The Road So Far...

"SSA Holly Kasakabe."

"Serenity Kasakabe."

"I'm Dean Winchester, this is my brother Sam."

"Our dad's gone out on a hunting trip and he hasn't called in a few days."

"This one girl? She got murdered out on Centennial Highway, like, decades ago. Well, supposedly she's still out there. She hitchhikes, and whoever picks her up? Well… they disappear forever."

"Is your dad in an occult or something? Salt and cats-eye shells."

"Constance Welch. She's a woman in white."

"Constance Welch is dead and there is no such thing as the supernatural."

"She's a spirit."

"I know it seems hard to believe. I really understand that. But you've seen the proof that the supernatural exists now. I'm sorry you've been shoved into it. But yes, that was the murderous ghost of a woman long dead."

"Something's wrong, someone else is in the house, they were waiting for Sam to get home."

"We've got work to do."

Now...

"Well I'm hot blooded, check it and see! I've got a fever of a hundred and three!" I sang loudly in the passenger's seat of the Impala, grinning like an idiot with the radio up loud. Dean was singing with me, nodding to the music and smiling. Sam wasn't too bothered by the noise, seeing a he was unconscious, but Serenity was sulking in the back with Sam, not really liking the song.

"I will seriously never understand your obsession with this song," Serenity grumbled, crossing her arms and staring out the window as the sun rose. I had tried to sleep; for a couple of hours, I drove while Dean slept and then we reversed, and Serenity and I had woken up about an hour ago when the sun became too bright.

"Come on baby, do you do more than dance!" Dean belted out, smirking over at me in reply to Serenity's complaint.

"I'm hot blooded, hot blooded!" I grinned back at him. I could already tell that, now that I know for sure that no, the boys aren't crazy, Serenity and I are going to get along great with the Winchester siblings. "You don't have to read my mind to know what I have in mind!"

Serenity groaned loudly, despite that Sam was still sleeping. He'd probably wake up from the sunlight sooner, anyway, so I wasn't too inclined to lower my voice. "Dean, Holly, get a room."

"Bitch," I retorted, crossing my arms.

"Slut." She was quick to reply. We throw insults around a lot but we don't mean to offend each other. That's why, while she sometimes calls me a slut or whore (not often to begin with), I never reply in kind. That insult bothers her a lot more than it does me.

"Now you move so fine, let me lay it on the line!"

Sam groaned softly from the backseat as he woke up. "Ugh… where are we?"

Dean looked up at his younger brother in the rearview mirror. "We are just outside of Grand Junction," he announced, before joining in with Foreigner again. "We can make a secret rendezvous," he sang, winking at me.

Serenity groaned and threw her head back against the backseat. She lifted her hands to cover her face. "My God, this car is stifling. If the radio plays any more Foreigner today I think I'll be sick," she threatened.

Sam didn't seem to react to the innuendo and flirting going on up front and I heard some rustling as paper unfolded - probably the travel map he'd grabbed at the last rest stop when we'd stopped for gas. We just so happened to 'suggest' that Dean stop at a gas station with a Dairy Queen. "You know what? Maybe we shouldn't have left Stanford so soon…"

"Sam," I started, but paused. I need to understand that his girlfriend died, was murdered by some supernatural force that was much more malevolent than the one that had nearly killed me. And judging on both his and Dean's reactions, they recognize the M.O., which means there's probably a backstory that I'm not aware of. "Look," I started again, changing tactics. "Whatever happened is serious. Even I can tell that. Your behavior suggests it's happened before, so if you couldn't exorcise it or whatever the first time, you'll probably need all the help you can get. Serenity and I are great friends, but we don't know how to exorcise a ghost or kill a demon or whatever else there is that I'm missing. Finding your father should take precedence, and then you can hunt around for Jessica's killer and take it down.

"In the meantime," I said, speaking faster and choosing my words less deliberately. I feel like I've gotten the main point across. "I've sent out a BOLO for John Winchester's automobile and any registered under his name. I don't know if it'll come to anything, but it should help, and I have the police in Palo Alto conducting a full investigation working under the assumption of murder rather than house fire."

"I sent a memo," Serenity added helpfully. "I have some people who will keep watch around your house in Stanford. There's always a chance that whatever that was will come back, so… might as well be prepared, just in case, right?" And by that, she means that she has people watching, ready to kill if need be. Of course, she can't very well say that. We all have secrets. The Winchesters and the Kasakabes are allied; but they'll keep their family secrets until they trust us enough, and likewise, we're not about to tell them about Serenity's career of choice among other sensitive information. For now we'll work with the necessities.

