Season 1, Episode 2: Wendigo
"You're bailing to do what?"
"Dean, I'm buying that car."
"But-"
"I'll meet up with you and Sam, okay?"
"Just...be careful."
"Dude, I'm meeting up with Bobby. Relax." She glanced at Sam over Dean's shoulder. "Keep an eye out for him, would you?"
"You know I will."
She wrapped her arms around Sam, hugging him tightly. "If you need to talk, Sammy, just call me. Any time, doesn't matter. I love you."
"Yeah, I know." He kissed her cheek. "Love you too."
She boarded the Greyhound bus, ticket in hand, and settled down for the long trip.
When the bus pulled into Sioux Falls, she looked out the window, spotting an older, bearded man with a baseball hat. She waved excitedly, the first one off at the gas station. "Long time, no see." He greeted her with an affectionate smack on the head. "Idjit. Don't you know I have a damn phone?"
She rubbed her head. "Sorry, Bobby. We've been busy."
"Busy don't mean nothing, Eleanor. Now grab your bag and let's go."
She threw her bag in the back of his truck and hopped in. The drive to Singer Salvage Yard was a short one, and parked in the front driveway, was a stunning white 1969 Chevy Corvette Stingray. She gasped, jumping out of the truck before Bobby could park it, and ran over to her new car. "It's gorgeous!"
"Don't scratch the paint, idjit. I just had her refinished this morning."
She backed up, her grin widening. "Bobby, thank you. How much do you want for her?"
He shrugged, holding the door open for Eleanor. "A phone call every once in a while would be nice. Heard from your dad yet?"
"No. Dean and Sam are in Colorado looking for him. The demon that got Mom got Sam's girlfriend, too." She took the cash she'd set aside for the car out of her wallet, and stuck it in Bobby's emergency fund jar. "So, I think Sam might be done with college. At least for a while, anyways."
"How are you?" He asked, his brown eyes boring into her.
"I'm fine."
"Eleanor, I've known you for nearly twenty years. Don't waste our time by lying."
She sighed. "I'm just tired." He raised an eyebrow, passing her a beer. "Okay. Not 'just tired'. Dean's all gung-ho about finding Dad, but maybe we're better off without him."
"Maybe. He wasn't exactly father of the year."
"No, he wasn't." Eleanor took a sip of her beer. "I mean, I hope he's okay, but..."
Bobby nodded understandingly. "You two had it out pretty good the night Sam left."
"Yeah." She finished her beer in silence, staring out the window.
"I got wind of a job up in Portland that's right up your alley." He handed her a small stack of newspaper articles.
"Just in the last two months?" She counted nearly twenty-six missing persons reports. "Gotta be those damned fangs."
"Exactly what I was thinking." He passed her the keys to the Corvette. "You'd made good time if you start out soon."
"I'll leave in the morning." She smiled at him. "You ain't getting rid of me that easy."
"I think I've got the stuff for some chili." He rummaged around his kitchen, getting the ingredients out.
She headed to the den. Books lined the shelves and teetered precariously in stacks on the floor. An old typewriter sat on the desk in the middle of the room surrounded by newspapers and aging, open books. Eleanor plopped down, a content smile crossing her face.
She pulled out her phone and dialed her brother's number. "Hey Dean."
"Hey. Make it okay?"
"Yeah. You?"
"Yeah. We got something fishy up here though. Took a kid when he was camping with his friends. Sam's doing some research."
"Bobby found a case up in Portland. I'm heading there in the morning."
"Yeah, well, be careful. There's stories about Portland."
She laughed. "I know. You too, Dean. And, uh, if you find Dad, let me know."
"Will do."
Eleanor was ready to leave by six the next morning. She had a travel mug filled with coffee and whiskey in her hand as she hugged Bobby. "Stay safe, kid."
"Don't worry about me." She reassured him. "I'll be okay."
"Idjit."
She backed the car out of his yard, putting the salvage yard in her rear view mirror. Eleanor cranked up the radio at the first strains of Metallica's 'Enter Sandman', pounding out the rhythm on the steering wheel as she sang along.
She made good time to Portland, even after sleeping for a few hours on the side of the road. She found a motel right inside the city limits, changed clothes, and headed to the library to research. Multnomah County Central Library was massive, standing three stories tall, and Eleanor paused on the steps, gazing at the brick building. "Awesome." She grinned, taking the steps two by two, and stepped inside.
