Date: March 10, 2009
Title: Home All Bloody
Author: Soccer-Bitch
Chapter: 4 of?
Rating: M
Pairings: Dean Winchester/Kayden Scott
Warnings: Some Strong Language, Sexual Situations
Feedback: All opinions are welcome!
Spoilers: Season one. For this chapter, the episode Wendigo.
Disclaimer: I own Kayden Scott and any other characters that I make up as this story progresses. Everything else does not belong to me!
Summary: A past lover visits on her door step, asking her about her bloody past. Kayden Stone gets swept up in the spooky supernatural of her old family home as well as a past love in one of the Winchester Boys. What do the walls hide about her past? Dean/OC
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Slowly walking up the steps to the apartment that she had called home since leaving with a broken heart, but thinking back to what she had seen and what she had found out, Kayden wasn't sure if it was safe to tell her roommate anything. She just hoped that she wasn't home. "If you walk any slower you'll be walking backwards," Dean's voice said from behind her. She didn't acknowledge him what so ever. She kept to her pace and thought about what she would have to tell Carsyn if she was home. So many ideas came to mind, but she wouldn't believe them. Dean left Sam asleep in the back of the Impala and walked up with her. He complained about not taking the elevator and walking up the two flights of stairs. When they were done walking the stairs, Dean placed his hand on the small of her back as they approached the door to her apartment. Digging her key out of her pocket, she unlocked the door and walked in with Dean behind her.
When Diesel didn't come running out, she knew he was locked up in one of the rooms and Carsyn wasn't home. Letting out the breath she didn't realize she was holding, Kayden made her way to her room and grabbed the stuff that she would need. It didn't take long, but after she had everything she needed which included, clothes, make-up, jewelry, phone charger and laptop, she wrote a note to her roommate and left it on the counter. With one final look around, she let Dean take the bag of stuff and they left.
When they got to the car, Kayden took out a blanket and placed it on Sam who was lying in the back, asleep. Loosing Jessica the way he did, Kayden couldn't imagine what he was going through and she never wanted to. In truth, she kind of knew what he was going through. When she lost her family, it was the worst feeling in the world. She tried not thinking about it and it worked for a while, but then it came full force and she just had a melt down. Glad that only Carsyn was around when that happened so she only had to explain it to her and she didn't feel judged what so ever.
"Hey," Dean said looking at Kayden. "What's up?"
"Nothing." Kayden said as she moved to open the door, but Dean shut it when it was only opened slightly. "If you wanted me to ride in the back, you should have said so earlier,"
"I want to know what's going on with you. When we left the apartment, you started acting weird," Dean told her.
"It doesn't feel right," Kayden confessed.
"What are you talking about?"
"Leaving here, Jessica being dead, it's not fair Dean. Everyone that has surrounded themselves in my life are dropping like flies, and I can't deal with that anymore. I don't want that kind of life,"
"I'm not and neither is Sammy, look at us, you've known us longer than any of these people. Are you really afraid that we are gonna leave? After everything that we went through back in Jericho? Kay, come on think about it, you were the one that got hurt, well Sammy did too, but he's okay and so are you. And together we are going to rid this world of the evil that has come to reside in it." Dean told her grabbing her hand; he placed it on his heart. "You feel that?"
"Yeah," Kayden spoke softly.
"As long as it's beating, I swear to you that I will do what I can to protect you. I will bet one of my credit cards that Sammy feels the same way. You don't have to worry about us," Dean told her placing his other hand on the side of her face.
"How can you be so sure?" Kayden asked on the verge of tears. "I don't know if I can keep up being this person that is okay with innocent people dying around her. I can't lose you or Sam, you two are all I have left because if I get into the car then I am leaving this life behind me forever. I don't think I can return here."
"Trust me," Dean told her as he opened the passenger door and let her get in and settled before shutting it and briskly walking to the other side of the car and getting into the driver's seat and starting the engine.
"I think it would be best if we waited until Sam can properly say his good-byes to Jessica," Kayden said as Dean pulled out of the parking lot of the apartment building where her home used to be.
"How long will that take?"
"As long as it takes," Kayden told him. "As long as it takes for him to say what needs to be said. This way he has the chance to say good-bye. I wish I had been given the opportunity to have said something, anything to my parents, but I didn't. I was shipped off to my grandparents."
"I like the fact that you were there," Dean said.
"Why's that?"
"I met you, dated you, and had the hatred of your grandparents after only introducing myself to you."
"They were protective of me," Kayden said trying to think of a reason for it.
"No, they just didn't like me even though they didn't know me," Dean told her. "I wonder what your grandparents would say if they found out I was the one that deflowered you,"
Throbbing pain from his head where Kayden hit him. Looking at her confused, "What was that for?"
"Can you have a little bit of class please?"
"I'm sorry, should I have said sex or made love to? Or maybe even-"
"That hotel is fine," Kayden said pointing out a nice looking hotel just ahead.
"And it's out of the price range," Dean told her.
"How is the bed arrangements gonna work? Are you and Sam gonna share one bed while I get one to myself?"
"You've gotten funnier," Dean told her noticing that she has a smile on her face, but it didn't reach all the way to her eyes.
After two weeks, the three of them were on their way leaving Palo Alto, California behind them. Sam and Kayden switched from being in front to sleeping in the back. They both knew Dean wouldn't give up the keys to his car, so there was no point for either of them to ask if he wanted a break from driving cause the only thing he would do was pull into a dinner and they'd eat and walk a bit and then head back to the car where Dean would continue driving as if all he wanted to do was stretch his legs a bit. Sam was currently sleeping, somewhat in the front seat and Kayden was lying in the back, stretched out as comfortable as she could get. When Sam jerked awake, Kayden looked at him worriedly.
Wiping the sleep from his eyes, Sam tried to shake the dream from his thoughts.
"You okay?" Dean asked, glancing at his brother before looking back at the road.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Sam told him, sleep laced his voice.
"Another nightmare?" Dean questioned his little brother.
Sam cleared his throat and ignored Dean's question. He didn't want to think about it. All he wanted was for it to stop and to get it out of his mind. Thinking Dean would stop talking after he ignored him, he was surprised by what came out of his brother's mouth.
"Wanna drive for a while?"
Sam chuckled. "Dean, your whole life you never once asked me that,"
"Never asked me either!" Kayden said, letting her voice be heard.
