Shout out to Guest, Tesla424 and Bree for reviewing! I'm glad you like both my new fics Tesla :) No worries Bree :) And i'm happy and grateful for the supportive reviews and the favourites and follows :) I won't keep you waiting, here's chapter 2 :)
Wendigo 1x02
Ashlee's p.o.v
"Mum, I.." I trail off, not exactly sure what to say. I put a white rose down in front of her tombstone..her favourite flower. I bring my fingers to her name softly. A hand shoots out of the dirt and grabs my wrist.
I jolt up in the car.
"You okay?" Derek asks, looking over at me.
"Yeah, course" I brush it off, looking out the window so he can't see the tears pricking my eyes. I can feel him still looking at me. I wipe my eyes quickly and grab the map, looking at our next case, it's in Blackwater Ridge. "There's nothing there" I say.
"I know" Derek sighs. "Just a bunch of forest" he says.
"Dad wouldn't have sent us here for no reason, i'm sure there's something there" I reassure him. He nods, giving me a small smile.
..
"You two aren't going up near Blackwater Ridge, are you?" we turn around to find the Ranger has come back inside.
"No sir, we're environmental study majors from UC Boulder, just working on a paper" I say, the lie rolling off my tounge so easily.
"Bull" the Ranger says.
"Bull?" I ask him.
"You're friends with that Haley girl, right?" he asks, looking between us.
"Yes we are Ranger.." Derek checks his tag. "Wilkinson"
"Well i'll tell you what I told her. Her brother filled out the permit saying he wouldn't be back from Blackwater until the 24th. So it's not exactly a missing persons now, is it?" he says. I shake my head. "You tell that girl to stop worrying, i'm sure her brother's just fine"
"You got brothers?" I ask him. He shakes his head. "Well I do. And I know she'd feel better if I could take her a copy of that permit so she can see for herself" I say.
..
We stop by Haley's house. She invites us in as we told her we're park rangers looking for her brother. She tells us he sends in pictures or videos everyday and he hasn't since yesturday. She shows us his last video. Derek and I share a look when something, something very fast, runs past outside his tent.
"We'll find your brother, we're heading out to Blackwater Ridge first thing" Derek tells her.
"Maybe i'll see you there" she says. "I can't sit around anymore, he's my brother and I need him to be safe"
"I think I know how you feel" I say, smiling a little. I'd do anything to find my brothers if they went missing.
"I hired a guy. We're heading out in the morning" Haley tells us.
"Can you forward these to me?" I ask her, motioning to Tommy's messages and videos.
"Sure" she nods.
..
"This past April, 2 hikers went missing out there and they were never found" Derek says, showing me the entry in Dad's journal. "Anything else?" he asks me. I bring up the newspaper articles.
"Yeah, in 1982 8 different people all vanished in the same year. Authorities are calling it grizzly attacks" I tell him. He sits down next to me and reads over the article. I open my laptop, clicking onto the page I was looking at earlier. "And again in 1959 and again before that in 1936" I read out.
"So every 23 years?" Derek asks and I nod.
"Like clockwork" I say. "And that shadow outside the tent, watch this" I show him how it's running the speed of 3 frames. "That's a fraction of a second, this thing is fast"
"Really fast"
"And this" I hand him another article. "In '59 1 camper did survive. Just a kid"
"We got a name?" Derek asks. I grin.
"Better. I got an address"
"Smart" Derek praises, scruffing my hair.
..
We question Mr Shaw, the kid that got out all those years ago. He's an old man now. Even he knows what attacked wasn't a bear, he says it unlocked the front door. It did move very fast though, like what we saw in Tommy's video. It attacked at night, gave him 3 long scratches down his collarbone.
"There's something evil in those woods. It was some sort of a demon" Mr Shaw says. Just our thing.
..
"Spirits and demons wouldn't open a door, they'd just go through the walls" Derek says.
"So it's something else, something corporeal"
"Corporeal?" Derek questions. "Sorry professor" he teases.
"Shut up" I say. "What do you think it is?"
"Claws, speed, skinwalker maybe? Black dog?" he suggests. "It's a creature, it's corporeal, which means we can kill it" he says.
..
We pull up beside the hired guy's car. Haley and her little brother Ben are standing around with the guy.
"Got room for two more?" Derek asks as we walk up to them. I've got a duffle bag slung over my shoulder, guns inside.
"Who are these two?" the guy asks Haley.
"Apparently this is all the park service could muster for search and rescue" Haley says. Bitch. We're trying to help her.
"You're rangers?" the guy asks us.
"That's right" I nod.
