Voices in the Woods
As Dean grew restless without a bed to sit on, Sam and Troi grew hungry. Troi was just like Dean in the fact that she loved to eat, but she preferred healthy food. She was also very observant and could tell by the way Dean kept glancing around, he had to get out. "You hungry, Sammy?" she asked her twin. He had been staring at his laptop, but when asked the question, glanced over at her and offered a sad half-smile and nod. "Alright then, Dean and I'll go get some food" she announced as she tossed the leather jacket on her bed to its owner.
"What's up with him?" Dean asked Troian as soon as they were down the hall a ways and out of Sam's hearing range.
"Doesn't want to have anything to do with this case. He just wants to find Dad and get revenge for Jess with him" Troi explained to Dean. The way he reacted to Mr. Shaw's scars was a mixture of some surprise and mostly regrets to see it was an honest case.
"We can't let Haley go out there" Dean mumbled once they got outside to the parking lot.
"Oh yeah? What are we going to tell her? That she can't go into the woods because of a big scary monster?"
"Yeah" Dean agreed, since Troi's train of thought sounded good enough for him.
"Her brother's missing! I sympathize. What if I was her and it was Sam missing- would you let anyone tell me to sit at home on my hands? Would you tell me that? And do you honestly think I'd be a good girl and listen?" Troi argued the rest of the way to the Impala. Dean was suddenly very sorry for opening his mouth and agreeing with the trap Troi just caught him in.
"Fine, but don't make me do the babysitting" Dean laughed as he collapsed into the driver's seat.
"Don't you worry you're pretty little head" Troi kidded as she too sat down in the car.
"Ya know" Dean cleared his throat as he pulled out of the parking spot. "I should really know by now not to get in your way when it comes to missing brothers. But why are you like that?"
Troian considered Dean's question and couldn't help but feel the smile spread across her face. She always felt the protectiveness towards her brothers, but never knew where it came from. "you two are all I have left" she admitted. "I mean yeah there's Dad, but he wasn't the one who raised me. You did most of it, and Sam was always there when you weren't. Every time you weren't with Sam and me, I was worried out of my mind."
Tears began to run down her cheeks somewhere between her pauses, but they hadn't been born out of sadness or happiness. Instead they came from the worry and those memories. Dean recognized that and slipped his arm over the back of the bench seat. He never allowed John or Sam to know, but he constantly let Troian cry or curl up into his side while they drove. This time was no different; Troi took her cue to slide over to his side. "One of us will always be with you, and we aren't going anywhere" Dean soothed as he continued to the nearest diner.
The next morning Dean, Sam and Troian arrived at the trail head, as they had told Haley and Ben. What they didn't expect however was to see an older man with Haley and her brother. "Ugh, god I hate trail guides" Troi whined before getting out of the car.
"Easy there, Tiger" Dean chuckled as he climbed out. "Play nice."
As the Winchesters got closer, they could make out the conversation Haley and their guide were having. "I'll tell you again, I don't think Ben should come, Haley" he said
"Roy-" Haley warned, but she soon got distracted by the classic car and three familiar strangers coming closer.
"Got room for three more?" Dean shouted up towards the group.
"Wait, you want to come with us?" Haley asked surprised. She noticeable sized up the three supposed rangers; all three were wearing jeans and only one had a pack in the form of a military duffle bag.
"Who are you guys?" Roy asked Haley as they got closer.
"Apparently this is all the park service could muster up for the search and rescue" she answered as Troi and Dean joined their cluster, while Sam kept walking.
"You're rangers?" Roy laughed at the sight.
"That's right" Troi snapped as she got closer to the witty trail guide.
"And you're hiking in biker boots and jeans?"
"Oh hun, I don't do shorts" Troi answered as sarcastically as she could muster and went to join Sam.
"Wait, a-are you two twins?" Roy asked.
"Yeah" Troian and Sam both shrugged at the same time. "And?" Troi threw in.
"What you think this is funny? It's dangerous back country out there. Her brother might be hurt" Roy lectured the two smiling twins.
Both Sam and Troi turned their backs to the lecture and started down the path, slowly so everyone can catch up to them.
"Believe me," Dean spoke up in his younger siblings' defense "we know how dangerous it can be. We just wanna help them find their brother, that's all."
Roy led the way down the trail with Haley right behind him, Ben, Troi, Dean, and then Sam. They were silent and solemn the whole way to Tommy's camp site, but Dean got tired of the silence soon after leaving the beaten trail. "So Roy" Dean shouted ahead of him as he went to catch up to the trail guide. "You said you did a little hunting?"
Sam and Troi both knew where Dean was heading with this question and they found it hard to keep their thoughts to themselves. "Here we go again" Sam mumbled under his breath.