"Just thought you might want to, never mind. And I've seen you drive Kayden, that's why you aren't driving it,"
"Look man, you're worried about me. The both of you are, I get it. Thank you both, but I am perfectly okay," Sam said trying to ease the minds of those he was traveling with.
"Mmhmm," Dean sad, his tone disbelieving.
Grabbing the map from the dashboard Sam looked at it. "Alright, where are we?"
"We are just outside of Grand Junction," Dean informed him.
"You know what," Sam said. "Maybe we shouldn't have left Stanford so soon,"
"Sam we dug around there for a week and came up with nothing," Dean replied, trying his best not to hurt his brother's feelings about the place. "If you wanna find the thing that killed Jessica,"
"Gotta find Dad first," Sam interrupted him, knowing exactly what Dean would say.
"Dad disappearing and this thing showing up after twenty years, it's no coincidence. Dad'll have answers, he'll know what to do," Dean told him as he looked into the mirror and saw the tears in Kayden's eyes. She wiped them away as fast as she could.
"Its weird man," Sam commented as he looked at the map. "These coordinates he left us. This Black Water Ridge,"
"What about it?" Dean asked
"There's nothing there. It's just woods," Sam said placing the map in his lap. "Why is he sending us to the middle of no where?"
"Maybe there is something there, but we won't know until we get there. Like how you can't see it from looking at a map, but when you look at when you are there, you can see it. Does that make any sense?" Kayden asked, speaking up.
"We'll find out soon enough," Dean told them as he sped pass a sign that read 'Lost Creek'. They were in Colorado. It was only a bit longer until they pulled into the Ranger Station. "Are you gonna stay in here or are you coming inside?"
"I'm coming," Kayden said as she sat up and ran a hand through her hair before deciding to put it up into a high ponytail. Pushing the door open, she slowly got out. Pulling her jean shorts down that had ridden up since the last stop Dean had made while Sam was asleep in the front seat. "You know your back seat is becoming a bed, but not a very comfortable one,"
"It won't be that way for long," Dean told her as he shut the door and walked beside her. "You aren't takin over the back seat of the Impala. She didn't do anything to you,"
"I wasn't changing her, but how do you expect me to sleep when it's so uncomfortable back there?" Kayden asked.
"You didn't complain before you went to college," Dean smirked.
"Is your head always in the gutter?" Kayden asked with a faint blush creeping upon her cheeks. "You don't need to be distracted while looking for your dad and if I am doing that, then I will go home and hope that my room mate will take me back,"
"Okay, okay," Dean said as they followed Sam into the Ranger's station.
Looking around Kayden couldn't help but notice the station looked just like her grandparents' neighbors house. It had heads on the wall and it was full of maps and too many people. She walked to where Sam was while Dean looked around for himself. She couldn't help but sneak a few glances at him while he was looking at the cabin.
"So Black Water Ridge is pretty remote. Its cut off by these canyons here; rough terrain, dense forest, abandoned silver and gold mines all over the place," Sam said looking down at the map in the center of the room while standing next to Kayden who was also looking at the map.
"Dude, check out the size of this bear," Dean said starring at a framed picture of a grizzly bear.
Sam looked at Kayden, who rolled her eyes and he walked over to where his brother was. "And a dozen or so grizzles in the area," he told Dean as he crossed his arms as he looked at the picture. "It's no nature hike, that's for sure,"
"You boys aren't planning on going out to Black Water Ridge, by any chance are you?" a voice, full of experience asked from behind Sam and Dean.
Sam and Dean turned and looked at the Park Ranger and instead of waiting for Dean to make up some kind of story, Sam took the initiative. "Oh, no sir. We are environmental study majors from UC Bolder. Just workin on a paper."
"Recycle, man," Dean said getting his voice in.
"Bull," the Park Ranger said holding his coffee and looking at the boys.
Kayden couldn't help the smile that spread upon her face at the look Dean had when the Park Ranger called them on their story as to why they were there. To her it was funny as hell.
"You're friends with that Haley girl right? Or your girlfriend over there is, am I right?" the Park Ranger questioned them moving closer to the boys.
"Yes," Dean said. "Yes, she is, Ranger Wilkinson,"
The boys moved closer and Kayden eyed them carefully, unsure what Dean was going to do.
"Well I will tell you exactly what I told her," the ranger said, his tone slightly annoyed. "Her brother filled out a back country permit saying he wouldn't be back from Black Water until the twenty-fourth. So it's not exactly a missing persons is it?"
Dean shook his head.
"Tell that girl to stop worrying. I'm sure her brother is just fine," Ranger Wilkinson told them, looking from Sam to Dean and then to Kayden.
"We will," Dean said as Kayden made her way over to the boys and Dean draped his arm over her shoulders. "That Haley girl is quite a pistol, huh?"
"That would be putting it mildly," Ranger Wilkinson stated as he started to head away from the boys and Kayden.
"Actually, you know what would help is if I could show her a copy of that back country permit so that she could see her brother's return date," Dean said.
"Yeah, sure," the ranger said heading to his office to get them a copy of the permit.
Once the ranger was out of sight, Kayden grabbed Dean's hand and took his arm off her shoulder. "Some things never do change, so they?" she asked, turning and leaving the cabin, just needing to get away from him.
After waiting around for a few minutes, the ranger came back out and looked surprised not to see the girl with the boys. "Here you go," he said handing the copy of the permit to Dean. "Where's your girlfriend?" he asked.
"She went to call Haley," Sam said, with quick thinking.
With a nod of his head the ranger went back to his office and Dean and Sam left the cabin to head to the Impala. "Yeah," Dean said with a smile looking at the permit in his hands as they left the walked down the steps and walked towards the car.
"What are you crusin for a hook up or something?" Sam asked, disgusted with his brother's behavior.
"What do you mean?" Dean asked, clueless
"Well for one, you didn't see Kayden's face when she left the cabin. She was hurt by you. And second the coordinates point to Black Water Ridge, why don't we just go find Dad? Why even talk to this girl?" Sam asked, fed up with Dean's attitude.
"I don't know, maybe we ought to know what we are walking into before we actually walk into it." Dean said, ignoring the comment about Kayden and just looked at Sam with a look of utter confusion on his face.
"What?" Sam asked, a defensive tone.
"Since when are you all shoot first ask questions later, anyways?"
"Since now," Sam told him as he opened the door and got in.
