A/N: So I asked that if you haven't seen the show, please try not to look up the information on the monster they're hunting—keep you on your toes lol. Also if you have, I doubt you'll remember what creature I'm referencing xD if you do, dangg nice. It's a big AU so please ask questions!
Chapter 1: Wendigo
...
BLAKE BELLADONNA
If Blake could go back in time five months, she'd tell herself to not ask the beautiful blonde from class on a date and to decline her when she asks for a second date. Because then she wouldn't be handcuffed against the passenger seat in the blonde's vehicle and wondering in God's name where the hell she was.
9 hours ago…
It's Friday night and Blake's finals were over. They weren't all too difficult. She was quite the scholar, but she didn't appreciate her civil law's oral presentation. It was a weird thing for her to go to law school. She absolutely hated public speaking and social situations. She probably wouldn't make the best lawyer but you don't have to be great at public speaking to demonstrate your legal knowledge. She also wasn't used to living like a normal person.
Her life as a huntress was over though. This normal is her normal now.
Her second year at Beacon Law already and she wasn't sure what to specialize in yet. She was leaning towards Criminal Law or Civil law. Imagine having a socially awkward civil activist as a lawyer. Which she was trying to explain to the beautiful blonde woman she had the honor of dating on and off for the past few months.
They were dressed casually, sitting on bar stools at the blonde's city apartment. Yang, her date, invited her over for fish tacos and a horror film. The last time she was invited over to Yang's hotel room, the blonde was missing without a call or text. About two days later she apologized for leaving so abrupt. Blake didn't mind too much, they weren't exactly dating—yet. She met Yang in her common law course earlier this semester. The connection was almost instant.
Blake had come in a minute or two after the class had started and there were no seats left. Except the one next to the violet-eyed girl. She remembers stuttering around the girl whenever they had to do small group discussions. Eventually five months later, some flirting from Yang's side and pining from Blake's side, they sat laughing over a plate of Yang's incredible fish tacos.
"Hiring a socially awkward lawyer is like hiring a dentist with cavities," Yang's smile throws Blake off every time. It's a nice take though.
She bites into a grin and shrugs, "same could be said, Ms. Legally Blonde."
They laugh and trade a story or two about court cases they hated working on, eventually they led into a conversation about childhood superheroes.
"Can I get you another glass?" Yang asks politely, glancing at Blake's emptied old-fashioned on rocks.
Blake nods and hands her the glass cup. She takes the chance to soak in the blonde's city apartment. It had quite the view. Glass walls on one end, white marble tops, a fully stocked kitchen. This girl either came from money or she was a secret drug-dealer. The place must've costed at least two grand a month with its prime location and views. She recalled being in Yang's hotel suite alone. It was just as nice.
When Yang sits down beside her again with Blake's second glass, Blake takes it for another sip. She wanted the liquid confidence to finally kiss the girl tonight. She was hoping they could finally address their sexual tension and stop the pining. They had practically been pining over each other since they met five months ago. Blake was tired of dumb interruptions and unlucky timing. Tonight was the night Blake Belladonna got laid to the hot funny blonde from her morning Common Law course.
Well, it would've been if she didn't feel so queasy. Maybe it was from the street salad she had in the morning, but she felt her head was spinning for what felt like moments too long to stop. She placed her drink down after finishing it in hopes it'd clear her queasiness. Quite the opposite really.
Her drink was drugged.
Blake tried to stand up but her body disagreed and gravity would've had its way with her it if wasn't for the blonde who caught her. The last thing she heard before she passed out was Yang's apology.
"Sorry Blake. I think we can both agree you're going to be a better huntress than a lawyer though."
Currently…
Blake had a massive headache. Mostly due to a mixture of drinking and being drugged. She jogs her memory and tries to remember what happened after she passed out, but nothing comes up. She remembers Yang's words but struggles to find meaning in them. No one knew about her past except her parents.
Around her is emptiness, just pitch dark fields of trees and a one-way road. The car was off and it was parked on the side of the road when Blake woke up. The driver was nowhere to be found. When she tried to step out, Blake realized her feet and hands were handcuffed to the passenger seat.
She didn't think her life would end this way. She thinks back to Yang and who Yang really was. What was a lie and what was the truth. The bubbly nature of the blonde, it was a ploy for whatever crap Blake was stuck in. It leaves a bad taste in her mouth that she actually fell for the blonde's charms. She felt like crap.