Dean nodded in the front seat. "Dad disappearing and this thing showing up again after twenty years, it's no coincidence." So there is a backstory. I looked back to Serenity and she met my eyes for a minute, telling me that she noticed the same thing. "Dad will have answers," Dean added with a note of certainty. "He'll know what to do."

I looked over at him sympathetically but didn't say anything. His unwavering faith in his father was off-putting, to say the least. Having been unable to trust many people, having that note of complete assurance that someone else will have answers is foreign. Part of me wondered if Dean truly believed that or if he was trying to force himself into it so that he would feel some semblance of security.

Sam sighed from behind me and I paused, looking up to the rearview mirror curiously. "It's weird, man," Sam told Dean with a puff of frustration. "These coordinates he left us - this Blackwater Ridge, Colorado."

"What about it?" Serenity asked, leaning over in the back seat. Her hair brushed over the shoulder of his oversized jacket while she tried to look at the map.

"There's nothing there!" I looked to Dean sidelong, eyebrows pulling together in confusion. "It's just woods." Sam was perplexed. "Why is he sending us to the middle of nowhere?"

"Maybe there's something in the woods," Serenity suggested with a shrug of her shoulders, though her tone belied the uncertainty despite the seeming carelessness. "I mean, people go camping and never come back. Sure, accidents happen, but there is the whole "no-coincidence" thing that the supernatural world seems to have going."

"Yeah," I agreed, nodding although Sam probably couldn't see. "I mean, maybe there's the spirit of a vengeful camper-" I paused and did a double-take as that escaped my lips. What the hell am I doing with my life? "Or maybe there's some other type of monster."

If I didn't have the injuries to prove it, I'd say I'd gone off the deep end.

I walked in front of the other three, allowing them unquestioned entry into the ranger station by the forest line. "This place is pretty remote, but hey, it's got a good tourist industry because of all the people buying camping supplies. It makes the economy big enough to support itself."

I turned around to see the guys and walk backwards only to find that only Sam was still behind me. I blinked and looked over to a three-dimensional map lying out on a table for show. It was of the forest and mapped the terrain fairly accurately, getting the waterfalls, streams, coves, cliffs, and whatnot, as well as the few ranger stations scattered around through the forested area. Serenity and Dean were both standing over it on opposite sides, looking around at the forest, while Dean mostly paid attention to the immediate area around the cliff of Blackwater Ridge - the town's namesake.

"It's good to see that you all respect my authority," I commented sarcastically, a bit offended that this seems to keep happening whenever I look away. Even in Jericho, I'd closed my eyes for a minute and been talking and then when I'd opened them, they'd been across the street and paying no mind to me. "Thanks for at least listening, Sam."

"I'd respect your authority a lot more if your authority wasn't so boring," Serenity retorted, looking away from the table.

Dean roamed away from the table and looked to a glass display holding a taxidermy brown bear nearly his own height propped up on its hind legs. I moved over to the table and glanced at the front desk, still unoccupied by anyone who might question the boys' right to be here. Only Sam seemed to actually pay attention to my explanations and he peered over the grid curiously. Sam reminds me a lot of a dog - loyal to Dean despite the arguments, friendly and kind to Serenity despite the degree of uncertainty, and attentive to me when no one else is.

"See, that specific point your dad led you to is particularly isolated." I motioned over the ridge. "These canyons here make coming from or to that direction near impossible. The forest is especially dense and rough and it's a lot easier to get lost. It was a hotspot back during the gold rush, so now there are a lot of abandoned mines, which is why you have to be careful with the number of caves. Some are okay but others might have poisoned ground or wild animals further back."

"That's nice. When did you have time to become forest ranger extraordinaire?" Serenity demanded, crossing her arms skeptically.

I rolled my eyes. "A killer escaped into the woods a few years back and I helped organize a grid search. We found the guy and his intended victim with no additional casualties. I consider myself more well-versed than any of you."

"I noticed. Your arrogance is absolutely stifling." She rolled her eyes. "I'm amazed you even got through the doorway with your ego the size that it is."

"Oh, very funny!"

"Check out the size of this freaking bear!" Dean whistled, completing a full circle around the glass case.

"There's at least a dozen or more grizzlies in the area." Sam sighed and lifted his shoulders in a preempted sign of exhaustion. "It's no nature hike, that's for sure."

"Which is why we're going out there armed and prepared," I reminded them firmly, leaving no room for argument in my tone. "I don't know why your dad wants us out at Blackwater Ridge, but given what happened in Jericho there's probably not an ice cream stand."