"Oh, really?" Dean asked, impressed by his little brother, as he got into the car as well.
"Took you long enough," Kayden said, glaring at the back of Dean's head.
"Well we got some more information. We are going to see this Haley Collins," Dean told her.
"So you can charm your way into her pants?" Kayden snidely asked.
Dean didn't even respond, he just backed out of the parking space and started the drive. It wasn't a short drive to the Collins household, but it wasn't that long either. Kayden didn't know why she got so mad at Dean for being who he always had been. It wasn't like he was going to change overnight or ever. It was just how Dean was. Once he parked the Impala, the three of them started walking to the front door. "Sammy, wait a sec," Dean told him as he pulled Kayden back to the sidewalk, but she refused to look at his face, she looked everywhere else.
"What's your problem?" Dean asked her
"I don't have one," Kayden said before moving around Dean to walk up to the house so that they could get a move on finding John. Dean wrapped an arm around her waist to stop her from walking away from him. "Just let me go. We have a job to do."
Sensing he wasn't going to get anything out of her, Dean let her go and they walked up to the door. Sam looked at the two of them and knocked on the door.
"You must be Haley Collins," Dean said as the door opened to show a young woman with dark hair that was slightly wavy. "I'm Dean, this is Sam and Kayden. We are Rangers with the Park service. Ranger Wilkinson sent us over. We have some questions we wanted to ask some questions about your brother Tommy,"
The girl seemed speechless at first, but then recovered. "Let me see some ID," she said her eyes never leaving Dean. Kayden resisted the urge to roll her eyes.
Pulling out his wallet, Dean fished through it to find the right fake ID that he was looking for. Once he found the park ranger ID he took it out and showed it to the girl. She eyed it warily before taking a deep breath. "Come on in," she said opening the screen door so the three park rangers could enter her home.
"Thanks," Kayden and Dean said at the same time as they walked into the house.
When she spotted Dean's Impala, she looked at him and asked, "That yours?"
"Yeah," Dean smiled.
"Nice car,"
Kayden saw what Dean mouthed to his brother and she honestly thought he didn't get it. Or ever would, but she wouldn't tell him how much it hurt her when he did things like that. She wouldn't tell him how at certain times, she wished she could go back in time and not break up with him before leaving. It was one thing that she regretted throughout her college years and to this day, but she couldn't do anything about that.
"So if Tommy's not due back for awhile how do you know that something's wrong?" Sam asked as Haley came back into the room with a bowl and set it on the table where her other brother was sitting.
"He checks in everyday by cell. He emails photos, little videos. But we haven't heard anything in over three days now."
"Well maybe he can't get cell reception," Sam suggested.
"He's got a satellite phone now too." Haley told them.
"Could it be he's just having fun and forgot to check in?" Dean asked.
The little brother put what he had in his hand and looked at Dean. "He wouldn't do that," he told him.
Dean looked at him in surprise.
"My parents are gone. It's just my two brothers and me. We all keep pretty close tabs on each other." Haley said.
Folding his hands together, Sam looked at Haley. "Can I see the pictures your brother sent you?"
"Yeah," Haley said before going over to her computer.
The three of them followed her. She pulled up a picture of a guy. "That's Tommy," she told them before going through another photo before playing the last video she got from him.
"Well, we'll find your brother. We are heading out to Black Water Ridge first thing." Dean said while Sam kept looking at the computer.
"Then maybe I'll see you there," Haley said before walking away to where her brother was still sitting. Dean looked to Sam and then to Kayden before looking back at Haley. "Look, I can't sit around here anymore. So I hired a guide. So I'm heading out in the morning and I'm gonna find Tommy myself."
"I think I know how you feel," Dean told her, honestly.
That was when it got kind of silent. Dean looking at Haley who wasn't backing down from what she believed. Kayden had to give the girl props for that. She knew that Dean could be intimidating to certain people, hell she felt that way a lot and she had dated the man.
"Hey do mind forwarding these to me?" Sam asked breaking the silence that had filled the room so quickly.
"Sure," Haley agreed.
Sam smiled at her, with sadness in his eyes.
"We probably should get going." Kayden said. "I hope that your brother is alright,"
"Thank you," Haley said with an appreciative smile on her face as she walked with Kayden, behind Sam and Dean towards the front door. "Have a good night."
"You, too," Kayden told her as she walked down to the Impala.
It was dark out by the time Dean pulled up into a bar. He went to open the back door for Kayden, but she moved to the opposite side of the car and got out on Sam's side. Dean shot her a confused look, but didn't say anything to her or Sam about what happened. Once they walked in, Dean glared at Sam when he put an arm around Kayden's shoulders when he saw someone who had one too many drinks, look at Kayden in a way that neither he nor Dean liked. Sam led her to a table that was free and Dean followed after them.
Once they sat down, Sam took out his notepad and started to talk to his brother and Kayden. "So, Black Water Ridge doesn't get a lot of traffic. Local campers mostly, but still this past April two hikers went missing out there and they were never found."
"Any before that?" Dean asked leaning back in his chair.
"In 1982, eight people vanished in the same year. Authorities said it was a grizzly attack. And again in 1959 and again before that in 1936," Sam said taking his laptop out and powering it on where it had the stuff Tommy had sent to his sister. "Ever 23 years, just like clockwork. Okay watch this,"
"I downloaded that guy Tommy's video to the laptop. Check this out." Sam said before playing the video.
The three of them watched it.
"Did something run by the tent?" Kayden asked.
"Play it again," Dean told him, ignoring Kayden's question entirely.
"That's three frames. That's a fraction of a second. Whatever that thing is, it can move." Sam said.
After a second, Dean hit Sam in the chest while still staring at the computer screen. "I told you something weird was going on."
Sam closed the laptop. "Yeah, I got one more thing. In '59 one camper survived the supposed grizzly attack. Just a kid. Barely crawled out of the woods alive."
"Is there a name?" Dean asked looking at the paper.
Sam just looked at his brother with a smile on his face. "I've got one better. An address."
"Don't you think it's a little late for Park Rangers to be making stops at people's houses?" Kayden asked when she saw the look in Dean's eye.