She stopped at the service desk behind a teenager with all four Twilight books in her hands. Eleanor snorted, diverting her eyes. "What can I help you with?" The young man asked when the girl left.
"I need to use a computer, please."
He slid a half sheet of paper to her. "Just sign and date this please. It's a two hour limit."
She scrawled her name across the line, sliding it back to him. His face paled slightly as he read her name. "Ms. W-winchester, computer 4 is open." He spoke softer this time, his hand shaking as he handed her a guest pass card.
"Thanks."
She pushed his odd behavior to the back of her mind and started looking for abandoned properties in or around Portland. If her instincts were right, and there were vampires running rampant in Portland, that's where they'd be. She found a handful of good leads, printing out the addresses to follow up that night, and started digging around for something to tie the victims together. Her phone buzzed in her pocket, pulling her out of her zone. Got something funky up here. How's Portland? It was a quick text from Dean, checking on her.
Should be fun. Doing my research now. Dad there?
No sign of him. Sammy's pissed we're staying, but there's something in the woods.
Yeah. It's called nature.
Smartass. Be careful.
You too.
At this point in her research, she wasn't seeing much of a connection, other that a few of them frequented a local bar. Her time was almost up and she logged off, taking the addresses with her. She handed the card back to the librarian. "Have a good day."
"You too." He replied, still watching her warily.
The first six addresses were dead ends, with no sign of anyone being on the property for a good ten years or so and too close to other houses. The last one she found was a small farmhouse a good ten minutes from the suburbs, on about 50 acres of land. Eleanor parked her car on the road, watching the house. She circled the address, backed up, and sped away.
When she got back to her hotel, she began to prepare for that night. She sharpened both off her machetes and her two daggers, loaded her gun, and headed to the bar as night started to fall. She chose a table that overlooked the whole place, giving her the ability to watch the door and the patrons. She had her gun tucked in the waistband of her jeans, giving her a bit more security if someone decided to mess with her before she left. Around midnight, a group of people, about eight or nine, walked in, glancing around. Eleanor sat up straighter, her fingers tightening around her third beer. One of the group separated, coming over to her. "Hi."
She smiled at the woman. "Hi."
"First time seeing you in here." The stranger took the seat opposite her. "Just passing through?"
"Yeah."
"I'm Vivian."
"Eleanor." She replied easily.
"I hope I'm not being too forward, but you are easily the prettiest woman in here tonight."
Eleanor smiled again, leaning forward. "Obviously you haven't looked in any mirrors."
Vivian matched her move, leaning toward the hunter. "You want to join my friends and I?"
"Sure." Eleanor grabbed her drink and followed Vivian over to her group.
"This is Eleanor." Vivian introduced her to the rest. "Keith, Victor, Danielle, Greg, and Sarah."
Part 2
Eleanor absentmindedly sharpened her machete, keeping an eye on the clock. She'd followed Vivian and her friends back to the suspicious house she found the previous day. There was ten, maybe fifteen holed up in the farmhouse less than a mile from her parked car.
7:34 a.m. She stood to her feet, holstering both blades at her sides, and quietly shut the car door. Her combat boots made no noise as she crept through the tall grass. She dropped to her knees under a window, listening intently for any sound of activity. After a good ten minutes of silence, she continued to the front door. She tried the door, hoping it was unlocked, but to her annoyance, it was not. "Fucking fangs." She grumbled, digging the lockpick out of her pocket.
She struggled with the lock, wiggling it around for nearly four minutes. "How the hell does Dean get this in two damn seconds?" She kept grumbling, trying to unlock the door.
"May I help you?"
She glanced up, her lockpick dangling in the doorknob of the now open door. Eleanor slowly stood up, smiling sheepishly. "Hi. Keith, right? Um, my car broke down about a mile down the road. Got a phone I could use?"
"No." He stared at her, his eyebrow raised. "Maybe you'd be better off if you weren't trying to break in."
"Right." She shrugged innocently. "Sorry 'bout that."
"Go away."
He started to shut the door, but she stuck her foot in the way. "No can do, dude." She whipped one of her machetes out of the holster and his head rolled out to the front porch. "Thanks for letting me in, though. That was nice."