"Although, admittedly, that would be awesome." Serenity grinned and held her arms up in the imitation of a sign. "Blackwater Ridge: The Only Forest Cliff That Serves Milkshakes For One Seventy-Nine."

I smiled but didn't agree.

A forest ranger stepped out of the back office, probably attracted by the arguing that had gone on a moment prior, and he crossed his arms, moving out from behind the front desk. "You kids aren't planning on going out near Blackwater Ridge, by any chance?"

I smiled, recognizing the tall, built ranger in his early forties even with the boring uniform. "Ranger Wilkinson," I greeted with a pleasant smile, moving forward.

"Agent Kasakabe." He smiled in kind and shook my hand. "Great to see you again. I hear the court case went down alright?"

"Nailed the bastard with twenty to life, and being honest, probably not going to make it twenty years." He'd ended up getting shot by one of my people when he'd tried to evade capture and as a result, the tissue around his heart was weaker. Given the age and the reputation of the prison, he'd probably bite the dust before twenty years passed. I stepped away from the ranger, remembering the reason we were here to begin with, and gestured with my arm towards the boys. "That's my sister, Serenity, and Sam and Dean here are family friends."

"Yes, sir." Dean gave the nice smile he'd given me when we met and he suddenly spoke with a very slight inflection. It wasn't a big change from his own accent, but although it was very slight, it was there enough to notice. "We're environmental study majors from U.C. Boulder, just working on a paper."

Sam chuckled at the excuse but Dean went with it and raised his fist to Sam for a fist-bump. "Recycle, man!"

Wilkinson rolled his eyes and I just sighed, unimpressed. Although it might be a hard habit to break, they should learn sooner rather than later that as long as I'm with them, they don't always have to lie to authorities about their reasons. I can be surprisingly persuasive. "Bull," the ranger deadpanned.

Dean's smile fell off of his face and Sam glanced at Dean quickly.

"You're friends with that Haley girl, right?" The ranger continued, not seeming to notice the awkwardness of the bluff being called.

It took Dean only a split second to weigh the pros and cons before lying again. "Yes. Yes we are, sir."

If we weren't in company I would have face palmed.

"Well, I will tell you exactly what we told her," Wilkinson warned before continuing. "Her brother filled out a backcountry permit saying he wouldn't be back from Blackwater until the twenty-fourth, so it's not exactly a missing persons now, is it?"

Dean paused a moment before sheepishly shaking his head. "I guess not, sir."

Wilkinson's expression softened sympathetically. "You tell that girl to quit worrying," he ordered. "I'm sure her brother's just fine."

Dean nodded in understanding. "We will." He looked back up and smiled halfheartedly, trying to look like he was trying not to. "Well, Haley's quite a pistol, huh?"

The ranger didn't quite notice the scam and nodded in agreement. "That's putting it mildly."

Serenity looked at me with an absolute appalled expression. The look in her eyes of incredulity and disbelief rang quite clear; how the hell do they pull this off all of the time?! You'd think that they'd slip up and say something that's actually incorrect. Damn, they must have the best luck possible. I shrugged, not knowing the answers to her questions.

Dean made a show of hesitating before he continued with his winning, "I'm-adorable-and-everyone-loves-me" smile. "Actually, you know what would help is if I could show her a copy of that backcountry permit." Wilkinson raised his eyebrows at Dean like you can't be serious. "You know, so she could see her brother's return date."

The ranger stared at Dean, waiting for a show of a lie, and Dean just offered him a bigger smile.

Serenity looked to the numbers on the side of the house. "Yep, this is the right one!" She smiled and then jumped up the steps to the porch two at a time, vaulting forwards and pounding twice on the door with her fist. I rolled my eyes, hurrying up after her, and heard the guys' heavier footsteps on the stairs behind me.

Haley, Tommy, and Ben Collins are three siblings that live together in a house out of the way and sort of run-down in that area that's sort of between town and forest. So while the house isn't too fancy, it's sufficient and looks nice, with the paint kept up with an off-white trim and white coat. The only solid door is inside of the screen door facing the outside world.

A girl pulled the door back and looked at us through the screen. Using the process of elimination, I decided that she must be Haley, a twenty-one year old woman with slightly curly black hair that fell in ringlets to her shoulders and brown eyes. Adjusted well to the heat, she, unlike Serenity and I, was wearing a nice, cool outfit of baggy khakis and a white t-shirt with thin two-inch sleeves. Just seeing how she was dressed made me acutely more aware of the heat.

I made a mental note to force us to stop at Walmart and get clothes meant more for outdoorsy activities.