For once in her not-so-normal life, Blake had let herself get close to another person—only to have it bite her in the ass later and get kidnapped by said person. The worse part was she finds out the girl only wanted her around because she used to be a huntress.
She recollects. Obviously she knew about Blake's past as a hunter. The only thing is why she kidnapped Blake. If Yang, if that was even her name, was also a hunter—why the hell would a hunter kidnap an ex-hunter.
Blake thought she hid her tracks so well. She didn't want to be a part of this world anymore. Not after an incident a couple years ago nearly killed her entire family when she wasn't careful. It was two years ago when she left the hunting game completely.
Her father used to be a hunter, but he stopped when he married her mother. After giving up the hunter's lifestyle, they settled down on a small island called Menagerie to live a quiet life. Eventually one day, Blake's father taught her to protect herself from the supernatural. She took well to learning the trade. She loved it even. However one night Blake endangered her family due to her poor judgment.
A demon had possessed her friend from high school. She came over to spend spring break at Blake's parents' home. Back in Menagerie, the Belladonnas were considered as high political figures—royalty almost. It didn't help that the demon trying to kill her parents was an old enemy of her's. She had clocked away many of his kind and he wanted the Belladonnas dead. The incentive wasn't vengeance—demons don't care about honoring or respecting the deaths of the fallen—it was a power shift. Someone wanted the Belladonnas out and that person went to great lengths to do it.
Luckily Blake was an insomniac. If she hadn't been awake that night, she probably would've lost more than an old friend. It was then when she realized she couldn't endanger her family's lives. She had to choose between family and hunting. Blake chose her family.
"Morning gorgeous!" A chirper voice pulls Blake out of her thoughts, she looks over to the driver's seat after hearing the door close.
Yang was dressed in neutral-dark clothing and a brown baseball cap. She had a brown leather jacket on that fitted her quite well and Blake wanted to tear it off of her—if it weren't for the fact that Yang kidnapped her.
"Sleep alright?" she smiled, turning the car on. Blake mentally chastised herself for being attracted to her kidnapper's smile.
She was completely dumbfounded. Was Yang going to pretend that she didn't drug her, kidnap her, and handcuff her against her will?
"I can explain," Yang senses her thoughts, her eyes on the empty road. It was morning, but the sun wasn't awake yet. "I know who you are Blake. You used to be a huntress, almost lost everything to a demon that possessed your friend."
Blake's anger riles up in her chest. She couldn't even say she knew Yang for five months, Yang probably wasn't her name. She hated the fact that a complete stranger knew about a life she gave up. She hated how she didn't know what to say because Blake didn't want to be associated with the supernatural world anymore. She just wanted to be a socially awkward lawyer who makes a decent salary at her 9-to-5 job from Mondays to Fridays.
"I'm sorry." Yang offers. Blake wasn't sure what she was apologizing for. For kidnapping her? For drugging her? For pulling her back into the world where she almost lost everything that was worth anything to her? "About your friend," Yang completes her apology, answering Blake's inner thoughts. "I've been there. The job comes with lost."
Blake shifted in her seat, the handcuffs weren't too tight, maybe she could sneak out of them. But she'd end up in the middle of nowhere and she wouldn't find out what Yang meant by that. "Who are you," Blake demanded before she demands an explanation for anything else.
Yang continues to drive at speed limit down the empty interstate road. Blake made note they were at least 50 miles from the closest thing to civilization. Somewhere in West Kansas. She almost missed the pollution of the big apple.
Yang clears her throat with a gulp of water, she offers the bottle to Blake, but Blake knows better than to take drinks from her stranger. Well not really since her stupidity got her in this position right now. Semantics.
"I did just drink out of it—just take it, you're probably thirsty from being out for so long," Yang tosses the bottle into her lap.
Blake doesn't want to give in, she's always been naturally stubborn. So she leaves it in her lap, contemplating if she should or not.
Yang starts her explanation with a name and a background. "Yang Xiao Long, kickass awesome huntress of creepy mean demons and bloodsucking vampires!" Blake notes the girl's chirpy nature was definitely not much different from the one she got to know over the past five months, "I'm 24, I was based in New York for recovery after I got injured during a hunt. It was minor but the physical therapist recommended I took a couple months off. So I spent the five months getting to know you, Blake Belladonna."