"Not when it means saving lives from certain things," Dean said standing up with Sam's notebook. "Let's go,"
With a sigh, Kayden followed Dean and she knew Sam was behind her. She didn't mind going to people's houses, but sometimes, when it was late, she felt bad about it. Some people might be asleep and she didn't want to wake them up. She knew when people did that to her when she was living with Carsyn that she hated it and she just shut her bedroom door and ignored them until they went away or until Carsyn answered the door. When Dean grabbed her arm after exiting the bar, he looked into her eyes. "Are you gonna tell me what's going on with you now?"
"Nothing is going on with me," Kayden sighed, breaking their stare and looked everywhere but at him.
"You're jealous," Dean said with a smirk.
"What?" Kayden asked appalled by the idea. "You are crazy. You know that?"
"I can't believe it, well I can," Dean said, a smile on his face.
"I'm not jealous, least of all towards you. And if I was, why would I be?" Kayden asked.
"Because it seems Haley was throwing me some looks that you don't approve of,"
"Get over yourself. You asked for my help in finding your dad, well that's why I am here, but if you don't knock it off, I am gone," Kayden told him, anger visible in her eyes.
"Alright, chill," Dean said as he released her and she walked over to the Impala.
"It's like you never learn," Sam said watching Kayden get into the passengers seat and slam the door shut as he stood next to Dean. "She doesn't know how she is feeling. All of this is still new to her. She might still have feelings for you, but if you keep pushing her buttons the way you do, she may leave and not look back,"
"She loves me," Dean said confidently, walking to the car.
"And you love her, you haven't stopped," Sam muttered under his breath before walking to the car and getting in behind where Kayden was sitting.
Lucky for them, the apartment where the survivor lived wasn't far from the bar. It took a total of ten minutes to reach the apartment complex. Taking the address from Sam, Kayden looked at it before walking towards the back of the apartments and to the staircase. The boys weren't far behind her. When they reached the top of the stairs, she turned and looked at Dean as if to say this was your idea, so you knock on the door.
Walking in front of her, Dean knocked on the door loudly, as if to make sure that it was heard. After a few seconds, no one answered; Kayden turned on her heel and went to walk down, but Sam grabbed her arm as the door opened, making her stay by his side when the door opened.
"Can I help you?" the man asked looking at Dean and to no one else.
"We are Park Rangers. We wanted to ask you a few questions," Dean said, the words flowing easily from his mouth, as if they were true.
Leaving the door open, he motioned for them to follow him into the apartment. Sam walked in first followed by Kayden and then Dean. "Look Ranger I don't know why you're asking me about this. It's public record. I was a kid. My parents got mauled by a-"
"Grizzly? That's what attacked them?" Sam asked interrupting the man who had a cigarette in his mouth. The man stilled his actions. Taking a long drag of the cigarette, he nodded his head in agreement.
"The other people that went missing that year, those bear attacks too?" Dean asked walking closer to the man. "And what about the people that went missing this year? Same thing?"
The man didn't meet Dean's gaze.
Dean looked back to Sam and Kayden before turning back to look at the man.
"If we knew what we were dealing with, we could stop it,"
The man took his cigarette out of his mouth before looking at the small group that he let into his apartment. "I seriously doubt that. Anyways, I don't see what difference it would make. You wouldn't believe me. Nobody ever did." The man's hoarse voice said as he made himself comfortable in a chair by the window.
Sam stepped forward. "Mr. Shaw," he said sitting across from the man. "What did you see?"
Looking at the youngsters, the man started talking. "Nothing. It moved too fast to see. It hid too well. I heard it though. A roar."
Sam looked surprised and glanced back to where Dean and Kayden stood and then back to the man.
"Like no man or animal I ever heard." He said.
"It came at night?" Sam asked. When the man nodded his head, he continued. "Got inside your tent?"
"It got inside our cabin." He told them. "I was sleeping in front of the fireplace when it came in. It didn't smash a window or break the door. It unlocked it."
Kayden's eyes went wide at the man's words. Both Sam and Kayden looked at Dean.
"Do you know of a bear that can do something like that?" the man asked, his voice curious. "I didn't even wake up until I heard my parents screaming."
"It killed them?" Kayden asked, her voice laced with sadness. Dean's hand came to rest upon her shoulder.
"Dragged them off into the night," he said. "Why it left me alive, I've been askin myself ever since."
Sam put his head down and Kayden dug her head into Dean's chest, when he pulled her in close. "It did leave me this though," the man said as he parted his shirt. The group looked at him and to the claw marks on his chest that the creature left as a reminder of that night. "There's something evil in those woods. It was some sort of demon." He warned them.
"Mr. Shaw, trust that we are going to find this creature, whatever it is and make sure it can't harm anyone again. And when we do, I'll send someone to let you know," Kayden told him before she started walking to the door. Sam and Dean were behind her.
"Spirits and demons don't have to unlock doors if they want inside." Dean said once they were in the hallway leaving Mr. Shaw's home. "They just go through the walls."
"So it's probably something else. Something corporeal." Sam said, thinking about the possibilities of what it could be.
"Corporeal?" Dean asked looking at Sam. "Excuse me professor."
"Shut up," Sam told him. "So what do you think?"
"Claws, the speed that it moves, it could be a skin walker maybe a black dog." Dean said. "Whatever we are talking about we are talking about a creature and it's corporeal."
"Which means?" Kayden asked
"Which means we can kill it." Dean said as he continued walking out of the complex and to his car.
Once he reached his car, he opened the trunk and opened the weapon cache and propped it open with a shot gun. Grabbing a duffle bag he opened it as he leaned into the back and started grabbing weapons and putting them into the bag. "We cannot let that Haley girl go out there," Sam said as he came up to Dean and started filling the bag as well.
"Yeah? And what are we going to tell her?" Dean asked, sparing a look to his brother before going back to filling the bag again. "That she can't go into the woods because of a big scary monster?"
"Yeah," Sam said looking at Dean.
Dean turned his head and looked at him. "Her brother is missing Sam. She isn't just gonna sit this out. No, we go with her, we protect her and we keep our eyes peeled for our fuzz predator friend."
Dean grabbed the bag out of the trunk, when he had all the weapons that he believed that they needed to find and kill the creature.
"So finding Dad isn't enough?" Sam questioned him before closing the weapon cache and slamming the trunk down. "Now we got to babysit, too?"
After a long silence and staring at one another without blinking, Kayden was going to say something, but Sam beat her to the punch. "What?"
Dean shrugged his shoulders. "Nothin." he said before throwing the bag into Sam's arms and walking to the driver's side of the car. "Get in the front Kayden."