I forced a smile to Haley. "Haley Collins?" I asked - although I already knew the answer, I had to go through the process. She nodded almost hesitantly, looking at first Serenity, then the Winchesters. "I'm SSA Holly Kasakabe and this is my sister, Serenity."

"The guys behind us are park rangers Dean and Sam with the service," Serenity quipped helpfully. I flashed her a grateful look. I don't mind introducing everyone - most of the time I'm the best person to do so - but it's nice to not have to. It'd get old eventually. "We were sent over by Ranger Wilkinson."

"He wanted us to ask a few questions about your brother Tommy." Sam added, giving it more credibility. His voice was soft, like it usually is, but somehow he managed to get everyone to listen to him.

Haley's hand started to move towards the handle of the screen door, but she paused momentarily and looked up to us suspiciously. "Let me see some ID," she ordered.

I couldn't bring myself to even be irritated. I understood the paranoia better than most people, having been a victim of several crimes myself - kidnapping, assault, et cetera, and one time it was at the hands of someone who had claimed at first to be one of my sister's underlings. Due to our agreement – my safety for their secrecy – I hadn't suspected danger.

I flipped up the badge of my ID and reached behind me with the other hand. Dean slapped one of the fake IDs into my hand and I only blinked, not showing how annoyed I was with the fakes. I flipped that one open, too, and snuck a peek before pressing both mine and Samuel Cole's identification badges to the screen.

Haley looked first at the IDs and then up to me. I gave her a small smile so I matched my picture (sort of, my hair's gotten longer and been dyed since) and waited until she nodded slightly and pulled back to swing open the door. "Come on in."

"Thanks." I walked in slowly, looking around and subconsciously finding all possible exits and then turning so my back was to the wall. The other three came in behind me and after Sam came in, Haley looked over and saw the Impala sitting innocently in the driveway.

She pointed over to it and looked to Dean. "That yours?"

Dean grinned proudly. He loves that car. "Yeah."

Haley nodded in approval. "Nice car."

Dean's stupid smile got even wider.

Haley shut the door behind her and walked past me and into the kitchen. I looked over to Serenity and shrugged, following after her. The kitchen consisted of a small counter, a sink, a refrigerator, a dishwasher, and a stovetop and oven, with a small table for four in the center. A young man, maybe a couple of years younger than twenty-two year old Sam, sat in one of the chairs and looked at a computer screen intently.

Ben Collins was dressed similarly to his sister, with baggy camouflage cargo pants and a grey t-shirt. His skin was several shades darker than Haley's but his eyes were the same color to make up for it. His hair was short and a dark, dirty blonde. Overall, he looked… surprisingly, he looked a lot like Connie from Attack on Titan.

Mentally, I decided that that was what I'd be calling him.

"So, if Tommy's not supposed to be back yet, then how do you know there's even anything wrong?" Serenity asked, looking at her nails to occupy herself. She doesn't actually care too much about her cuticles, but I guess she's gotten bored with looking at Ben and Haley.

Haley turned off the sink and set a rinsed bowl on top of a towel upside down on the countertop to dry. "He checks in every day by cell," she answered. "He emails photos and stupid little videos - but we haven't heard anything in over three days now."

I shared a look with Sam and the younger Winchester said what I was thinking. "Maybe he can't get cell reception."

"He's got a satellite phone, too," Haley said. She tried to give Sam a withering glare, but she was too distraught to manage to do that with the right results.

Dean smirked. "Could it be he's just having fun and forgot to check in?"

Connie shook his head quickly, staring down at the keyboard of his Apple laptop. "He wouldn't do that."

Haley shut the fridge as Dean eyed Connie. The female Collins set a glass serving bowl on the center of the table, filled with apples and clementine oranges. "Our parents are gone," she explained quietly, pain and hurt flashing in her eyes. "It's just my two brothers and me. We all keep pretty close tabs on each other."

Serenity and I shared a look and instantly felt a little guilty for dismissing their concern for their brother as trivia. We were in the same boat, after all.

"Can we see the pictures and videos he sent you?" I asked kindly, hoping that I could find some sort of distinctive tree or landmark or something I could use to find their campsite.

Connie nodded and clicked on one of the folders on the desktop of the computer. He waited a minute and then angled the computer towards us, pushing the screen back so we could see it while we stood.

Haley pointed to a slightly fuzzy male figure in the foreground of the photo, wearing a t-shirt and a bit of dirt on his face that I'm not sure he knew was there at the time. He had a baseball cap on but it was turned backwards, the bill facing down. In the background, another masculine body was lying on his side, back facing the phone's camera. "That's Tommy."

