put an arm around her shoulders. "Hey, he could still be alive," he said reassuringly.
"Help!" someone called out from among the trees, and the group, Dean and Liz pulling out their guns, immediately ran a way off toward the cries. "Help!"
"It seemed like it was coming from around here, didn't it?" Hailey asked, when the cries for help suddenly stopped.
Sam suddenly got a bad feeling. "Everybody back to camp," he ordered, and they ran back to the torn up camp, only to find that their supplies were now missing.
Hailey gasped, fearful again. "Our packs."
"Okay, I'm getting a really bad feeling about this," said Liz, gulping.
"So much for my GPS and my satellite phone," Roy grumbled.
"What the hell is going on?" Hailey asked, frightened and pulling Ben close.
"It's smart," said Sam, putting the puzzle pieces together, and not liking the picture it was forming in his mind. "It wants to cut us off so we can't call for help," he added.
Roy raised his eyebrows. "You mean some one, some… some nut job out there just stole all our gear?"
Sam ignored Roy and went over to Dean and Liz, whispering in their ears. "I need to speak with you both… in private." They then walked some distance away. "Let me see dad's journal," he requested and Dean handed it to Sam, who opened it and flipped through to a certain page. "Alright, check that out." He pointed to a drawing of a figure.
Dean and Liz both looked at the description under the picture and they groaned.
"Oh come on, Wendigos are in the Minnesota woods or northern Michigan," Dean protested. "I've never even heard of one this far west."
"Same here," Liz agreed. "The odds are like one in a billion."
Sam sighed, frustrated. "Think about it Dean, Liz, the claws, the way it can mimic a human voice…"
"Great," Dean grumbled and pulled out the pistol. "Well then, this is useless."
Liz kicked at the ground. "And with our packs missing, we've got nothing else that can really deal with a Wendigo," she complained.
Sam knew they were in trouble, and gave Dean back their father's journal. "We gotta get these people to safety," he stated, and walked back to where they left the others. "All right listen up, time to go. Things have gotten more… complicated."
"What?" Hailey asked, confused.
"Kid, don't worry, whatever's out there, I think I can handle it," Roy said reassuringly.
"It's not me I'm worried about, if you shoot this thing you're just gonna make it mad," Sam told the older man. "We have to leave now."
Roy didn't believe that and got into Sam's face. "One, you're talking nonsense, and two, you're in no position to give anybody orders," he retorted, poking Sam in the chest.
Dean, seeing the expression on his brother's face, spoke up. "Relax."
"We never should have let you come out here in the first place, alright?" Sam snapped. "I'm trying to protect you."
"You? Protect me?" Roy scoffed. "I was hunting these woods when your mommy was still kissing you goodnight."
This was the wrong thing to say to Sam, whose face got darker as he got angrier. "Yeah? It's a damn near perfect hunter," he snarled. "It's smarter than you, and it's gonna hunt you down and eat you alive unless we get your stupid, sorry ass out of here."
Roy laughed. "You know you're crazy right?" he asked.
"Yeah? You ever hunt a win-" Sam began, but Roy pushed him in mid-sentence, clearly looking for a fight.
"Roy!" Hailey snapped.
Dean and Liz were quick to intervene. "Chill out."
"Sam, calm down."
"Stop! Stop it, everybody just stop!" Hailey ordered, having enough of the tension. "Look, Tommy might still be alive, and I'm not leaving here without him," she stated.
Dean, Liz, and Sam all exchanged a look, and then Dean spoke. "It's getting late. This thing is a good hunter in the day, but an unbelievable hunter at night. We'll never beat it, not in the dark. We need to settle in and protect ourselves."
"How?" Hailey asked.
As it got darker, they made a small campsite with a campfire, and both Dean and Liz were drawing symbols in the dirt on the outskirts of the campsite with sticks.
Hailey watched them, confused. "One more time, that's…?" she asked hesitantly.
"Anasazi symbols," Dean answered. "It's for protection. The Wendigo can't cross over them." And Roy laughed, not believing any of this. "Nobody likes a skeptic, Roy," he scolded as he finished up, and walked over to Sam on the edge of the campsite, Liz joining them. "You wanna tell us what's goin' on in that freaky head of yours?" he asked, sitting down next to their little brother on the same rock while Liz sat across from them.
"Yeah, you need to talk to us, Sam," Liz added. "Your temper is out of control."
Sam sighed. "Dean, Liz…" he began.