She wasn't sure if she should believe the girl, but Blake figured she was telling truth since she didn't kill Blake yet and that she claimed to be a huntress. Hunters were extremely uncommon. Finding other hunters was harder than finding gay bars in West Texas. Nonexistent, even if you had connections.
"Long story short, our parents used to be friends. Someone told me to pull your head out of your ass because you're a huntress whether you like it or not. Get you back into the game. Now the real reason you're here is—do you believe in fate?" Yang cuts herself off. In the world they live in where demons and ghosts were real, witches and sea monsters haunted the countryside, Blake wanted to ask if that was a rhetorical question.
Fate was a totally different story. Even the huntress in her wanted to say fate doesn't exist. Vampires and werewolves are explainable. Destiny, prophecy and fate though? That's a bit of a long shot even for Blake. So she shakes her head, but realizes Yang isn't looking at her. "I believe in what I do has a consequential result in what I'm going to do," Blake gives in. "Like when you un-cuff me and I punch you."
Yang laughs and it makes Blake feel stupid butterflies she shouldn't be feeling in this situation. "Highly unlikely."
"What? You un-cuffing me?"
"No. You punching me."
Blake tries not to smile and she does well. "Don't knock it 'til you try it."
Blake allows a small smile and she sees Yang's face lift up into a warm grin. "Getting smacked by a hot chick who has it out for me? Hard pass." Yang laughs and Blake seriously hates the way her chest thinks Yang's laughter is magical or some equally gay crap.
A brief moment of silence passes over them. Blake ignores her thoughts of vengeance and takes a leap. A leap she'll thank herself for taking later.
"Alright. Prove it."
She leans against the car door and crosses her legs, waiting for Yang's response. "Prove what?"
"You're a huntress. Prove that to me and I'll help you with whatever you need and then you can take me back to Beacon and we'll never see each other again," Blake puts frankly.
Yang takes a second away from the road and looks at Blake. Lilacs meet golds and they're wondering. Blake liked that Yang couldn't read her at this moment. She liked how she finally felt a step ahead of Yang for once in this car ride.
"Werewolves, how do you kill them," Blake starts.
Yang's mouth pulls up into a smile and realizes where this is going. "Silver to the vitals, or good 'ol incapacitation—my personal favorite if you wondering," Yang winks.
"Banshees?"
"Pure gold, trapping spells, or banishing spells. I prefer the gold, more expensive, but at least they can't come back that way," Yang shrugs.
"Witches."
"Depends on the witch, generally iron though," Yang answers. "What is this a chemistry quiz? I actually failed chemistry in high school."
Blake laughs. Chemistry was a key component to being a hunter, you had to know your metals and your elements if you're going to deal with the supernatural.
Yang eyes her laugh. "We good?"
Blake catches herself and clears her throat, deciding it was alright to drink the water bottle her not-so-bad kidnapper gave her. "I still wanna punch you."
"Eh, I'll take one for the team."
Yang drove for another hour before stopping at a small town diner in the middle of nowhere, Kansas. They fell into a comfortable silence for the past hour. Blake learnt that Yang had been hunting for as long as she could walk. The girl was born into it just like Blake was.
Her family was a little more extreme than Blake's though. Yang mentions her mentor a couple of times and Blake wants to ask who that was, but she doesn't push for it since Yang didn't seem to want to tell her. She mentions a hunt she wanted Blake to help her solve since it was on the way to where they needed to be. Which Yang hadn't mentioned the real reason why she actually needed Blake.
Now they sat across from each other in a lightly busy diner in West Kansas.
Yang orders a stack of pancakes and Blake settles for apple pie for breakfast. "How do you like your coffee?" Yang asks, pouring herself a cup of Joe.
Blake raises her eyebrow in a teasing manner, "gee, someone wasn't paying attention on the first date. I'll have a cup of tea."
Blake likes the way Yang's face flushed in embarrassment. "Something else caught my attention," Yang replies smoothly eyeing Blake. It makes Blake wonder if the flirting she did during the sum months was a lie or the real deal. The real blush on Blake's cheeks wanted an explanation but she ignores it and doesn't make eye contact in fear Yang would read through her.