She clicked twice on the mouse pad and then another frame pulled up in front of the first and started into grainy motion. "Hey Haley, day six, we're still out near Blackwater Ridge. We're fine, and keeping safe, so don't worry, okay? Talk to you tomorrow!"

A frown pulled down on my lips when I saw the flash. Something dark - a shadow of some sort - moved back behind the tent during the video so quickly I would have dismissed it as nothing, or even as my imagination, except when I looked at a shadier part of the screen I saw Dean frowning in the reflection.

I didn't comment.

"Well, we'll find your brother," Sam promised. "We're heading out to Blackwater Ridge first thing."

"Then maybe I'll see you there," Haley replied sharply, slamming the fridge shut until the seal held. "Look, I can't sit around here anymore. So I hired a guy." I looked over to Serenity with a worried frown. Wouldn't our job be a bit harder with civilians to worry about, if this really was anything… supernatural? "I'm heading out in the morning and I'm gonna find Tommy myself."

"I think I know how you feel," Dean admitted, surprising me slightly.

"Do you mind forwarding these to me?" I asked, motioning to the computer so Connie knew for sure what I was talking about. "I can give you my email before we leave."

"Sure," Connie nodded, watching me with a respectful nod of his head.

Glasses clinked as a waitress carried several glasses on a stainless steel round tray. Loud clicks were followed by cheers as someone shot a pool cue. The bar was absolutely packed.

Sam and I sat at a table next to each other towards the back. Dean had gone to the bar about five minutes ago to get drinks and after three minutes, Serenity had gotten up to go hunt him down. Sam and I had our laptops out and were trying to find any hint of supernatural activity - basically, he was looking into the history of the town and any recent disappearances while I was taking apart Tommy Collins' video piece by piece and separating frames to find that shadow.

I looked up from my computer and caught a glimpse of the two missing parties. Dean had four half-full wine glasses in his hands and Serenity was pulling him along by his ear. I winced in sympathy for the man.

Sam spoke up as soon as they reached the table and Dean set a glass of alcohol in front of Sam and I both before sitting down on one side of the table. Serenity sat between him and Sam, completing the square. "So, Blackwater Ridge doesn't get a lot of traffic - campers, mostly. Still, this past April, two hikers went missing out there. They were never found."

Dean reached for the thick leather-bound book from their dad. According to Serenity, it was a field journal full of what John Winchester had learned from his "hunts." "Any before that?" He brought the edge of his champagne glass to his lips and drank about half of the shot.

We were all forced so close that when Sam turned his computer around to show an online text of a newspaper and Serenity pushed her chair back to lean over and see, she kicked me accidentally. I scowled at her and she shrugged before we both leaned towards Dean to look at the computer screen.

"In 1982, eight different people all vanished in the same year," Sam explained, raising his voice to speak over the general chaos. "Authorities said it was a grizzly attack."

"Yeah, I bet it was grisly, too." I laughed and fist-bumped Serenity for the play on words. My sister did so, but she was very reluctant to encourage the bad jokes.

"... And again in 1959 and again, before that, in 1936."

GRIZZLY BEAR ATTACKS!

Up to eight hikers vanish in Lost Creek area!

Hikers' disappearance baffle authorities!

Families continue search and rescue efforts in spite of disappointing…

"Every twenty-three years," Serenity noted, considering for a minute. "It's consistent. Like clockwork." She looked at Dean in confusion. "Is that normal for a monster?"

Dean just shrugged. "Depends on a lot of things."

I turned my laptop a bit. "Hang on, look what I found." I pushed it over to the corner so that if we turned, we could all see it well enough. "I downloaded Tommy's video and pulled it apart, and look at this." I hit one arrow key and it changed frames. The shadow crossed within three frames and by the time I hit the fourth, it was gone. I looked up and saw all of them squinting at it, the boys with confusion and Serenity with surprise.

"Do it again," Dean ordered.

I repeated the frames and then looked up again, sighing. "That was only three frames. It's seriously only a fraction of a second. Whatever that shadow was, it can move. I don't think that it could have been caused by anything natural." It still felt awkward talking about unnatural things quite so matter-of-factly.

"I told you something weird was going on!" Dean yelled at Sam triumphantly, a smug smirk on his place as he tried to kick Sam playfully. We were too close and he ended up kicking me.

"Hey! Damn it, Dean!" I reached over and slapped him audibly.

"Ouch," Dean grumbled, raising his hand to his face.