"No, you're not fine, you're like a powder keg man!" Dean interrupted, very serious. "It's not like you. I'm supposed to be the belligerent one, remember?" he added.
"Dad's not here. I mean that much we know for sure, right?" Sam asked, frustrated. "He would have left us a message, a sign, right?"
"Yeah you're probably right," Dean agreed.
"I don't think Dad's ever been to Lost Creek," Liz said softly.
"Then let's get these people back to town and let's hit the road, go find Dad," Sam said. "I mean, why are we still in here?"
Dean sighed and moved to sit across from Sam and next to Liz, who scooted over. "This is why," he stated, holding up their dad's journal. "This book. This is Dad's single most valuable possession — everything he knows about every evil thing is in here." He shook the journal slightly. "He's passed it on to us, and I think he wants us to pick up where he left off, you know, saving people, hunting things. The family business."
"I'm with Dean," Liz added. "This is what we're trained to do, to help others fight against the forces of evil."
"That makes no sense," Sam complained. "Why doesn't he just call us? Why doesn't he tell us what he wants, tell us where he is?"
Dean shrugged; even he was stumped. "I dunno. But the way I see it, dad's giving us a job to do and I intend to do it."
"As do I," Liz agreed, seriously.
"Dean, Liz, no. I gotta find Dad," Sam protested, voice cracking with suppressed emotion. "I gotta find Jessica's killer. It's the only thing I can think about."
"Ok, all right, Sam, we'll find them, I promise," said Dean, determined to get Sam focused on the present. "But listen to me, you've gotta prepare yourself. I mean, this search? It could take a while, and all that anger, you can't keep it burning over the long haul, it's gonna kill you. You gotta have patience, man," he added.
"And you need to talk about it, too," Liz added, "it's going to eat you up and spit you out if you keep it inside."
"How do you both do it?" Sam asked, feeling a bit better. "How does Dad do it?"
"Well for one… them," Dean answered, looking over at Hailey and her younger brother. "I figure our family's screwed to hell, but maybe we can help some others. Makes things a little more bearable." He paused before grinning slightly. "I'll tell you what else helps. Killing as many sons of bitches as I possibly can." And both Sam and Liz chuckled when-
"Help me! Please! Help!"
Dean and Liz both jumped to their feet and got their guns out, even though they were useless against a Wendigo. "He's trying to draw us out. Just stay cool, stay put, inside the magic circle," he ordered as Sam, Hailey, Ben, and Roy, who readied his rifle, also stood up upon hearing the cries for help.
"Help! Help me!"
Roy actually gulped. "Ok, that's no grizzly."
"You think?" Dean said sarcastically.
Hailey and Ben both sat back down next to the fire, and she patted her brother's shoulder. "It's ok, you'll be all right, I promise." A moment later, she screamed when she saw something moving through the nearby bushes.
"It's here," Sam whispered.
There was more movement, and Roy quickly fired at the Wendigo several times, and they heard a howl of pain. "I hit it!" he exclaimed and left the protection of the circle to the horror of the others.
"Roy, no! Roy!" Dean shouted, but the man kept running. Frustrated, Dean turned to Hailey and Ben. "Don't move," he ordered and then, he, Liz, and Sam ran after Roy.
Roy ran through the trees, looking for the Wendigo.
"It's over here! It's in the tree!"
He stopped, confused upon hearing his own voice coming from somewhere above, and in that exact second, the Wendigo reached down from the tree and snapped his neck before hauling him upward.
Seconds later, Dean, Liz, and Sam all reached the area, but couldn't see any sign of the missing hunter, unaware that he was dead. "Roy!"
In the morning, Sam was sitting against the hollow trunk of a tree, playing with a bracelet he had on his wrist that had once belonged to Jess. God, he missed her so much…
Liz watched Sam from over by the campfire, wishing that he'd just open up and talk to her the way he used to. She had been the peacekeeper in the family, especially once Sam hit his teenage years and started asking more questions. He had practically demanded answers, refusing to just follow orders the way Dean and Liz did. Dean had tended towards taking their father's side, often leaving Liz to try and break things up. In the days following the fiercer arguments, Sam would clam up for a day or two before finally opening up to her. She had often thought it was enough until the day Sam left for college. And now… it almost felt like she was losing her little brother all over again.
Meanwhile, Hailey was doing her best not to panic, but after a restless night and Roy's disappearance, it was getting harder for her. "I don't… I mean these types of things, they aren't supposed to be real."