"What's the case," Blake asks. She watches the entrance like it's the most interesting thing in the diner.
"Same old stuff, different day."
A couple of more customers come in as the time passed. The diner was quite lively with truckers and families on weekend camping trips.
"Then why do you need me?" Blake asks. It wasn't like Blake had any specialties as a huntress, she was an average huntress. She knew her cautions, she knew her limits, she knew how much she could handle and what not to chase after. But one slip almost costed her, her family. The slip up costed her a good friend.
Yang sips her black cup of Joe and it unnerves Blake. Like the girl wasn't taking this seriously. Like Yang was running on her own time. Blake had a life. She was a law student at a prestigious school in New York. She was going to graduate in a year. She was going to work at a law firm 9-to-5, Mondays to Fridays for the rest of her life. Get married and have kids. She's normal damn-it.
"Well I gotta see how good you are—I don't care what that seer said about you, you're gonna have to prove yourself before you can join us," Yang's first serious sentence of the meal comes out and Blake wants to slack her across the face.
Blake had no reason to prove herself to Yang. Not as a huntress not as a person. She didn't even want to be in this situation. And what team is this she even talking about.
As if Yang could sense Blake's thoughts once more, she continues, "a seer told me I was going to get injured, stay out of the game for some time and come back with a new ally. That's where you come in Blake. She told me your destiny is tied with mine, with ours'," Yang specifies. She pulls out a couple pieces of wrinkled paper from her jacket. She makes a note that they're most likely photographs from the material of the paper. Yang slides them over to Blake.
The picture is weathered at the edges and the photos are folded in squares. Blake opens the first one to find two smiling girls. The photo itself is warming. A young girl, who Blake assumed was Yang from the lilac eyes and blonde hair, was giving a younger girl with dark hair and red tips a piggyback ride. Yang was maybe no older than thirteen in the photo. The other girl was maybe eight or nine. Blake ignores the rising thoughts about how cute Yang was as a kid and focuses on the image.
"That's Ruby. She's my younger sister. It's been five years since I last saw her—long story short, she thinks I'm dead." Yang puts simply. She continues to munch on her pancakes like it's no big deal.
But Blake can feel the emotion Yang was trying to hide with syrup and pressed pancakes. She doesn't poke at it in respect to her past. "She's 20 now, she goes to med school at John Hopkins. She's a genius, which is a wonder how we're related," Yang tries to lighten the mood. Blake gives her a comforting grin to reassure the blonde. She doesn't know why but Yang's face without smile makes her worry. "She's special. Literally gifted if you will," Yang opens the second photo.
It's a photo of Ruby, much older now, maybe fourteen in this photo. Blake notices her silver eyes. She tries to remember what that entails but couldn't place a finger on it. "I can't explain it all now, but it's important we keep her safe and I have to make sure you're good enough to help us protect my little sister," Yang smiles with a certain proudness in her words.
"Us?"
Blake opens the third photograph and it's Yang and a girl with snow-white hair. They're much older now, a recent picture if Blake had to guess. Maybe a couple months ago, at most a year. Yang has her arm slung around the blue eyed blue who didn't seem too happy about the contact if her glare was anything to go off of. They were sitting on the back of Yang's car trunk, both dirtied and bleeding from some small cuts. Most likely from a hunt. Though the glaring girl didn't seem like a huntress, Blake would peg her as a princess with that form. "Who's this?" Blake asks.
Yang looks over and grins. "That's Weiss but you can call her ice queen," Yang practically laughing to herself as she looked at the photo fondly. It kind of made Blake jealous. "She's a sorceress, not much the hunter that one."
Blake nodded, eyeing the girl a little more. Hunters were extremely uncommon and rare, but human sorceresses were practically non-existent. She only knew a handful of hunters, most were ex-hunters. Her parents, herself, and a family friend from Toronto who used to visit the Belladonnas when Blake was younger.
"Where is she?" she asks with the clink of her tea cup meeting the small plate it bedded on.
It was a little less than an hour from when they first sat down, but the diner was packed. A line forming from the entrance. Blake wondered the charm of diners and dirt coffee, but truckers seemed to like it. So did Yang. "She's picking up Ruby. We'll meet up with them after you catch a cannibal for me." She slides a newspaper to Blake. "How rusty are you anyways?"