Looking at Sam with a worried look, he just nodded his head. She walked over to the passenger's side and opened the door and got in. Sam soon followed and placed the bag on the seat behind Dean and sat behind Kayden. "We going to find a hotel now?" Sam asked out loud.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Kayden looked down at her outfit from the passengers side of Dean's Impala and then over to Dean. She was wearing jean shorts, a black tank top and a jacket. But Dean was only wearing his normal outfit. Shirt, jeans and biker boots. Kayden was happy that she had packed her hiking boots. It meant that she wouldn't slip out there, and hopefully nothing bad would happen while they were looking for Tommy. She understood why Haley wanted to go and look for her brother, if she had any family left and they were missing, she would be doing everything in her ability to get them back home.
Pulling up behind where Haley stood, Dean and Sam got out of the car fist. "You got room for three more?"
Shock was etched upon Haley's face at Dean's question. "Wait, you wanna come with us?"
"Who are these guys?" Roy, the guide Haley had hired to find her brother asked looking at Sam and Dean as Kayden got out of the car and walked up to the group.
"Apparently this is all the Park Ranger service could muster up for search and rescue." Haley said.
"Your rangers?" Roy asked disbelieving.
"That's right," Dean said.
"And you're hiking out in biker boots and jeans?" Haley questioned him.
Looking down to his boots, Dean looked back at Haley. "Oh sweetheart, I don't do shorts." He told her before walking past her and towards Sam.
"What, you think this is funny?" Roy asked as Kayden walked up and stood next to Haley. "There's dangerous back country out there, her brother might be hurt."
Looking to his brother and then to Kayden and then to Roy. "Believe me; I know how dangerous it could be. We just want to help them find their brother is all,"
"You might not like it, but we actually have an idea of what we are up against," Kayden said before walking up Dean and Sam so that they could start the trail.
After a while, no one was talking. Kayden was standing by Sam, but Dean had to be up front and so was Roy, since he was the guide that Haley hired. Haley and her younger brother Ben. Kayden was surprised that no one was going at a slow pace, not even Dean. He wasn't even wearing any kind of hiking gear, but she and Sam had boots on. "So, Roy, you said you've done a little hunting?" Dean's voice broke the silence from up front.
"Yeah, more than a little," Roy confirmed as he continued up the path.
"Uh huh. What kind of furry critters do you hunt?" Dean asked.
"Mostly buck, sometimes bear." Roy informed him.
"Tell me, Bambi or Yogi ever hunt you back?" Dean asked right before Roy grabbed him from behind and stopped him from making another step forward. "Whatcha doin Roy?"
Kayden made a move to go up to the two men, but Sam grabbed her arm stopping her. She didn't understand why. She just wanted to stop a potential fight that she had a feeling Dean would start given the right opportunity. Watching the two from behind with the others, she saw Roy pick up a long stick and drive it into the ground, where a large bear trap, snapped the stick into half with no trouble. "You should watch where you're steppin ranger," Roy informed Dean with a smirk upon his face.
Roy started walking again, and Dean didn't look happy, but Sam let Kayden go so that they could continue up the path. Without looking at them, Kayden passed Dean. "It's a bear trap," he told the other three as they passed him as well.
Haley caught up to Dean. "You didn't bring any provisions. You guys are carrying a duffle bag. You're not rangers. Who the hell are you?" Haley demanded from Dean as she grabbed his back and made him turn to face her. Ben passed by and Dean nodded his head to Sam to let him know it was okay for him to pass and catch up with Kayden and the guide, but to keep an eye on the little brother.
"Sam and I are brothers. Kayden is my ex-girlfriend." Dean said. "We are looking for our father and she's helping us. He might be here, we don't know. I figured you and me we are in the same boat."
"Why didn't you just tell me that from the start?" Haley asked.
"I'm telling you now," Dean said. "Besides its probably the most honest I've been with a woman. Ever. Are we okay?"
"Yeah," Haley agreed, a bit surprised.
"And what do you mean I didn't pack provisions?" Dean asked taking out a bag of peanut M&M's from his jacket pocket. He smiled at her before pulling some out and eating them.
"Hey wait!" Haley called to him. "What about Kayden? Were you not honest with her when you were together?"
"Kayden and I were young, we did stupid things. We hadn't seen each other in a long time. We just recently met up and I asked her for her help and for some crazy reason, she agreed. It might be because she thinks she has to referee me and Sam, but who knows." Dean told her as he continued walking to catch up with the group. With a long look after him, Haley started walking towards the group as well.
Walking through bushes and seeing the scenery wasn't as bad as Kayden had thought it would have been. There was something beautiful about it. The first time she went camping she hated it, but it did give her the opportunity to appreciate nature and the natural beauty of the earth. Walking beside Sam, she watched as Roy stopped. "Well this is it," he told everyone. "Black Water Ridge."
"What coordinates are we at?" Sam asked walking a bit further ahead of the guide.
Roy took out his GPS and looked it up. "Thirty-five minus eleven." He said before putting it away.
Dean and Kayden walked up to Sam who was just looking about at the green wilderness. "You hear that?" Dean asked him.
"Yeah," Sam told him, disappointment clear as day in his voice. "Not even crickets."
"I think I'm gonna go take a look around," Roy said.
"You shouldn't go off by yourself," Sam said.
"That's sweet," Roy said with a fake smile plastered upon his face as he walked in-between the brothers. "Don't worry about me."
He didn't wait for a response from either Haley or Ben. He just walked off. Both Dean and Sam didn't look happy about that, and Kayden wasn't sure what to think about it. Ben walked up to the two brothers. "Alright, everyone stays together." Dean said before they started moving more so into the forested area.
After a short distance, everyone had their eyes peeled for anything. "Haley, over here!" Roy called from ahead and to her left. She took off as fast as she could. Panic running through her. Everyone followed after her. When they reached it, they found where Haley's brother had been camping. The camp was torn to shreds. There was blood on a tent. It didn't look very good from any point of view.
"Oh my god," Haley said as she took it all in.
"Looks like a grizzly," Roy told her as everyone started looking at everything.
There were things spilled out, slashed and broken. In her opinion, Kayden didn't think that it was a bear that maybe it really was something out there. "Tommy? Tommy!" Haley called out as she took off her pack before running to some kind of trail. "Tommy!" Sam followed up to her, ssshing, her. She looked positively puzzled as to why he was telling her to be quiet. "Why?"