I reached out and gently pushed down the lid of my laptop, but Sam just turned his back to face him and held out one finger to us, telling us to wait. "One more thing - in fifty-nine, one camper survived this supposed grizzly attack. Just a kid… he barely crawled out of the woods alive."

Serenity raised her eyebrows in prompt. "Does it give his name?"

I knocked rapidly three times on the wooden door and only had to wait a moment before it swung half-open. "Mr. Shaw?" I asked, holding my chin up authoritatively. "Holly Kasakabe, FBI, and park rangers Dean, Samuel, and Rue. We have some questions for you."

A cigarette hung from Shaw's lips, which wasn't exactly the smartest thing for a man in his fifties to be doing. "Look, rangers." His voice was raspy - likely due to drinking. "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-"

I cut him off swiftly in that way that I've totally perfected. "Grizzly?" I predicted his words easily, having read the reports in the car. I was surprised that after consuming a couple glasses of wine, I was still sober. Maybe it's not a good thing, but after our parents died, Serenity's and my guardian worked a lot of night shifts. When we were eleven, we discovered alcohol in the fridge and decided to try it. When we were eleven, we weren't quite aware of how dangerous alcohol could be. Anyway, since then we drink sometimes, but not often enough for it to be a problem. "That's what attacked them, right?"

Dean crossed his arms and tipped his head at the old man. "And the other people that went missing that year. Those were bear attacks, too?"

There was a moment of silence and as Shaw sat down, he looked up to Dean like he'd been stricken. He stopped and looked like he was trying to say something but the words wouldn't make it out.

"What about the people who have gone missing so far this year?" Serenity added very pointedly, crossing her arms and standing beside his chair, looking down on him skeptically.

"If we knew what we were dealing with, we might be able to stop it," Sam reasoned, watching Shaw with more sympathy. He was earnest and personable.

Shaw pulled the cigarette from his mouth and puffed, a long cloud of smoke flowing up to the ceiling. "I seriously doubt that," he said, completely serious. "Anyways, I don't see what difference it would make." He stopped and shook his head, watching the floor with nearly dead eyes. "You wouldn't believe me. Nobody ever did."

I looked at him carefully, more sympathetically, and had to empathize what was happening in his head. He must feel the way Sam and Dean had when they'd been trying to make Serenity and I realize they were telling the truth about the woman in white.

"Mr. Shaw." I sighed and tried to make myself look completely honest and trustworthy. It's harder than one would think. "Try us. What did you see?"

Shaw paused and looked to the side, refusing to look at any of us. "Nothing," he whispered. "It moved too fast to see. It hid too well." Serenity looked up to me and I could see the question in her eyes. I couldn't answer it. "I heard it, though. A roar, like no man or animal I'd ever heard."

"And it came at night?" Sam just had to double check and make sure he knew. I suppose it made sense - it could be important to narrowing down who - or what - was responsible. Shaw just barely nodded. "And it got inside your tent?"

This time, the man paused before shaking his head. "It got inside our cabin," he whispered. "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." He shivered violently and cringed. "Do you know of a bear that could do something like that? I didn't even wake up until I heard my parents screaming."

A wave of pity washed over me. What would it be like to lose your parents like that? At least Serenity and I had a rational explanation, one that we could actually comprehend. "It killed them?" I asked, then cleared my throat when I realized how quietly it had come out.

Shaw shook his head slowly, his eyes squeezed shut. I had to wonder if he was reliving a memory. "Dragged them off into the night. Why it left me alive… I've been asking myself that ever since." There was a long silence. Even Serenity didn't want to interrupt the clearly mourning man. "Did leave me this, though." He pulled back at his collar and looked away in shame.

Scraped deeply against the skin of his shoulder were three long, ragged, angry pink claw marks that were scarred over.

"There's something evil in those woods," he whispered weakly. "It was some sort of demon."

I stopped. Do demons exist? Really?

More importantly - what have I gotten myself into this time?

"Excuse me, why am I carrying your duffel?" Dean asked, eyeing Serenity and I suspiciously.

We shared a look and then Serenity chose to answer. "Because we told you to and you're a ladies' man who desperately wants to get laid."

Sam chuckled good-naturedly but was quiet enough about it to not need to be shushed as we walked through the motel hallway. "I think you just summed up Dean in one sentence," he told Serenity with a grin.

Dean rolled his eyes, scowling slightly, but he didn't try to shove our bags back at us. "Impala's out the front," I reminded Dean when he paused at an intersection. He turned left towards the main lobby.

"Spirits and demons don't have to unlock doors." At the turn to more serious topics, Serenity and I shared a look before we each moved around to the opposite sides of the boys. Dean continued like nothing had changed. "If they want inside, they just go through the walls."

