"So, what do we think it is?" Sam asked. They all were back in the hotel eating lunch.
"Well, we're looking at something that primarily hunts at night and feed on human flesh and organs." Dean said. Molly dropped her burger onto the paper wrapping and sighed. Dean shrugged. "Sorry…"
"What about what Molly said earlier?" Cas asked. "About the wendigo?"
"It's a possibility." Sam said. "Matches all the evidence. But so do a lot of other things. I mean, we've seen this sort of behavior from vamps and other creatures too."
"It says here in the book that Wendigos can impersonate other people's voices." Molly said, reading a passage from one of their books. "That's pretty much the perfect way to lure someone into a trap, don't you think?"
"You think they're being lured into a trap first, then killed?" Dean asked.
"Why else would three college girls be walking through a field alone at night? No reason. They're walking home, maybe from a party, the library, whatever, and they hear someone calling their name; maybe a close friend. They follow the voice, and then bam!"
"…she's good." Sam said, laughing, looking at Dean. Cas smiled at her, she did the same back.
"What time is it?" Dean asked.
"Almost 3." Sam said. "How do you wanna' go about this?"
"Well we've gotta' get a plan together and figure out when to execute it. All the attacks have happened in the same field within just a few yards of each other. The police thought it was an animal of some sort, so they're on alert, but not really looking for anything at this point. Mainly just putting out warnings to the town, so we won't have to worry about running into any cops. Let's start there, see if we can lure it out in the open."
"How?" Sam asked.
"Live bait?" Molly asked. They all looked at her for a moment. She shrugged in response. "What? I've gotta' do something. I can hold my own enough I think, and you guys will be there anyway."
"Molly, do you have any idea how dangerous that is?" Dean asked. "We're not going to use you as bait on your first hunt. Even if you get through it fine, Bobby'd have my nuts on the chopping block if he found out. It's not worth the risk."
"But it's the best way to go about it." Molly said.
"Molly, that's not a good idea…" Cas said. "There are other things we can do about this."
"Alright, lay them on me!" Molly said. The guys looked at each other, not an idea between them. "Come on you guys, trust me on this. I can hold my own fine and you'll be there to back me up."
"Guys come on, we can think of a better idea than this." Cas said to Sam and Dean. "A safer idea!"
They all gathered together later than night and drove to the field where the bodies had been found. Molly sat in the back seat of the Impala, hands folded in her lap, twiddling her thumbs nervously, staring forward. Cas sat beside her, watching her. He could see the fear all over her face, whether she wanted to admit it or not. Cas didn't like this, he didn't like it one bit. Dean didn't either, he could tell. Dean hadn't said a word since they started driving and Cas could practically hear Dean's heart pounding in his own head. They pulled the car over about a hundred yards away from their destination and turned it off. Sam looked back at Molly and then at Cas.
"You guys ready?" he asked. Molly nodded and got out of the car. Sam and Dean did the same and Cas hesitantly followed.
They all went to the trunk of the Impala. Dean opened it up and they began to disperse weapons; flair guns, matches, lighter fluid, anything that would kill a Wendigo. Dean grabbed his pistol and tucked it into the back of his jeans like always, just in case. They all looked at Molly.
"Are you sure you wanna' do this?" Dean asked her, concern swept across his face. His eyes seemed to plead with her for a moment.
"Yes." She said, finally. "I'm ready."
"You're clear on the plan then?" Sam asked her, also worried.
"Yeah, I got it. Walk down the sidewalk all alone and wait until I am being lured into an ambush. Then you guys jump out and kick ass. I'm good." She was scared shitless, but didn't want them to know that.
"Alright," Dean said. "Go for it. We'll be down at the end of the road."
Molly nodded and gave him a weak smile, in an attempt to comfort them all. It really didn't work very well, but she knew it was the thought that counted. The guy all began to load back up into the car. Cas didn't move for a moment, just looking at her, then snapped out of it. He slowly made his way to the back seat. Dean stopped and looked at her before he joined Sam and Cas in the car.
"Molly?" he asked.
"yeah?" she wondered, what now?
"Please, just… be careful? As careful as possible?" he asked. Molly hesitated a moment, then nodded.
"No worries." She replied, giving that same weak smile as before.