"Something might still be out there," Sam told her looking out into the wooded area.
"Sam!" Dean called out from somewhere.
Sam locked eyes with Kayden and she nodded her head in understanding. He wanted her to watch over the bag of weapons and call if anything happened while he and Dean were talking. In her opinion, Sam was easy to read. His emotions were so visible in his eyes.
Kayden watched over the camp, when she was walking she saw something that caught her eye. A cell phone. "Haley? Come here for a sec," she called to the other woman. When Haley approached her, she lowered herself so she was kneeling on the tips of her feet just like Kayden was. "Is this his?"
Picking up the broken phone, Haley felt her stomach drop. She gasped for breath. She felt tears stinging her eyes. He couldn't be gone. She needed her brother back. Kayden put a comforting hand on Haley's knee, as Dean slowly walked up to the two girls. He crouched down to their level. "Hey, he could still be alive."
Haley turned her face to look at him, hope clearly shown in her eyes. She wanted to badly to believe what he said, but how could she.
Kayden stood up as she heard a scream. Everyone was on alert, before rushing to see what it was and if they needed help from something. By the time they got to a new clearing, everyone was spread apart pretty well. Kayden stood in front of Sam, unsure of where the scream had come from. She couldn't see why anyone would be up here.
"It seemed like t was coming from around here didn't it?" Haley asked, her eyes searching for something, anything.
Looking into the forest, Kayden could see anything, as she made to move forward, Sam grabbed her arm to stop her. "Everyone back to camp." He said, his voice full of authority.
Once they reached the camp area, they noticed the missing items right away.
"Our packs!" Haley said.
"So much for my GPS and satellite phone." Roy said bending down to look at the disturbed ground.
"What the hell is going on?" Haley asked looking around the camp.
"It's smart. It wants to cut us off so we can't call for help." Sam told her.
"You mean someone some nut job out there stole all our gear," Roy said stating the obvious as Sam made his way over to his brother.
"I need to speak to you and Kayden in private." Sam said looking at him before walking off. Dean signaled to Kayden to follow after them.
Sam made his way into the denseness of the forest, but not too far away from camp. It was far enough away where they could hear if the others were in trouble, but not far enough where the others could hear what they were talking about.
"Okay, let me see Dad's journal," Sam said.
Dean pulled it out from one of the larger pockets from his jacket and handed it to Sam as Kayden caught up to the two boys. "What's going on?" she asked as she came up to them as Sam was flipping the pages fn the journal.
"Alright, check that out." He said handing the book to Dean so he and Kayden could both see what it was that he was thinking.
"Oh, come on," Dean said after looking at it. He looked at Sam before continuing. "Wendigo's are in the Minnesota woods or northern Michigan. I've never even heard of one this far west."
"Think about it, Dean." Sam told him. "The claws, the way it can mimic a human voice,"
"Great," Dean said looking at his brother.
"What's that mean?" Kayden asked, confused.
"Well this is useless," Dean said holding up his gun.
Sam pushed the journal into Dean's chest as he walked back towards to camp. He turned and looked at Dean and Kayden. "We need to get these people to safety."
Kayden looked at Dean. "You know Haley and her brother aren't going to go until they find Tommy. So I hope that you come up with a new plan of action."
"I'm thinking as hard as I can," Dean told her as he put the journal back in its resting place.
"Don't strain yourself too hard," Kayden told him as she made her way back towards the camp area.
By the time they got back to camp, Roy was yelling at Sam for giving out an order.
"Relax." Dean said looking at the older man.
"We shouldn't have let you come out here in the first place, alright? We are just trying to protect you,"
Roy looked at Sam with disbelief written across his face as he moved to get into Sam's face. "You protect me? I was hunting these woods when your mommy was still kissing you good-night."
"Yeah? It's a damn near perfect hunter. It's smarter than you." Sam told him. "And its gonna hunt you down and eat you alive unless we get your stupid sorry ass out of here."
Roy just laughed in Sam's face.
"You know you're crazy, right?"
"You ever hunt a Wen-" Sam started but stopped when Dean pushed him back.
"Roy!" Haley yelled at the man.
"Chill out," Dean said looking pissed at his brother.
"Stop it." Haley said looking at Roy and then to the two brothers. "Everybody, just stop it."
A few seconds passed before she spoke again.
"Tommy might still be alive. And I'm not leaving here without him." She said looking at Sam.
"It's getting late. This thing is a good hunter during the day, but an unbelievable hunter at night," Dean said. "We'll never beat it, not in the dark. We need to settle in and protect ourselves."
Dean moved past Haley and toward the camp.
"How?" Haley questioned him.
Dean went t work on making the camp safe for everyone. Kayden sat off to the side of everyone until Sam joined her. She listened to the conversation over where the fire was burning, but didn't want to move. Hearing Haley ask yet again what the symbols Dean was drawing meant made her want to throw a rock at her. If she paid attention the first time then she wouldn't have to keep asking what it meant and what it did. When Kayden looked at Sam, he looked as if he wasn't in the mood to make conversation either. She place her hand on his thigh and gently squeezed his hand came on top of hers.
"If you ever want to talk or anything, I'm always here for you Sam," Kayden said softly, but it was enough for Sam to hear her.
He gave her a smile as he looked at her. "Thanks. I might take you up on that after we get out of here,"
After that, they lapsed back into silence. They heard Haley ask again what the symbols meant and it seemed as if Dean was finally getting fed up with Roy's attitude. After another symbol, Dean walked towards them and sat on the other side of her, making her sit in-between the brothers.
"Wanna tell me what's going on in that freaky head of yours?" Dean asked looking towards Sam.
"Dean…" Sam started softly.
"No you're not fine." Dean interrupted him. "You're like a powder keg man it's not like you. I'm supposed to be the belligerent one, remember?"
"Dad's not here," Sam told him. "That much we know for sure. He would have left us a message, a sign, right?"
"Yeah, you're probably right." Dean said, looking towards his brother. "To tell you the truth I don't think Dad has ever been to Lost Creek,"
"Let's get these people back to town and let's hit the road," Sam suggested, wanting to get out of there as soon as possible. "Go find Dad. I mean why are we still even here?"