"And you're hiking out in biker boots and jeans?" Haley asks, looking at our outfits. I'm usually in skinny jeans and combat boots, matched with a singlet. Derek going for a henley or a tee and his leather jacket, and combat boots as well with jeans.
"I don't do shorts" Derek says, both walking past Haley.
"You think this is funny?" the hired guy asks. He's starting to piss me off too. Only one that isn't is Ben, and he's ignoring us, headphones in. "It's dangerous back country out there-"
"We know how dangerous it can be" Derek cuts him off, looking just about us over this docuhe as I am.
"We just want to help" I add, following Derek into the forest.
..
Roy, the hired guy, leads us. Derek and I walk in the middle, Haley and Ben behind us.
"You didn't pack any provisions. You're carrying a duffle bag, you're not rangers" Haley says from behind us. She grabs my arm. I spin around, throwing her hand off me.
"Don't" I warn her. We're trying to help and they're treating us like crap. And it's pissing me off, alot.
"Who the hell are you?" she asks. Derek looks to me and I nod for him to keep walking with Ben. He abides, eyeing Haley as he passes her. I love it when Derek gets all protective.
"We're not rangers, we're close family friends. We're looking for my Dad, he might be out here. We just figured we could help you out too" I tell her.
"Why didn't you just tell me that from the start?" she asks.
"I'm telling you now" I shrug. "And what do you mean we didn't pack provisions?" I ask. I nod to Derek and he's eating from a jumbo sized bag of peanut M&Ms. Haley looks at him weirdly and I grin, catching back up with him. He holds the bag out to me and I grab a handful enthusiastically. I throw a few in my mouth. You've got to love peanut M&Ms.
"Good talk?" Derek asks me with a grin. "I noticed you didn't hurt her"
"Me hurt another person?" I ask with mock shock. "No, of course not"
"Whatever you say Ash" he chuckles. Yeah, he knows me too well.
..
We come to Blackwater Ridge.
"I'm gonna look around" Roy says.
"You shouldn't go off on your own" I say.
"That's sweet. Don't worry about me honey" he sneers.
"Dick" I say, screwing my face up. He takes the lead again and we all follow.
..
"Haley! Over here!" Roy calls out. We all rush towards his voice and come to Tommy's camp. Expect everything's torn to shreds. There's blood splattered on the tents.
"Oh my god" Haley says. She looks around. "Tommy? Tommy!"
"Shhh" I hush her, going over to stand beside her. "It could still be out here"
"Ash!" Derek calls out. I leave Haley's side to go find Derek. He's staring down at the dirt. "See this?" he points to the ground. "They were dragged out. Then the trail just vanishes" he says quietly. "That's no skinwalker or black dog" we both walk back over to the campsite. We all put our bags down, looking through the debris.
"Help! Help! Someone help!" someone screams. We all run towards the voice. We come to a clearing where the voice came from..noone's here.
"Everyone get back to camp" Derek says. When we get back, our packs are all gone.
"It's smart, it wants to cut us off so we can't call for help" I say.
"You mean some nutjob stole our gear" Roy corrects. I repress the urge to punch the dick in the face. I pull Derek away from everyone.
"Want me to do something about him?" he asks, glaring over at Roy.
"That's sweet Romeo but not right now" I grin, him rolling his eyes. "Hand me Dad's journal" I say. He brings it out of his jacket. I open it and find the page labelled 'Wendigos'.
"Wendigos are in the Minnesota woods or northern Michigan" Derek says. "I've never heard of one this far west"
"Think about it, the claws, the way it can mimic a human voice" I say.
"Great. This is useless then" Derek says, waving his pistol around. I hand Dad's journal back to Derek and he puts it back in his jacket. I let him carry it sometimes, I trust he'll keep it safe and he always does. We go back over to others. I turn to the group.
"All right, listen up" I say, getting their attention. "It's time to go. Things have gotten a little more than complicated" I say.
"Kid, don't worry" Roy says. "Whatever's out there, I think I can handle it" he says, matter-of-factly.
"It's not me i'm worried about because I know what i'm doing. If you shoot this thing like you plan to, you're just gonna piss it off. We have to leave, right now" I say.
"One, you're talking nonsense. And two, you're in no position to give anybody orders" Roy says heatedly. Derek steps forward.
"Back off" he warns Roy. I walk to stand in front of Roy.
"We never shoud have let you come out here in the first place alright? I'm trying to protect you" I say, glaring up at the man.
"You protect me?" he scoffs. My jaw ticks angerily. "I was hunting these woods when your Mummy was still kissing you goodnight" he says.