She started to walk as the three men pulled away in the car to go to their positions. She took deep cleansing breaths as she walked down the dark cold asphalt road. To her left, up came the field. Ellensburg didn't have a lot of lights, so you could see every single star in the sky. She was nervous and only getting worse as she walked on. She heard a sound to the side of her; the snapping of some sort of twig or branch. Molly stopped a moment to look around, saw nothing, then kept walking.
Dean, Sam and Cas parked the car around the corner and got out, walking to the end. Cas could see Molly, small and far away, but still seemingly okay. Dean walked up beside him, looking out at whatever he was seeing. He looked at Cas, examining his friend, trying to read how he was feeling; what he was thinking. There was no way to do this.
"How ya' doin' Cas?" Dean asked him. Cas turned and met his eyes.
"Fine… why do you ask?"
"You just seem… different lately." Dean said. "You seem distracted, maybe a little on edge."
"I assure you I'm fine." Cas said, forcing a small fake smile. "Really…"
"Hey Dean!" Sam whispered to Dean loudly from the car. Dean turned to see Sam motion him over. Dean walked over to him, seeing their fathers old journal in his hands.
"What's going on?" He asked.
"Dean, it doesn't make sense…" Sam said. "A wendigo… the more I really think about it, we didn't think this through. Not once have we seen a wendigo just go on a killing spree like this."
"What do you mean Sam? That's all they do!" Dean said.
"No Dean! That's just it! They store!" Sam said. "They collect and store for later. We're dealing with something that just eats. It eats and leaves, that's it."
Molly was beginning to wonder if there was even anything out there. The night was quiet and the more she walked, the more she began to feel like maybe this was all a little silly.
"Hey!" A voice shouted to her. She whipped around in surprise, only to see a young guy walking towards her. He was definitely a college kid, shaggy blonde hair, jeans, and a college sweatshirt on.
"Yeah?" Molly asks, confused.
"Hey, I'm sorry. Do you have a phone I can borrow?" he asked her, smiling. "My car broke down a little ways away and I need to give a tow truck a call." Molly hesitated for a moment, looking him up and down.
"I uh… I'm sorry…" she said, shaking her head. "I don't have my cell on me."
"Oh… good." The kid said. He swung a hand up, grabbing Molly by the throat, and throwing her hard to the ground. "Wouldn't want you calling for help…"
Molly, coughing, popped back onto her feet shakily. The boy smiled at her, an evil smile, then opened his mouth. Layers upon layers of razor shark teeth formed over what was already there, his eyes going black. Molly froze for a moment, not believing what she was seeing. She didn't remember reading about this… this was no Wendigo.
The boy lurched at her, grabbing her by the throat and lifting her off of her feet. Molly's face turned red, her feet kicking. The thing threw her into the grasses of the field next to them and leapt after her body. She backed away slowly from the thing approaching her, not knowing where to run to if she ever made it to her feet. Then, as sudden as he had struck her, the creature stopped, a loud cracking sound blasting through the air; a gun shot. She looked over to see Dean standing there with his gun in his hand. The creature turned to Dean, the two making eye contact for what seemed like forever. Then the creature gave another evil smile to Dean and Molly and in what seemed to be the blink of an eye, was gone again.
Dean ran over to Molly, taking her in his arms and pulling her off of the ground. He looked her over, her forehead cut, her neck bruised from where that thing had grabbed her. He could feel her body shaking in his hands.
"Are you okay?" He asked. She said nothing. "Molly, look at me!"
She snapped out of it. Looking at him, seeing Cas and Sam run up behind him. She nodded.
"Yeah…" she said, finally. "I'm fine. I'm fine."
"Come on, let's get you back to the hotel." Dean said, pulling her along with him, an arm around her and they all went back to the car.
Molly and Dean sat in the bathroom on the edge of the bathtub. A bottle of peroxide and some bandages sitting beside Dean. He wetted a cotton ball with the peroxide.
"This is gonna'—"
"Sting." Molly said, cutting him off. She smiled at him, lightly. "Classic parental warning." He smiled lightly back. Then he reached up and began to clean the blood away from the cut on her forhead. He winced, but stayed still, breathing out.
"Mother…" she whispered. Dean laughed a little.
"You take it better than most people." He said. "Better than Sam or Cas anyway."
"Where are they, anyway?" Molly asked.
"I sent Cas out for some late night sustenance and Sam's in the living room talking to Bobby on the phone, trying to figure out what that was."