Blake opens the piece of paper and it has several missing persons attached. Seven missing victims as of last week. The recent victim was a boy named Tommy Brice, he was 15-years old.
Blake mutters something along the lines that hunting is like riding a bike, you never forget it. It seems to satisfy Yang. She calls for the check and the two of them walk back to Yang's car.
It's a sleek black Chevy Impala, Blake doesn't know cars but it's a classic. Yang jumps into the driver's seat, Blake uses the door and chides Yang's barbaric manner. In return she gets that annoying cocky smirk of her's. Stupid sexy smirk. Stupid sexy person-abducting-blonde.
In the car Blake goes over the history of the case. Seven people had gone missing in a small town over the course of less than two months. An average of about a person a week. The victims ranged from all ages. Old or young, the creature was definitely just hunting at whatever it could get its hands on. Once a week was all it needed Blake assumes.
She notes that the full moon was coming up at the end of the month. Shit like that was important when they're talking about supernatural beings. These creatures tend to be as superstitious as they come. They have patterns and behaviors that they follow. They do what they do because it's what they either: only know to do or need to do to survive. Like eating three meals a day, although Blake only ate two. Ain't nobody got time for three.
"What's the verdict your honor?" Yang smiles.
There's a teasing nature in her voice and Blake was starting to realize two things about the girl that was true from the past semester. One, Yang likes to flirt. She'd flirt with a rock if it could buy her dinner. The sad part is, it'd probably work. The girl was very charming and Blake had to give her that. She did charm her way into Blake's life. That reminds Blake to mentally make a note to ask if Yang actually knew anything about law school.
Two, the girl had way too much fun teasing her. She hated the way Yang could practically read her mind and Blake couldn't ever tell what she was thinking in return. Maybe she's a witch.
"That you're a witch."
Blake watches her face, unfazed but smiling. She doesn't think of how her joke could backfire, but she probably set herself up for this one way or another. "Got you under my spell don't I?"
She could see Yang mentally high-fiving herself. But Blake's stubborn and doesn't give Yang the satisfaction of toying with her. "I think it's a Wendigo," she goes back to the topic.
Blake shuffles through the papers regarding the incidents. The missing persons all followed a pattern. Taken in the night, alone, within an twelve mile radius of one-another, on the same day of every week for the past two months. Today was Saturday, every person was taken on a Saturday.
"How so," Yang pushes for a definitive answer. She wanted to make sure Blake knew her stuff.
Blake pulls up the first three victims. "The first three victims were found dead about ten to eighteen miles apart. Two things we know from that. One, it's storing food in an octagon," Blake draws a sketch to demonstrate the shape, "at every corner it'll place the remains of the body to form the shape. Once the shape is formed, it'll go back into hiding after feasting. Which leads to point two."
She pulls up a map and crudely draws an octagon. "This is an estimation of the kills it made 23 years ago," she passes it over to Yang who was driving, but manages to multitask. "Eight people died 23 years ago in the span of two months. Once a Wendigo feasts; it hibernates for exactly 23 years. Coming out to feast again after hibernation. Since the police only found three bodies, it's likely there are survivors since Wendigos like to store live food."
The blonde eyes the octagon Blake drew. There's a brief moment of silence, but it passes with ease when Yang pulls over the car into an off track trail into the forest. It's not long until she parks it.
She hadn't murmured a word since Blake showed her the map with her detailed explanation. It didn't make Blake feel uneasy that Yang was judging her knowledge, she felt uneasy that the blonde wasn't cracking jokes with her.
Blake hears the trunk of the car close and Yang makes her way back into the car. In her hand is a small backpack. She can't see the content, but Blake guesses it's for hunting. "Not bad Belladonna. Hope you can back yourself up," Yang tosses the bag into her lap. "I'll be in the car when you're done."
Blake opens the backpack to find several things for a short trip. A short barrel shotgun, eight rounds she counts. Holy water and a crucifix. A rather large hand knife. And lastly there's drinking water and granola bars. The granola bars remind her of hunting missions with her father when she was a teenager.
Yang slings her feet onto the dash and lays back into her head rest. Prepared to pass out it appears. Yang would've passed out on the spot if Blake wasn't holding the shotgun to her head.