"Yeah?" I ask angrily, getting closer to him. I don't think Mum was kissing me goodnight.. "It's a near perfect hunter, it's much smarter than you and it'll hunt you down and eat you alive unless we get your stupid sorry ass out of here" I ground out.
"You know you're crazy right?" Roy laughs, grabbing my arm. Derek comes over and shoves Roy away from me.
"Hey, stop it" Haley says, coming over.
"I said back off" Derek reminds the dick in front of us. Roy steps up to Derek and I reach for my gun.
"Everybody just stop. Look, Tommy might still be alive" Haley says, making us all stop. "And i'm not leaving here without him" she says. I sigh, taking my hand away from my gun in my bag.
"Derek, it's okay" I say, grabbing his arm softly and pulling him away from Roy.
"Touch her again and i'll shoot you where you stand" he warns Roy before walking away from him. He turns back to Haley and Ben, choosing to ignore Roy. "It's getting late. This thing is a good hunter during the day and unbelievable at night. We'll never beat it, not in the dark. We need to settle in and protect ourselves" he tells them.
"How?" Haley asks, telling him she's willing to listen. We build a campfire. Derek and I draw Anasazi symbols into the dirt around us for protection.
"Wendigos can't cross over them" I tell Haley as she watches on in confusion. Roy laughs from his place across from us. "I'm gonna shoot him soon" I mutter. I get up and go sit away from them all in the dirt, leaning againist a tree stump.
"Nobody likes a skeptic Roy" Derek says, brushing past him to come sit with me. "Hey" he nudges my shoulder softly. I look up at him. "What's going on in that freaky head of your's?" he asks.
"Nothing, i'm fi-" I start.
"You're not fine" he says before I can even finish. "I'm supposed to start fights with the guys, remember?" I smile a little at that. "What's up?" he asks.
"My Dad's not here Derek" I sigh. "We're not any closer to finding him"
"We have his journal" Derek reminds me. "We'll find him. Sam and Dean have their own copy, if we don't find him, they will. But we will find him" he assures me. Both our heads snap towards the sound of a twig snapping in the treeline.
"Help me! Please!" someone yells. We both stand up and we cock our guns.
"He's tying to draw us out. Just stay cool, stay put" I say.
"Inside the magic circle right?" Roy sneers.
"Shut your mouth" I warn him.
"Help! Help me!" the wendigo yells. We hear close growls and Roy starts shooting at it.
"Stop! Stop shooting!" Derek orders him. We'd only shoot if we really needed too. Now he's pissed it off. Awesome.
"I hit it" Roy says, running into the treeline.
"Roy, no! Roy!" I yell after him. Idiot!
"Don't move!" Derek tells Haley and Ben, both of us running after the idiot. Roy's suddenly lifted up into the trees. "Roy!"
..
Well, we've lost Roy. We returned to the campsite and settled in for the night. Derek draped his leather jacket over me to keep me warm. He slept beside me, both watching over each other, guns in hand. Now it's morning. And we need to decide what we're doing. Derek and I end up explaining Wendigos and what they are, where they came from, how they came about etc to Haley and Ben. I explain why Tommy will still be alive..but not for too long.
"We've got half a chance in the daylight. And I for one want to kill this evil son of a bitch" I say.
"Hell, you know i'm in" Derek grins. I grin back.
"Then how do we stop it?" Haley asks.
"Guns and knives are useless. So.." Derek says, holding up a Molotov. "We gotta torch the sucker" he says.
..
Derek leads the way, then Haley and Ben and me backing up the rear. We see alot of claw marks in the trees, blood too. Derek stops.
"Ash" he says. I catch up to him. "These claw marks are too clear and distinct, don't you think?"
"A trap?" I ask. A second later, we hear growling. We turn to the sound and blood drips on Haley's shoulder. She looks up and jumps back. Roy's body is dropped to the ground, bloody. I go over to help Haley as she tripped when she jumped back. Derek checks Roy for a pulse.
"His neck's broke" Derek says. We hear more growling, closer, much closer. "Okay, go, go, go. Run!" we all take off. Ben falls and I drop back to help him.
"Come on kid, get up" I say, pulling him to his feet. I notice we've split into 2 groups. Not good. Bad things happen when Derek and I split up. That's why we don't split up. We hear Haley scream. Ben and I sprint towards the sound only to find Derek's molotov smashed on the ground. "Derek!" I yell. No response. Now i'm going to deep fry this wendigo extra crispy.
..
"Why would it kill Roy?" Ben asks me.