"Dean… I'm sorry." Molly said. Dean stopped cleaning her cut and looked at her.
"Sorry? Sorry for what?"
"I was wrong… about the—whatever that was. I should have let you guys just figure it out instead of trying to prove to myself that I could do this with you guys."
"Hey now, none of this was your fault." He said, sternly. "You did what anyone would have done. Sam and I make mistakes all the time. We never know what we're dealing with going into a case, EVER. It's part of the job."
Molly looked at him, his soft eyes easing her intensity. She nodded in response to him. He continued to clean her cut up, then opened up a bandage and put it over the cut carefully.
"There you go." He said. She peered over into the mirror and smirked.
"Attractive." She said. Dean laughed.
There was a moment there, of pure silence. They just looked at each other, almost as if they were trying to read each other's minds. Then, slowly, Dean leaned in. He stopped just before reaching Molly's lips, making sure she didn't back away. Then he lightly pressed his lips to hers. Gently, her pulled back just enough to still feel her breath against his lips. Then, she leaned in, returning the kiss. Dean moved a hand up, palm to her cheek, holding her face gently in one hand. Dean's head was buzzing with so many different sensations, sensations that he'd never felt from just a simple kiss. Molly had one hand clenched in the fabric of his flannel shirt, up against his chest. Dean reached up and took it in his gently, and the kiss between then stopped.
"Um…" she said, biting her bottom lip nervously. "W-where did that come from?"
"I think I've been wanting to do that since I met you…" Dean said. "I just tried to convince myself I didn't."
"Why?" she asked. Dean honestly had no idea. He looked at her, those big green eyes slaying him.
"I just… I don't usually—"
"Let people in?" she asked, knowingly. "Nothing gets passed that rock hard exterior." She poked his chest, teasingly. He smiled, shaking his head.
"Something like that." He said.
She laughed, smiling at him. That smile was enough to make Dean's whole body feel like he was sinking in quicksand.
"Challenge accepted." She said. The look on her face was a challenge indeed. There was no telling this girl what to do or where to go, she was there to stay. Dean was scared to death of that… but he couldn't say no. He pulled her into him by her waist, kissing her again.
Cas walked into the hotel room, a bag of various grocery items in his hand. He still wore his slacks and dress shirt, sleeves rolled up and tie gone, buttons undone. He looked exhausted. Sam was just getting off of the phone with Bobby. He tossed the cell phone onto his bed.
"Hey." Sam said.
"What'd Bobby have to say?" Cas asked. He sat on his bed with the bag, reaching in and tossing Sam a beer. Sam sat on his bed, facing Cas.
"He thinks it's an Okami." Sam said, shaking his head. "It would make absolutely no sense because they're pretty much only found in Japan, but it does fit all of the descriptions and evidence."
"How do we kill it?"
"Well, if it is an Okami, the lore says it has to be stabbed seven times with a bamboo dagger that's been blessed by a Shinto priest."
"…awesome…" Cas said, now staring ahead at the bathroom.
"Bobby said he killed one once by putting it through a wood chipper though…" Sam said. "We just gotta' figure out a way to—" Sam stopped, noticing that Cas was no longer listening. He followed Cas's gaze to the bathroom, then looked back at him.
"Uh, Cas?" he said, waving a hand. "You okay?"
"Yeah…" Cas said, partially snapping out of it. He pulled out a beer from the grocery bag and began to drink. Sam eyed him.
"What's wrong?" Sam asked.
"Nothing. I'm fine, as always." He said, expression blank. "Where is Dean?"
"He's in the bathroom with Molly, helping her out with her injuries." Sam said. "Why?"
"No reason." Cas said. "She should be assisted with that. I'm glad he's… in there."
Sam examined Cas's face, which was filled with tension. He could tell there was something that Cas wasn't saying; something big.
"Cas?... do you like Molly?" Sam asked. Cas was quiet.
"I don't know what you're talking about." He said, unconvincingly.
"Yes you do Cas, you've been around long enough to know what I'm asking."
"…is… is that what this is?" Cas finally asked. "This feeling I keep having? Because it's driving me a little crazy and every time I see them together I kind of…" he stopped.
"Kind of what, Cas?"
"I kind of want to punch Dean in the side of the head…" Cas said. Sam's eyes widened.
"yeah… you like her." Sam said, smiling a little. "You've got it baaaaaaaaaaad."