The shotgun is a double barrel and Blake loaded two shells into it. It clicks smoothly and Blake points it against Yang's head. In return, the blonde opens her eyes, complacent on Blake. She didn't see traces of fear or aggression. Just a blank expression. Like the one where you look at someone who asked you a rhetorical question but meant it.
She closes her eyes again and leans into her seat, her arms crossed.
"What's to stop me from shooting you and taking the car," Blake puts their situation into perspective.
It bothered her how calm the girl was, but Blake did have the upper hand.
Still it didn't stop Yang from smirking like she knew the answers to the universe.
"'Cuz Blake, you're not gonna shoot your soulmate."
Soulmate. The word was foreign to Blake. She had a hard time barely believing that magic was real even after having several witch kills under her belt. She's been inside a den of leprechauns—a den of them. The magical beings tend to run alone but a pack of them was unheard of. Not as unheard of a soulmates.
Telling a myth to a huntress is like telling a child there's a new candy shop on the corner. They'll want to learn everything they can about it, how to track it, how to hunt it, does it pose a threat. Yang had to be pulling her leg on this one. Soulmates is a myth. So is bigfoot and Blake's slayed a lot of things—none of them were bigfoot.
Before Blake could badger her for answers, Yang passed out. The slowing of her breaths and the way her face relaxed was proof. Blake pulled back the gun and holstered it. Not sure why she was holding her breath, but Blake felt more relaxed when she let it out. She wasn't going to shoot the girl, Blake could never kill another human. Monsters and demons were a different story. In which, she should really be hunting one right now.
She had approximately six to seven hours before daylight runs out. She hiked a couple miles from where Yang parked and passed out. There was a pattern of withered trees every other 100 meters. It was a sign of a Wendigo tracing the circle of life—aka the octagon.
Blake marks the map for feasible sites the Wendigo would use.
A Wendigo isn't difficult to kill. Super strong and fast yes, but it used to be human like Blake. The Wendigo is a person who relied on cannibalism as the prime source of their diet. Overtime the human will need to feed more and more on others to stay alive, eventually transitioning from human to a Wendigo upon a total solar eclipse. Once it transitions, the Wendigo only needs to feed every 23 years. It does the ritual of feeding and creating the octagon shape with remains. The octagon keeps it safe for those 23 years of hibernation.
It hibernates upon completing the eighth corner—which Blake assumes was today since it had been a week since someone last went missing. She couldn't save the ones found dead and it was one of the gears that drove Blake to complete the hunt.
As she was setting down a small campsite, she hears piercing screams weather from inside the woods. She takes off in a sprint towards the scream of terror. It's human for sure.
There's a small cabin at the bottom of a smaller hill. She slides down the hill with ease and breaks the front door down. Still got it Belladonna, still got it. Sure, she's out of breath, but it's still not every day an average person sprints uphill only to slide down it as nimble as Blake did—and break a stubborn wooden door down.
Inside the cabin was just empty furniture. It looked like no one had occupied the place in years. Dust and webs all over the wooden chairs and counter tops.
"Hands up 'lil lady," a rough voice calls from behind Blake.
She doesn't act rash, she heard his weapon click similar to the way a Glock pistol does. His voice tells her he's nearby, he won't miss at that range. Her hands go up and she turns to find an elder man, mid 60's.
"Care to explain why you're breaking down my cabin door?"
He has a Kansas accent, a native here.
She gives the truth. "I heard a scream—multiple ones actually."
He eyes her for a moment. Looking for traces of lying in Blake's expression. She's not sure what made him put his weapon away, but she's happy he did because Blake's double barrel was not her go-to weapon in a situation like this.
"That's just them coyotes, you should head on out soon 'lil lady. Temperatures will drop to the single digits soon." The old man walked away, closing the shaky door of his small cabin on Blake's backside. She doesn't make much of the interaction other than wondering if there were really coyotes in West Kansas.
She does find it odd that he told her the weather forecast. It was strange, they were in Kansas at the beginning of December. Sure it can get cold, but anything below 20 degrees is uncommon in this area this time of the year. Blake keeps his words at the back of her mind on the way back to camp.
Back at her makeshift campsite, which took Blake longer to get back to than it took for her to run from.
The first sign of trouble hits Blake. Her things are gone. Her backpack with the extra ammo, holy water, and stupid granola bar that literally wasn't going to keep her alive; it was all gone. Even the makeshift trap she made was missing. She looked for signs of fresh tracks but whoever did this was either a ghost or a floating wizard because Blake couldn't find any tracks other than her own.
