The Legacy of Hunters
Chapter Two: Wendigo
I wrote two chapters today so I decided it couldn't hurt to post a 'bonus' chapter. Enjoy chapter two! Chapter three will be on Friday.
Lost Creek, Colorado
Carter pulled on a pair of basketball shorts and an old t-shirt before leaving the bathroom after her shower. An hour ago Dean had knocked on the hotel door and informed the sisters they'd be leaving at seven. Glancing at the clock on the nightstand, Carter saw it was 6:33. She stretched her arms out, wincing as a sharp pain ripped through her left shoulder blade.
"You okay, Car?" Lily asked, concern lacing her voice.
The teenager nodded, "I just slept wrong or something, no big deal. Are we eating at the diner or what?"
As she packed her bag Lily replied, "No, I think Dean said we'd grab something from a gas station before driving over to Blackwater. Hailey's expecting us around eight so we should be good."
Holding back another wince, Carter gathered her belongings from around the room and replaced them in her black duffel. She and her sister were used to traveling with only one duffel each and a weapons bag. Though she did have to admit their weapon supply wasn't as impressive as Sam and Dean's. Carter had seen Dean open the trunk of his Impala at the diner the previous night, she was just glad there weren't any civilians around at the time.
At seven o'clock, the four were in the Impala, Sam said it would save the girls gas money, and were driving towards a gas station. Once Dean had paid for gas and had bought a large bag of M&M's and Lily had paid for some breakfast items, the group made their way to Blackwater Ridge.
At first there was silence besides the noises of the hunters eating breakfast. Then, Dean turned on his music. Carter agreed that a few songs were okay, but eventually she dug out her own mp3 player and listened to it.
Eventually, the Impala arrived where Hailey said she would meet them at. But, she wasn't alone. A boy, who Carter guessed was her younger brother by the way he stuck beside her and the fact they looked a lot alike, and a man were shouldering their backpacks when the hunters left the car.
"Who are these guys?" the man asked, eying them critically.
"Apparently these are all the rangers could round up for the search and rescue." Hailey said a bit icily. "Thanks for coming."
"You're rangers?"
Dean inclined his head in agreement, "That's right."
Hailey raised an eyebrow, "And you're hiking in biker boots and jeans?"
Carter bit back a laugh as Dean replied, "Oh, sweetheart I don't do shorts."
"Who's the kid?"
Lily stepped in and stated, "She's my younger sister. Our parents are out of town and she's home schooled so I decided to take her along with us since I couldn't find anyone to watch her."
"Not that I need watching since I'm fourteen." Carter inserted but no one listened.
"Listen, lady, this isn't a place for kids." The man said, his arms crossed. "I have to keep everyone's safety in mind and honestly I think Ben and your sister are going to be much safer at home. It's dangerous back country out there.
"It's not like I've never hiked before, dude." Carter told him, obviously annoyed.
Lily sent her sister a quick look telling her to shut up and said, "She'll be fine. She's been hiking since she was eight."
"If you're finished, we'd like to find Tommy Collins." Dean said, already walking away from the gravel area for parking vehicles.
The group began walking, the guide, Roy, in the lead with Dean and Hailey right behind him, Sam and Lily talking quietly and bringing up the rear, and Ben and Carter in the middle. Carter recognized the tactic of putting the youngest members of the party in the middle. Any time she would go hunting with older hunters she somehow got put in the center. It was some sort of safety precaution. Most predators went for the weaker members, in most cases the young or the elderly.
"So you're home-schooled?" Ben asked, gripping the straps of his backpack with his hands.
Carter nodded and spilled out a quick lie, "Yeah. Private school's too expensive and Mom thinks public schools are lead by gang kids or something."
The boy cracked a little smile, "Nice."
The two teens came to a quick stop when Roy jerked Dean back by the collar of his jacket. Dean gave him a look but before he could say anything Roy told him, "Watch your step." Carter looked around Hailey to see Roy take a stick from the ground and poke at a pile of leaves. A loud snap and Roy moved on, tossing the stick to the side. The guide smirked and walked ahead.
"Bear trap." Dean said, rubbing the back of his neck and following Roy.
Carter rolled her eyes and continued the hike beside Ben.
A few minutes later, Hailey grabbed Dean and spun him around. "You didn't pack any provisions…and you're only carrying a duffel bag so who the hell are you? You're obviously not rangers." Everyone behind Dean and Hailey stopped. Carter saw Ben sigh and step around his sister and the oldest Winchester. Dean looked past the woman in front of him and behind Carter. She assumed the hunter was sharing a silent look with Sam and Lily. Turning her head around, she saw the two give short nods.
"Come on Car," Lily said as she and Sam walked by. Carter followed her sister and the youngest Winchester to where Ben and Roy had stopped around a large, fallen tree. Roy raised an eyebrow and Lily stated, "They need to talk over a couple things. They'll catch up in a moment."
Nodding, Roy leaned against a nearby tree and watched the area.
Eventually, Hailey and Dean caught up and Roy began forward again. After about another half hour of hiking, Roy announced, "Alright, this is Blackwater Ridge."
"What coordinates are we at?" Sam questioned, glancing around.
"Thirty-five minus one eleven." Roy answered after checking a technological device from his pocket. Sam nodded in response.
Carter suddenly got an uneasy feeling in her stomach. The youngest hunter walked over to Dean, the only other hunter not talking to a civilian, and asked, "Do you hear that?"