Kayden was about to speak up, but Dean got off the log they were sitting on and crouched down in front of Sam as he showed them the journal. "This is why. This book." He said poking it with his finger. "This is Dad's most single most valuable possession. Everything he knows about every evil thing is in here. And he's passed it on to us."
"He wants you to continue his work," Kayden said looking from one brother to the other.
"You know, saving people, hunting things. The family business," Dean said.
Sam didn't like it. "It makes no sense." He said before putting his hands over his face and taking them off again. "Why? Why doesn't he just call us and tell us what he wants? Tell us where he is?"
"I don't know." Dean admitted. "But the way I see it, Dad's given us a job to do and I intend to do it,"
"Dean…" Sam said shaking his head. "No. I gotta find Dad. I gotta find Jessica's killer. It's the only thing I can think about."
"Alright." Dean said, his tone understanding. "Sam we'll find him, I promise. Listen to me. You've got to prepare yourself. I mean this search could take awhile. And all that anger you can't keep it burnin' over the long hall. It's gonna kill you. You gotta have patience man."
Sam looked at his brother. "How do you do it? How does Dad do it?"
Kayden took Sam's hand in her own; to let him know she was still there for him, not matter what. Dean looked at her with a small smile. "Well for one, them," he said looking over at the campsite. "I mean, our family's so screwed to hell, maybe we can help some others. Makes things a little bit more bearable. And I tell you what else helps. Killing as many evil sons-of-bitches as I possibly can."
Sam smiled at his brother and Kayden.
"Help Me!" a voice called.
The three of them stood up as fast as they could and made their way towards the others.
"Please!"
"It's trying to draw us out."
"Stay put," Dean said.
"Inside the magic circle?" Roy asked.
Haley and her brother sat down on a log. "You'll be alright. I promise." She told him.
After it moved around them, Roy started firing his gun. After the second or third shot, he smiled. "I hit it."
Then he ran after him.
"Don't move!" Dean yelled at Haley and her brother before looking at Kayden. "Stay with them!"
With Sam right behind him, Dean took off after Roy.
It was awhile before the two brothers came back, alone. Roy wasn't behind them at all. Sam just shook his head and sat by Kayden who had her back against a log. She didn't know Roy all that well and he had been a big pain in everyone's ass, but he didn't deserve to die that way, it just wasn't right. No one said anything as they took turns watching the campsite in case the Wendigo decided to come back for another person.
The next morning when everyone was awake, Haley started off with talking.
"I don't…I mean these types of things aren't supposed to be real." She said confused.
"Wish I could tell you different." Dean told her honestly.
"How do we know its not out there watching us?" she asked.
"We don't." Dean informed her. "We're safe for now."
"How do you know about this stuff?"
"It kinda runs in the family."
Sam and Kayden finally got up from their respected spots and made their way towards the others. When Haley saw them coming, she got off her knees.
"Hey. So we've got half a chance in the daylight." Sam said speaking up. "And I for one want to kill this evil son of a bitch."
"Oh, hell, you know I'm in," Dean said looking at his brother.
That's when the lesson about the Wendigo began. Kayden sat off to the side while the boys were telling the other two about them. She had gotten the lesson from Sam last night when she asked. He showed her the journal his Dad had always kept with him while hunting and told her how he was always adding to it with every evil thing that he encountered. Kayden had her head down, looking at her feet, when she saw a pair of biker boots come into her sight. She didn't move her head when they stayed there for a minute.
"Are you ready to go torch something?" Dean asked offering his hand to help her stand up.
Kayden looked at his hand; her bracelet was still on his wrist. That brought a small smile to her face. "Do you really think he's alive?" she asked bringing her eyes to meet his.
"Yeah, I do, but we should get going. The faster we find him, the better it will be for us all," Dean told her.
"So that we can go and keep looking for your dad?" she asked.
"Yeah, you heard, Sammy, he's determined." Dean told her.
Grabbing Dean's hand, he helped her to her feet. The group was on their way to find the Wendigo and kill it and get Tommy back if he was still alive.
Dean took point with Haley not far behind him. Ben was in the middle as Kayden and Sam were in the back. That was how it was for some time. Once in a while, Dean would check back to make sure everything was going okay. After an hour of walking without any breaks or anything, Dean fell back with Kayden and Sam took the lead. They walked in the forest and it seemed as if it was getting dark, really fast.
"Dean!" Sam called.
As his brother walked up to him, Dean asked, "What is it?"
Sam didn't answer right away. He was staring at the trees that had what looked to be blood and claw marks on the trunks of the trees. It wasn't just one tree either there were many of them. "You know I was thinking those claw prints, so clear and distinct. Almost too easy to follow."
"You mean that it's luring us in?" Kayden asked, surprised by its intelligence.
That was when the bushes started moving and the roar was heard. It was so sharp and distinctive. Not even close to what a bear would sound like, and it was circling them. Like it had them cornered.
Haley screamed seconds before a body fell from the tree. It was Roy.
"His neck is broken," Dean said. "Okay, dude, run, run, run! Go!"
Everyone started running as fast as they could. Somehow Sam, Ben and Kayden got separated from Haley and Dean. The last thing they heard was her scream. When Sam stopped he picked up what Dean had been carrying to torch the Wendigo with. "DEAN!"
"It has them," Kayden said. "Sam, we've got to be closer to where its at. That's the only reason why it would do this,"
"So we keep going," Ben said. "We have to get Haley and Tommy and your brother back,"
"Yeah, we are getting them all back," Sam reassured the boy.
"So let's go," Kayden said taking the lead.
"So if it keeps it victims alive why would it kill Roy?" Ben asked
"Honestly?" Sam asked looking at Ben as they walked side by side. "I think 'cause Roy shot at it. It pissed it off."
"Sam! Ben!" Kayden called from where she was crouched down looking at some M&M's on the ground.
Sam looked impressed. "It's better than bread crumbs." He said tossing the M&M that Ben had showed to him.
"Let's go," Kayden said with a hint of a smile on her face.
Ben went first and Kayden followed after him and Sam was right behind her. Kayden couldn't help but laugh at the fact that Dean was using his M&M's as a trail to find them. She wasn't sure how condition they would find them in, but as long as they were able to use their legs, then they were good enough to get out of the Wendigo's home.
As they were coming down a hillside, Sam noticed the entrance and walked towards it. Kayden looked unsure about it, but when she saw Ben follow Sam in, she followed after.