She'd had to make do with what she had on her body. A shotgun, two shells and a knife. The clothes on her back weren't going to keep her warm enough if this mission went on pass four hours.
Blake wandered around. She found a blood trail, it wasn't as fresh as she would've liked but it was worth following. It might lead her to the Wendigo's food storage aka human jail. She recalls three of the seven people were found dead, Blake assumes she's looking for four to five people. Depending on if the Wendigo hunted its last victim yet.
"HELP!"
Blake's attention shoots up from the blood trail and flashes towards the shout for help. She notices a tunnel entrance, similar to one for an underground railroad. She was positive she heard the screams earlier—which were not coyotes, mind you creepy old man—they were people.
Their shouts for help continued and it was working. Blake was wrong about the tunnel, it was an abandoned underground mine. It was as dusty and webbed as the old man's cabin. The crackling rocks threatening to fall didn't help set Blake at ease. If anything it made her want to turn around and jet.
She really wishes she had a flashlight right now, but she'll just rely on her decent night vision for now. It was still daytime outside. Luckily, small cracks in the mine gave way for loose rays of light inside the coal mine. It made for getting around a little easier.
The cries for help got louder and louder as Blake cruised the corridors of the coal mine.
"Help us, somebody!" a female voice called.
Another voice, male this time, shouted at what Blake assumed was the Wendigo. "He's coming! Run Lisa!"
Blake rounds the corner to find two humans bumping into her. She catches herself and stands her ground, but the impact knocks over a kid. He's about 15 Blake notices. The girl screams upon seeing Blake, but realizes she's just a normal person.
"W-w-who are you?!" the kid scrambles up to his feet.
She grabs his hand and pulls him up. "Where is he?" Blake asks, referring to the Wendigo. Her eyes search the dark tunnels.
She played out her cards. Two shotgun shells, a Wendigo and two kids. The Wendigo was going to take more than a couple shotgun shells to put down—at best Blake could only hope to make a run for it. She could use the shotgun to slow it down, injure it perhaps.
"He was right behind us a second ago, is that a gun!?" the girl exclaims.
Blake hated children. She hated dealing with them. But she hated the idea of monsters eating children more than her dislike for annoying kids.
A low growl draws her attention to the right tunnel, she pushes them behind her. "Get back," she tells them. The double barrel in her hands, she spots a dark stalking figure.
She's never seen a Wendigo in person but it wasn't exactly what she imagined. She thought maybe it'd be a like a ghost mixed with werewolf looking thing, but it was human-like. Maybe seven to eight feet tall and as hollow as a pumpkin during Halloween. Its skin was pitch black, it was skinny and frail looking, but that was deceptive. She knew the Wendigo was fast and as strong as a vampire. She knew it used to be human therefore it had an overgrown untamed beard. You could see the skeletal of it sticking out from the dusted skin. The wrinkly stalker could use some moisturizer.
The first shot Blake fires is directed at the chest. Blake wanted to deal as much damage as possible to the Wendigo. She knew she didn't have a good chance at killing him but if he's injured he'll be more likely to subject himself to an early hibernation.
Blake pushes the kids the other direction. "Go, there's exits all around we just have to find one," she tells them as she hurries behind them. They run as fast as they could over rubble and broken rail tracks.
The Wendigo's howl signals it's not far from them and was catching up quick.
She had to think in terms of survival. There were times when the hunter became the hunted and this was one of those. Blake just needed to get out with the kids. So she used her last shot on a wooden barrier that held up fallen rubble from an inner coal mine. She caught one last glimpse of the Wendigo as rocks and coal fell between them—effectively cutting the beast off.
They stop to catch their breaths, also to figure out where the exit was. The tunnel was still dark with small spots of leaked sunlight.
"C'mon," Blake leads the group now.
The kids weren't as scared as when Blake first saw them. They were still shaking but at least they weren't wetting themselves.
"Who are you?" the girl asks Blake.
She remembers back in the day whenever a civilian asked Blake for her name—her father taught her to give a fake alias. They couldn't afford catching the attention of the human society. As a kid she thought it was stupid. All the work of a superhero, none of the rewards.