"So it's something that not only has physical form, but can manipulate matter - ghosts aren't corporeal, so there goes that theory." I smiled up at Dean almost tentatively, not sure whether I was right or not.

"Corporeal?" Dean repeated with a snort. "Excuse me, professor," he teased.

I elbowed him lightly in the arm. "Shut up."

"What do you think it is, then?" Serenity challenged.

Automatic doors slid open and the rush of cool night air nearly made me stop breathing for a moment before I remembered how. Sam shrugged and motioned for Serenity to exit in front of him and so she and I picked up pace and walked in front of the guys.

"The claws, the speed that it moves with… it could be a skin walker, or maybe a black dog." I blinked and sighed softly. The phrases meant little to me. "Whatever we're talking about, we're talking about a creature, and it's corporeal."

"Corporeal? Excuse me, professor," I repeated, exactly the way that Dean had. He chuckled.

"And if it's corporeal, then we can kill it," Serenity added with a sort of grim determination. I understood for once. It's killed or hurt so many people that it's necessary, because if it were going to stop then it would have already.

I walked around the '67 car and opened the trunk for Dean casually, letting it move open. I paused a minute before eyeing the compartment but decided that I really didn't need to know what else was there when I'm already suspecting that Dean and Sam loaded weapons into their own duffel bags.

Dean moved behind me and I shuffled to the side while he slung one bag down from his shoulder and let it plunk into the trunk of his precious Impala. While he pushed that back, he lowered the other bag and tried to rearrange things so they'd fit better, and I stayed to the side so that I could press my hands against the side of the car and tip my head at him. He had an entire lifestyle that I didn't even know existed. It was fascinating and horrifying at the same time.

"We can't let Haley and Attack on Titan Connie go out there," I deadpanned, just in case they'd forgotten. I'm all good with taking out the bad guys, but my priorities have to remain with protecting the good ones. And the remaining Collins siblings could very well be walking into a death trap, along with whoever they'd hired to guide them.

"Attack on Titan Connie?" Sam repeated, arching his eyebrows at me like he could not believe I'd just said that.

"And what are we going to tell her?" Dean asked me, focusing more on the actual point. I met his eyes - cool and skeptical - and lifted my shoulders very slightly. "She can't go into the woods because of a big, scary monster?"

"Why not?" Sam countered. I was surprised when Sam actually nodded slowly at Dean in agreement with me.

I stopped and did a double-take. Not even a week ago, Sam had to deal with my refusal to believe in ghosts, and now he was suggesting that Haley would just believe him that a monster got her brother with a snap of his fingers and then volunteer to stay home? "Well, maybe not that, but we could say there was some sort of accident that the rangers are working to fix."

"Her brother's missing, Nel," Serenity reminded me with a sigh and a roll of her eyes. "Now maybe not all people are as awesome as we are, but if I were in her position and you were missing, I wouldn't care what the embodiments of law enforcement said, I'd go out to find you."

"So we go with her, we protect her, and we keep our eyes peeled for our fuzzy predator friend," Dean concluded, picking up Serenity's bag from the ground and plunking it in next to one of the others, shoving at it to push it and the ones behind it back without jostling any of the hidden armory.

Sam's lips curled slightly in irritation and he reached up to pull down on the trunk. Dean pulled back quickly as the hood came down. "Finding Dad's not enough?" The taller boy complained. "Now we have to babysit, too?"

I was surprised, and that was putting it simply. I care for the boys, at least as friends, and I am sorry that Sam had to lose Jessica, and especially in such a horrific way. But in Jericho he'd actually dealt with Serenity and I in part so that neither of us would be killed, and it was thanks to him and Dean that I was even still alive after that ghost bitch decided that my heart wasn't needed by me anymore. It just seemed out of character for Sam not to care - then again, maybe the Sam I met in Jericho was him being charismatic just so that we'd have a false impression. But I really hope not.

Sam seemed to realize that we were all staring at him - myself with shock, Serenity in slight disapproval, and Dean in some nearly unreadable disappointment. "What?"

Dean shook his head, his eyes dark. "Nothing," he spat, brushing roughly against Sam's shoulder as he passed. Sam turned to watch Dean stalk off with rigid steps towards the hotel doors again with his shoulders raised in confusion.

I knocked on the door to the boys' room, across from our own. It had been a decision both parties had agreed on and I had to personally think that it was probably for the best. We had two rooms - very close by, but Serenity and I bunked and had privacy for ourselves while Dean and Sam got their alone time to be without us for a while. Although I do trust them - hell, they saved my life! - I barely know them, and while it was an option to rent a suite and all stay in the same room, we all seemed to have the general idea that it was better to act as co-workers and save the excessive friendliness for a later date.