Dean stood still for a few seconds before nodding and going over to his younger brother. They conversed almost silently and Carter knew they were on the same page: it was too quiet in a place surrounded by insects and animals.
"Think I'm gonna go take a look around," Roy said, his gun hanging limply in his right arm.
"You shouldn't go off by yourself." Sam said, still looking around the woods.
Roy gave another smirk, "That's sweet, don't worry about me." Still smirking, he continued past the brothers and deeper into the forest. Carter saw Sam and Dean share a look before following the guide. Hailey and Lily talked in quiet whispers and trailed behind the men. Carter did notice Lily wasn't giving her full attention to whatever their conversation was about and the oldest sister's gaze was constantly flickering.
"Coming?" Ben questioned. It took Carter a second to realize he was talking to her; it took her another second to realize she was now at the end of the group.
"Yeah, sorry dozed off I guess." The fourteen year old gave a small smile and joined Ben.
The uneasy feeling lingered in Carter's stomach all the way until she heard Hailey say in disbelief, "Oh my God."
Her head snapped up and Carter took in the campsite. Well, what used to be a campsite. There was a tent half ripped to shreds with blood covering the top and where the entrance should have been. Items were scattered along the forest floor, things ranging from sleeping bags, a cooler, a few backpacks, and other unidentifiable objects.
Ben turned his head around in several directions. Carter winced in sympathy knowing what was probably going through his head at the moment.
"Tommy?" Hailey suddenly called out. She went to the center of the 'campsite' and took off her backpack, "Tommy!"
"Sh!" Sam ordered firmly but gently, going over to her. "Whatever did this might still be out there."
"'Whatever'?" Roy commented loudly, "Son, this was definitely a Grizzly bear."
Lily stepped in and replied for the youngest Winchester, "Well maybe Yogi's still hanging around so I suggest we stop shouting."
Dean grabbed his brother's arm and pulled him over so the group was out of earshot. Carter looked at Ben and questioned, "You okay?"
The boy shook his head slowly, "Not really."
Carter wasn't the type to comfort people. Sometimes she said the wrong thing at the wrong time. For example, on the last case she worked with Lily the client was a woman with twelve cats. One of her cats had been killed by some witch doing a ritual. While the woman was crying her eyes out over Mr. Fluff, Carter simply told her she could go and buy a new cat. The response wasn't the worst Carter could have said, but it did send the woman into another round of harsh crying.
The fourteen year old decided to say nothing at all and awkwardly patted the boy on the back. Luckily, Hailey found her way to her younger brother and Carter was able to leave them alone. She decided to meet up with Lily and the Winchesters.
"The bodies were dragged away from the site." Dean informed them, "But over here, the tracks just vanish." He pointed with his hand to an area where the dirt was disturbed.
"That's weird." Lily inserted slowly.
"Knocks out black dog and skin walker." Sam stated as the four made their way back to the Collinss'. Hailey was knelt on the ground, holding a crushed cell phone. Dean walked over to her and said something. Carter hung around the edge of the campsite, trying to find a hint of something to help them figure just exactly what was going on in Blackwater Ridge, Colorado.
"Help!" a male voice sounded off in the distance. Carter spun around to face the others and saw they had heard it too. "Help!"
Dean pulled out a pistol at the same time as Roy cocked his own gun. The entire hiking party took off in the direction of the male's voice, Ben and Roy dropping their packs and Sam leaving the duffel he carried. They ran until the voice stopped.
"It sounded like it was coming from here, didn't it?" Hailey voiced, looking around in every direction.
"I think we should get back to camp, guys." Lily said. The group gave an unspoken agreement and hurried back to the campsite. Upon arrival, they noticed one thing.
"Our packs are missing." Ben stated the obvious, "They were right here!"
Roy sighed and went to the center of the camp, "So much for my GPS and satellite phone."
"What the hell's going on here?" Hailey half-shouted angrily.
Sam, arms crossed, answered, "It's smart. It wants to cut us off so we can't call for help."
Roy gave a humorless laugh, "You mean someone. Some sick nut job just stole all our gear."
"Can I talk to you in private?" Sam asked his brother before the two walked off.
Hailey, Ben, and Roy were roaming around the center of the camp when Carter asked her sister, "So what do you think is doing this?"
Lily shrugged and re did her blond pony-tail. "I dunno, to be honest. Maybe Sam and Dean came up with something."
The teenager nodded and went to the spot where the Winchester brothers were talking, Sam holding a leather book.
"Any ideas?" Carter questioned as she approached the two men. Sam opened the book to a specific page and handed it over to the teenager. On the right side of the book was a list of symbols and writing she couldn't understand due to the fact it looked a bit rushed. And on the left there was a bold picture of something that resembled a man and the page was full of chicken-scratch writing. But the one thing that Carter was able to read was: Wendigo.
She raised an eyebrow, handing the book back to Sam. "Don't they hang around Minnesota and Michigan?"
"You just missed that argument, Carter." Dean laughed, "I think Sammy's right, though. The mimicry and the freakin' claws point to Wendigo."
"Fantastic." The teen muttered sarcastically, turning around and making her way to Lily. The youngest hunter filled her sister in and was met with Lily groaning. If there was one supernatural creature Lily hated above anything else, it was Wendigoes based on the fact they were excellent hunters.