"No one," she settles for a lack of an alias. "I recognize you two though, Lisa McBell and Tommy Brice. You two went missing not long ago."
They nod, telling Blake about how they both were out and about around night time. They hadn't suspected the Wendigo, they just woke up at this place. The last memory they had was falling asleep near where the Wendigo caught them.
Blake sees pouring sunrays from a left tunnel ahead. That much sunlight most likely signified an entrance/exit. Her worries fell and she thought all would end well soon. She thought wrong.
The Wendigo's cry was heard throughout the tunnels. Blake realize he was going to use the tunnel system to his advantage—to catch them before they made it out. Sure they were closer to the exit, but even if they got out, they'd have to deal with him outside.
There wasn't much time to think when Lisa pointed out his stalking figure at the end of the hall.
Fuck.
She pulls the kids behind her, wielding the knife Yang gave her. There's scripture on the knife and Blake didn't make much of it before, but she realizes the scripture was an enhancement.
The Wendigo growls, its form completely visible to them now. He was yards away from them.
"Tell me you have a plan!" Lisa shouts as the beast walks closer and closer with each stride.
Blake ignored her and pushed them further behind her. She used Yang's knife to draw on a pentagram on the ground. A pentagram is a symbol of protection. Along with some other trapping symbols. Blake writes them in as quickly as she could recall them. It had been a while and Blake couldn't recall them perfectly at first. She could only hope she got it right.
Right as the Wendigo is a stride away from her, she slits her hand with the knife and her blood splashes inside the pentagram.
The Wendigo rushed at her but was stopped immediately by Blake's circle. It was a neat trick her father taught her when she was running from a demon. It only worked if you used a demon-killing blade to cut yourself. The crudely drawn circle glowed white, effectively trapping the Wendigo in it. His howls and moans blew Blake back a few steps, but he couldn't reach her.
She smirks regardless of how scary the Wendigo was up close.
One point for Blake Belladonna, zero for Wendigo.
The only problem was that he was blocking their exit. They could managing finding another exit but that could take hours. Luckily for her, she had a new partner with a crappy taste in crappier one-liners.
"What was the cannibalist's favorite color?" a confident voice came from behind the beast.
Blake meets lilac eyes across the tunnel, a tugging smile on Yang's face pulls one on Blake's. Yang winks at her wii her signature cocky smirk and shot the Wendigo with a short flare gun. It was a unique choice of weapon, but Blake thinks it was a good choice nonetheless.
The ammo lodges itself into the Wendigo's chest and fuses from the inside, causing a small explosion within him. To add to that, Yang tosses handheld Molotov the size of Blake's finger. The fire it set off was more than enough to burn the Wendigo to death.
Blake never felt so happy to see Yang's arrogant smirking face. Maybe this partnership could work out—
"Wen-di-go!" the pun flies from the blonde's lips.
Forget partnership, Blake's leaving her the second she figures out how to get enough cash to get herself back to New York.
On the way out, there were police cars lined up to take the kids home. Yang informs her she got the other survivors out safely while Blake was distracting the Wendigo. Blake is annoyed she got the long end of the stick, but glad nonetheless they saved the day. They avoided questioning from the police officers and took the long way back to Yang's car.
The sun was setting and so was the temperature. Blake was long passed her limit, she was barely making her own body heat. She just wants a cup of hot tea and a warm bed.
Blake feels a sudden layer of warmth cover her backside. The scent smells like citrus and Blake wanted to breathe it again—again. Yang had slung her jacket over Blake's shoulders. It was warm from being worn by the blonde.
Blake looks at her, questioning eyes. Yang just shrugs, tugging on her scarf to hide her shy expression. "You looked cold," she rubs the back of her neck. It was endearing that Yang felt like she had to justify her actions. It brought a faint smile to Blake's lips.
"Thanks." Blake whispers.
She doesn't look directly at Blake but she heard her. "Sorry about drugging you, kidnapping you and forcing you to kill a man eater."
Blake wasn't expecting an apology. But she takes it. If they're going to work together, they should have a clean conscience.
"I'm over it. But I still wanna punch you."
A/N: Thoughts? Questions? Concerns? There's a lot to be answered since this AU is so big. Please let me know what you think :). Also sorry if there are any grammatical errors. I'm trash at writing lol this is kind of my project to get better at it haha! good vibes 3