"Honestly? I think it's 'cause he shot at it, pissed it off" I say.
"Hey, look" I follow Ben's finger to find a trail of M&Ms.
"Smart Derek" I praise the absent male. We follow the trail and come to a mine entrance. We see a sign, it says 'WARNING! DANGER! DO NOT ENTER, EXTREMELY TOXIC MATERIAL'. Ben and I look at each other and shrug, going in. Extremely toxic material isn't going to stop me from saving Derek. I hear a growl and turn off the torch. I pull Ben back againist the cave wall. The wendigo comes into sight. It turns down a different tunnel and I sigh in relief. We continue on only to fall through the floor. We hit the dirt with loud thuds. "Son of a bitch" I wheeze. What the hell's under me? Ben scrambles to his feet. I look down. Great. A pile of bones and skulls. "It's okay, it's okay" I soothe him, standing up too.
"Look, there" Ben says, running off.
"Ben!" I yell in a hushed whisper. He leads me to where Derek and Haley are tied up by their wrists from the ceiling. "Derek!" I rush over to him. I toss Ben my pocket knife. "Cut her down" I say. I take out my dagger and cut Derek down. Bad move. I should have woken him first. His dead weight falls on me. "Jesus" I strain, trying to hold him up. I lower him down and lean him againist the wall. I sit down in front of him. "Hey Der, wake up" I say, shaking him lightly. "Derek, come on" I shake him a little harder. He groans, eyes opening. "You okay?" I ask him.
"Yeah" he winces.
"You sure?"
"Yeah. Where is he? Did he hurt you?" he asks me.
"No, i'm fine, we both are. He's above us" I tell him. I turn to see the siblings cut down someone else. Crap..it's Tommy, and he's alive. "Come on, up you get" I say, grabbing Derek's shirt. I help him stand, the male a little weakened. Ben hands me back my pocket knife which goes back into my pocket, my dagger going into my boot. Derek goes over to our bags, he pulls out flare guns.
"Those'll work" I say. Derek tosses me one. Derek grins and I laugh. We're going to go to town on this mother. We head down a tunnel, Derek and I in front with the flare guns. We hear close growling.
"We'll never outrun it" Haley says, her and Ben helping Tommy walk.
"You thinking what i'm thinking?" Derek asks me. Both go kill the thing while they get out? Yeah. I nod. Derek runs forward and starts yelling for the wendigo to come get him.
"Derek!" I scowl. "That's not what I was thinking?!"
"Go, get them out, i'll be okay" he says.
"Derek-"
"I'll make it back to you, I swear. Take them and go Ash, now" he says. I nod reluctantly. Derek runs into the tunnel, yelling.
"Alright, come on, hurry" I say, ushering the others out. It isn't long before I hear growling behind us. "Get him out of here" I say, motioning to Tommy.
"Ashlee, no" Haley says.
"Go" I say. The growling is getting closer. "Go! Go now!" I order.
"Come on Haley!" Ben says. The 3 keep going and I turn back, gun up. I lean againist the rock wall. I move to peek over it only to come face to face with the wendigo. Uh, crap. I shoot at it but it quickly dodges. I take off in a sprint after the Collinses. I catch up to them.
"Go! Hurry! Its right behind us" I say. We come to a dead end. "Get behind me" they all huddle together, behind me. The wendigo comes into view, coming at us.
"Hey!" comes Derek's voice. The wendigo turns and I see Derek, his gun up. He shoots at it and the flare inserts itself into the wendigo's stomach. The wendigo goes up in flames. Derek comes over to us. "You okay?" he asks me.
"Peachy. Are you?" I ask.
"Yeah" he nods.
..
We give our statements to the cops, telling them it was another grizzley attack.
"Thank you" Haley says to us. I nod. She turns to me. "I hope you find your father"
"Yeah, me too" I give her a small smile. Haley and Ben get into the ambulance where Tommy's laying on a stretcher. Derek and I lean againist the camaro, watching the paramedics leaving.
"I used to like camping" Derek says.
"Yeah, me too" I say. "Hey Derek?"
"Yeah?" he says, turning to look at me.
"If you ever run off like that again, i'll shoot you in the ass with a flare gun, you hear me?" I say.
"You were worried" he smiles.
"Of course I was worried, we're not supposed to split up"
"But I came back to you as promised, didn't I?" he says.
"Yeah, I guess" I mumble. He pushes off the camaro with a smile. He stands in front of me and pulls me into a hug. I sigh and hug him back. I can't stay mad at him.
"Come on, let's get going" he says. I nod but neither of us let the other go yet.
..
..
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