Dean sighed, dragging the heel of one boot through the dirt before meeting Hailey's eyes. "I wish I could tell you different," he admitted.
"How do we know it's not out there watching us?" Hailey asked.
Dean poked at the dying fire with a stick and shrugged. "We don't. But we're safe for now," he added reassuringly.
"How do you know about this stuff?" Hailey asked, both surprised and impressed.
Dean chuckled and shrugged. "Kind of runs in the family," he joked.
"Sort of like a family business," Liz added, finally looking away from Sam.
Thankfully, however, Sam finally joined them, clutching the journal in one hand. "Hey," he said, voice subdued, but serious. "So, we've got half a chance of finding Tommy and getting outta here in the daylight. And I, for one, want to kill this evil SOB," he added.
Dean and Liz both grinned. "Well hell, you know we're in."
A short while later, Liz and Dean were able to scrounge up two beer bottles and were shoving rags into them while Sam explained what a Wendigo was to Hailey and Ben. "Wendigo is a Indian word. It means evil that devours."
"They're hundreds of years old," Dean added as he worked. "Each one was once a man. Sometimes an Indian, other times a frontiersman, or a miner, or a hunter."
"How does a man turn into one of those things?" Hailey asked, confused.
"Well it's always the same," said Dean, moving so he was fully upright. "During some harsh winter a guy finds himself starving, cut off from supplies or help. Becomes a cannibal to survive, eating other members of his tribe or camp."
"Like the Donnor Party," Ben suggested and Liz nodded.
"Yeah, sort of like what happened to them," she agreed.
"Cultures all over the world believe that eating human flesh gives a person certain abilities," Sam added. "Speed, strength, immortality."
"If you eat enough of it over the years, you become this less than human thing," Liz said, clutching both bottles in her hands. "You're always hungry."
"So if that's true, how can Tommy still be alive?" Hailey asked, doubtful now.
Dean exchanged a look with Liz and Sam. "You're not gonna like it," he said reluctantly.
Hailey gave him a hard look. "Tell me."
Dean sighed. "More than anything, a Wendigo knows how to last long winters without food," he explained. "It hibernates for years at a time, but when it's awake it keeps its victims alive. It uh, stores them, so it can feed whenever it wants. If your brother's alive it's keeping him somewhere dark, hidden and safe. We gotta track it back there."
"And then how do we stop it?" Hailey asked, confused again.
"Well guns are useless, and so are knives," Dean said, pulling out a can of lighter fluid. "Basically, we gotta torch the sucker."
Soon they were hiking through the woods, passing trees with claw marks and blood smeared on them.
Sam was getting a bad feeling and quickly moved ahead to join his older siblings. "Dean, Liz."
"What is it?" Dean asked as they looked around at the trees they were surrounded by; the branches were broken and all of them had blood and claw marks on them.
"You know…" Sam said slowly and quietly so that Hailey and Ben couldn't hear, "I was thinking… those claw prints… so clear and distinct, they were almost too easy to follow."
Liz muttered a quiet curse, realizing that Sam was right. "It's baiting us."
And just then, the Wendigo growled, and the group backed up, looking all around; Hailey backed into a tree, and blood began dripping onto her shirt. She looked up in time to see Roy's dead body dropping down on her, and she rolled to the side right before he hit her and screamed.
Sam quickly ran over to her while Liz and Dean examined Roy's body quickly. "You okay? You got it?"
"His neck's broke," Dean reported, straightening back up, realizing that they were in serious trouble now. "Okay, run, run, run, run, go, go!" and they all took off back through the trees toward the campsite.
Ben fell while trying to run away, and Sam hurried back to him to help him up. Now the group was split up: Ben was with Sam, and Hailey was with Dean and Liz.
"Come on, I gotcha, I gotcha," Sam said, helping the younger man up.
Further ahead, Hailey, Liz, and Dean were still running when the Wendigo suddenly appeared in front of them growling, and both Hailey and Liz screamed.
Hearing the screams, Ben and Sam ran toward the sounds, but they were too late; Liz, Dean, and Hailey had vanished.
"Hailey?" Ben shouted, looking around wildly. "Hailey!"
Sam stopped running, and picked up the two white rags that'd been poked into the bottles, which were now broken, and looked around, too. "Dean! Liz! DEAN!"
A/N: I curse thee all with a cliffy! BWAHAHAHAHA! R&R Everyone!