It opened after a minute and while I waited I tugged at the sleeve of my sweatshirt. The door pulled open about three inches before Dean saw me, then he closed the door, undid the chain, and opened it up the rest of the way, stepping to the side.

I took the silent invitation as it was and looked around their room as I stepped inside. It was a replica of Serenity's and mine; pale green curtains drawn over an air conditioner with two beds next to each other, separated by about three feet of space and a bedside table with a double lamp. There was a small closet and both of the boys' jackets hung up on hangers, Dean's hanging haphazardly while Sam's was zipped up around the hanger. To the right was the bathrooms - the door was shut, light creeping through from under the door, and the shower was running inside. I put the pieces together and figured that, like me, Dean had taken first shower.

"Everything alright?" Dean asked, shutting the door behind me. It wasn't quiet but it wasn't loud; Sam probably didn't hear it over the water.

"Yeah." Now that I was over here, wanting to know about monsters in the forest seemed a little silly. I felt like I had when I was ten and still bothered Serenity with my constant desire for a night light. I'd known there was nothing to be afraid of except maybe tripping over my chair or a stray book or toy, but I'd still wanted to be able to see my surroundings. It's almost the same situation, except it's not the dark that I'm afraid of now. Now I know there's something there. "Serenity's showering. I got bored." Well, it's not what I meant to say, but at least it's not completely stupid.

Dean chuckled, moving away from the door and back to his backpack, a narrow but spacious black bag with two over-the-shoulder straps. It sat on the bed at an angle. I could easily tell which boy had done what in the room, because while Dean wanted things done, he wasn't as neat or organized as his younger brother.

"You won't be bored out in the woods," he promised, seeming amused.

"Well, no, probably not. If Jericho was any indication, I'll be a bit busy avoiding death," I retorted, before sighing, knowing that I was too tense and that was really uncalled for.

Dean didn't seem offended and instead his face softened. "You don't have to go out with us. Your job is to protect against the living killers. You can leave the hunting for the hunters. It's more dangerous than you'd think."

I didn't bat an eyelash at this, having sort of figured that out already. "I could argue that ignorance is most certainly not bliss, as I so aptly proved." I sighed and looked over at Sam's immaculate, untouched bed. It was better than looking at Dean's and wondering what was in the backpack. "There are plenty of people who can beat the human killers. And I'm not saying I'm giving up on that, because it might be frustrating as hell but it's worth it. But… something tells me that the supernatural can do a lot more damage, and there aren't as many people watching out for that."

Dean nodded and crossed his arms over his chest. "I can't say you're wrong about that," he had to agree. "And yeah, if Sammy and I hadn't been there, you'd have been dead."

I fixed him with an unamused raise of my eyebrow.

"But," he continued quickly, seeing the look. "Once you start hunting, you'll know you're never fully safe again." I bit at the inside of my lip. Was it too much to admit I already felt that way? There are just too many variables in life and too many loopholes through seemingly infallible plans. "Listen, if you want to hunt with us, Sam and I won't stop you. Hell, we could probably do with the company. But you should know you can back out."

I smiled very slightly at him in reward for the concern, letting him know that I appreciated it. "Kasakabes don't back out of things very easily."

Dean grinned right back at me. "Neither do Winchesters. I guess you're just stuck with us."

"Works for me," I replied. We smiled at each other for a moment. I had to take in Dean's expression and it hit me suddenly that he probably wasn't that unguarded when talking about hunting with his brother. There was a difference with how you treat your family and other people. It's not always on purpose, but like Serenity and I will always want to protect each other, Dean wants to protect Sam, and so they probably don't talk about the risks of their job a lot.

I felt pleased that at least he trusted me to not only look after Sam, but to share his true thoughts with me.

The sound of the running water shut off with no warning and it had sort of faded into the background, but now the lack of noise was surprisingly pointed. It sort of jerked us both out of the reverie and as Sam got out of the shower, I started walking back out of the room and towards the door. "Er, yeah. Five thirty a.m. wake up calls set for both rooms. We'll hit the nearest convenience store and grab some outdoorsy clothes and some breakfast and then we're going to meet the Collinses at the entry point bright and early. 'Night, Dean." I reached behind me and twisted the doorknob.

"'Night, Holls," he called as I slipped out the door backwards, surprisingly not hurting myself.

It was only when I got back to Serenity's and my room that I realized he'd given me a nickname.