Making her way to Sam's side, Kayden looked around the dark and damp place. It wasn't the kind of place that she wanted to be in. But this is where Dean's trail had led, them so this is where they had to go. As they were walking, Sam pushed Ben into a little hideout and grabbed Kayden and followed after him. That was when she really heard it. It was the roar of a Wendigo. She bit her lip to try and keep her heart from racing in fear. When she saw the thing walking towards the light, Sam covered her mouth with one of his hands, his other covering Ben's mouth. Kayden latched her hand onto Sam's arm, squeezing it to let out her some of the fear that was overcoming her.
As soon as it was gone and out of sight, Sam dropped his hand from Ben's mouth and grabbed Kayden's hand and squeezed it, letting her know that he wasn't going to let anything happen to her. Then they started down the path again. Looking at where the light was hitting, none of them heard the squeaking of old wood boards. But by the time one of them did, it was too late and they fell. Ben first and then Sam, who was followed by Kayden. Her hand still clutched in Sam's.
"Ouch," Kayden muttered as she got her breath back.
Sam got up quickly when he saw Ben scrambling away from the skulls. "Hey. It's okay. It's okay," Sam told him as they got up slowly. When they looked around it was dark, but there were two figures hanging by their hands. Kayden rushed over to Dean as did Sam and Ben went to where Haley was.
"Dean?" Kayden asked, putting her fingers on his neck to check for a pulse. She sighed in relief. It was there and it was strong.
"Dean, are you okay?" Sam asked, trying to wake his brother. Dean groaned groggily. "Hey. Are you okay?"
"Yeah," he said.
Kayden grabbed the knife from Sam and stepped on a rock and when Sam nodded that he had Dean, she cut the rope and Sam helped him walk over and sat down. Kayden went over and helped to cut Haley down.
"You sure you're alright?" Sam asked as Dean groaned in pain.
"Yep. Where is it?" Dean asked looking around.
"It's gone for now." Sam told him, glancing at where Haley had gotten up and walked to with her brother.
It was Tommy.
He didn't make it.
Haley reached up and touched his face and his head shot up. He was alive.
"Tommy." Haley said, relief coming through loud and clear. "Get him down."
Everyone besides Dean and Kayden surrounded Tommy. Dean got up with the help of Kayden and held something in his hand. "Hey! Look at this," Dean called over to Sam.
When he looked he smile. "Flare guns. Those will work."
Dean smirked and tossed one to Kayden and gave one to Sam and kept the last one for himself. When they were ready to go, Haley and Ben supported Tommy in the back as the other three walked ahead to make sure that the path was clear.
They hadn't gotten very far when they heard the growling.
"Looks like someone is home for supper." Dean commented.
"We'll never outrun it," Haley said holding her brother's arm around her shoulder.
Dean looked back at Haley and then to Kayden and then to his brother. "You thinkin' what I'm thinkin'?"
"Yeah, I think so," Sam said looking forward.
"Dean?" Kayden asked, not sure what was going through the man's mind.
"Alright, listen to me," Dean said moving forward so everyone could see him. "Stay with Sam and Kayden, they'll get you out of here."
"What are you gonna do?" Haley asked.
Dean turned back to look at them all. He just winked at Haley and left.
"Show time you freaky bastard!" he yelled walking towards the light. "Yeah, that's right! Bring it on baby! I taste good!"
Making her way over to Sam, Kayden's eyes told him all he needed to know. Sam walked to the right of them and made sure the way was cleared. "Alright, come on. Hurry!" Sam said forcefully.
Sam walked in front of the siblings and Kayden took the rear as Sam led them out of the old mine.
After walking along the trail, they came across the roaring again. Sam locked eyes with Kayden and hers went wide with shock. "Kay, get them out of here, you know how to do this,"
"Sam, no!" Haley argued.
"Go!" Sam urged them on.
And so they went. Kayden and Haley each had one of Tommy's arms and Ben to the side of Haley. They hadn't gotten that far when Kayden heard the shot go off. "Sam?" Haley called out.
Then they saw a figure running at them. Kayden sighed in relief when she saw who it was.
"Go!" Sam yelled. "Kayden, where's your gun?"
"Back of my shorts," she told him and he lifted her jacket a bit and took if. When he looked at it he realized there was nothing in it and so he tossed it. But they didn't know the way they chose went right to a dead end.
"Get behind me," Sam said trying to protect everyone.
Kayden stood with Tommy leaning more on her, but she didn't mind. Unfortunately, she could see the Wendigo. She wanted to scream at the top of her lungs, but the fear took over and she was still.
"HEY!" Dean yelled at it.
When it turned to look at Dean, he took his shot. Perfect shot.
Everyone watched as the Wendigo burst into flames and went down for the count.
"Not bad, huh?" Dean smirked.
Kayden rolled her eyes. "We should get out of here. I think Tommy needs to get checked out,"
"Yeah, let's go," Sam agreed, offering to take her place from helping Tommy, but she decided against it. She was fine with helping him.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
When they all made it to the ranger station, it was dark out. An ambulance had been called so that Tommy could get the proper treatment for his ordeal. Ben was talking to the police and Kayden was with Tommy. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Dean smirking at Haley.
"Why do you do it?" a voice broke the silence inside the ambulance.
"Do what?" Kayden asked looking at the speaker.
"Traveling to do what you did out there. Not many people would take you seriously." Tommy said.
"True. I guess, I just think I want Sam and Dean to find their Dad. It's hard to do it."
"You don't mean the traveling do you?"
"No," Kayden said brushing a stray tear from her eye. "My parents were killed in the house I grew up in. I don't remember much about them. Then I grew up with my grandparents. Then they went to visit my uncle and the three of them lied about where they were going. They went back to the house my parents died in and they themselves died. The hard part for me is knowing that something killed my family and I don't know what. Sam and Dean are looking for their Dad and I know they are gonna find him, but I won't be able to find mine."
"Have you ever told them about it?"
"Once, but things got messed up real fast that it was put on the back burner. I don't think this is the life for me though. I need answers for what I was robbed of."
"You'll get them," Tommy told her, with confidence in his voice as he placed his hand on top of hers.
"You think so?"
"Yeah, I do," Tommy said as he sat up.
'I hope that you are right," Kayden said right before she felt his lips on hers.
He was kissing her. It took her a bit, but she placed her hand behind his head and kissed him back with just as much as he was putting out.