She rolled her shoulders back and continued to the living room. "Keith? You okay, baby?"
"Oh, honey. He's fine." Eleanor responded, meeting another vampire by the sofa.
"Eleanor?"
"The Reaper." She corrected and swung her blade, and Keith's supposed girlfriend joined him in the monster afterlife.
As she moved through the living room to check out the other rooms in the house, she noticed an ajar door on her left. She turned mid step, easing the door open with her foot. A young girl, no more than sixteen, lay curled up on a thin mattress, her ankles and wrists bound. Eleanor gently shook her awake, cutting the rope binding her. "Hey, sweetie. You okay?"
The girl nodded, her face a shade too pale. "W-who are you?"
"A friend." She simply replied. "There's a car about a mile down the road. When you reach it, turn left to the main highway and get to the hospital."
"Thank you." She took off, stumbling as she regained feeling in her legs.
Eleanor turned her attention to the ruggedly handsome man leaning against the wall, his eyelids fluttering. He was worse than the girl, and Eleanor feared she might be too late for him. She set to work cutting his bonds, checking for a pulse.
"It's rude to throw out food in someone else's house." She reached for her her machete, but the vampire in the door frame had it in his hands. "Looking for this, Eleanor?"
Eleanor grabbed her other one, pointing it at him. "You can play with that one."
"You came prepared." He nodded approvingly. "That's good, but you need to be able to think ahead, like in chess."
"Think ahead? You're all predictable."
"Are we?" Suddenly, Eleanor felt someone rip her machete from her hands and his hands wrapped around her throat. "You'd make a good vampire."
"I'd cut my own head off." She snarled.
He chuckled. "You've got quite a mouth on you."
"Victor, what are you-oh." A tall, leggy brunette pulled her silk robe closer around her. "And I liked you, too."
"A new recruit, Vivian."
"Fuck off."
Eleanor kicked her leg out, connecting with Victor's crotch. He released his hold on her throat and she elbowed his sidekick, grabbing her machete. With one swing, the sidekick vampire's head hit the baseboard. Vivian rushed toward her, but Eleanor moved out of the way, backing the vampire against the wall. Eleanor pressed the blade into her throat until her head landed between Eleanor's black combat boots, spattering them with blood.
"You bitch!"
Victor backhanded her, knocking her on her ass. Her machete flew out of her hands, and he kicked her in the ribs. She heard a crack and struggled to get up, but his foot was on her collarbone. She grabbed at his ankle, her chest growing tighter with each passing minute. He slid her blade down the center of her chest, slicing through both her shirt and bra.
As she fought to get up, she heard faint footsteps heading her way. "You'll join her soon enough." Eleanor hissed.
"And you'll join your beloved mother." He retorted, shifting his weight on her chest.
The room grew fuzzy and she barely felt the graze of the blade on her stomach, but she heard the footsteps grow louder. "Victor, what are you doing?" A crisp, deep voice reached her ears and she blinked, trying to turn her head.
Victor moved his foot just enough to step on her trachea, turning his face toward the mystery man. She didn't make out his reply, however, as the lack of oxygen to her brain finally caught up and the room faded around her.
"-sure she can't move." The same voice, that deep British voice resounded in her head. "I've sedated her for now, but she'll be waking soon."
"His others?"
"They didn't make it. Rodger did, though, and I hear he's making a full recovery."
"As soon as I got wind of her sniffing around, I knew she'd be in trouble." The other male voice sounded concerned.
"She's the top vampire hunter in the lower 48, Tristan, but Victor was banking on her showing up."
Eleanor groaned, trying to move her limbs, but she couldn't. Something was holding her down. She opened her mouth to talk, but no sound came out. Her mouth felt dry and her lips chapped.
"Don't worry about talking." The voice's owner finally came into focus, and his soft gray eyes were kind. "You need rest."
"What happened?" She mouthed, and her throat hurt even just breathing.
"Victor tried to crush your throat, Eleanor. You need to go back to sleep. When you wake, you'll feel better."
Pain clouded her judgment, and she obeyed the stranger, closing her eyes. As she drifted off, she heard another unfamiliar voice, a female speaking. "I hope you know what you're doing, Alex."
"Let her rest." He commanded, his voice quiet but firm.