"Bet whatever you shot didn't shoot back" Troi said in her best Dean impersonation. At least she earned a scoff and a smirk from her brother behind her. Troi always felt better with Sam at her back since she knew he would do anything to keep her safe, so she always tried to make him relax enough to laugh or smile.
"Yeah, more than a little" Roy boasted once it grew quiet behind him.
"Uh-huh. What kind of furry critters do you hunt?" Dean poked. He as well as Sam and Troian were always against hunting animals for sport. Since she was a kid, Troian would cry her eyes out whenever an animal got hurt. It always pissed John off, but Sam stood behind his twin and Dean always took Sam's side in order to protect him.
"Mostly buck, sometimes bear" Roy shrugged as if it was just another normal day.
"Tell me, Bambi or Yogi ever hunt you back?" Dean asked as he attempted to pass Roy. Dean felt a hand clamp down on his bicep and forcefully pull him back. "Whatcha doin', Roy?" Dean questioned. It was his attempt to diffuse the situation before Troi broke from the bear hug he was sure Sam had her in now to hold her back.
Roy bent down to pick up a stick from the ground and aggressively thrust it towards a spot on the ground. Two metal claws close around the leaves once covering it and also snapping the stick in half. Haley let out a clearly exasperated sigh as Roy let go of Dean's arm. "You should watch where you're stepping, Ranger" Roy lectured.
Dean could hear a giggle come from his sister as Roy began to walk again. "It's a bear trap" Dean smiled at Haley as he matched her pace.
"You didn't pack any provisions, they are twins, you guys are carrying a duffle bag. You're not rangers!" Haley shouted at Dean.
Dean stopped walking to get out of earshot of Roy and allow the twins to keep going at the same pace. "Sam and Troian are fraternal twins and I'm their older brother and we're looking for our father" Dean admitted. "He might be here, we don't know. I just figured that you and me, we're in the same boat."
"Why didn't you just tell me that from the start?"
"I'm telling you now. 'sides, it's probably the most honest I've ever been a woman…ever. So we okay?"
Haley paused for a moment to consider what Dean said, but found she was drawn like a moth to a flame to his boyish charm. "Yeah, okay" she nodded.
"And what do you mean I didn't pack provisions?" Dean winked as he pulled out a half-eaten bag of peanut M&Ms. He offered Haley a handful, but when she shook her head, he began after the group, occasionally popping one into his mouth.
When they caught back up, Roy announced they were finally at Blackwater Ridge. It looked exactly the same as Lost Creek, but apparently a few steps means a large change. "What coordinates are we at?" Sam asked.
Roy pulled out his GPS and looked at it for a moment before answering. "35 minus 111."
"You hear that?" Dean asked everyone.
"Yeah, not even crickets" Troi marveled at the eerie silence.
"I'll go take a look around" Roy informed the group.
"You shouldn't go off by yourself" Sam warned before even thinking about who he spoke to.
"That's sweet, don't worry about me" Roy winked as he took of further down the trail and around a bend. Roy whistled down the trail as he swung his gun back and forth.
Sam was weirdly happy to see him go, but was still worried ever so slightly for Roy's safety. Too bad, I'm not going after him Sam thought as he turned back to face the group. "Alright, everybody stays together" Sam ordered before going down the same trail Roy had just gone down.
Sam, Dean, and Troian had taken to searching among the rocks for any sign of their father while Haley and ben were doing the same for their brother Tommy. There were almost no sign of human presence and what they did find was a distasteful hunter laying down traps and snares.
Haley and Ben both gave up when they found nothing and both sat down on a large rock while Troi and Sam stood a few feet away discussing their own search. "Dad was always good at covering his steps up" Troi shrugged.
"But not this good" Sam argued. "The only sign of someone being here is weeks old and they had a limp!"
"Haley, over here" Roy interrupted.
Everyone ran towards his voice around yet another blind corner and stopped dead in their tracks. "Oh my God" Haley gasped at the sight.
The tent belonging to their family had been shredded by what appeared to be claws and there was bloody spatter everywhere. Food was strewn all through the dirt and contents of backpacks were thrown every which way.
"Looks like a grizzly" Roy said while Haley looked around at the disaster.
"Tommy?" she called out. "Tommy!"
Before anyone could stop her, she was shrugging off her pack and running through the campsites, yelling at the top of her lungs. Tori sympathized with every scream Haley let out, but she was risking everyone's safety right now. "Hey, shh" she soothed once she caught up to Haley.
"Why, Troi? Huh? Why!"
"Something might still be out there."
"Sam, Troi?" Dean called.
Both met Dean crouched down examining something in the moist dirt. "Yeah?" Sam acknowledged.
"Look, the bodies were dragged. But here, the tracks just vanish. That's weird."
Troi stood up first and looked up. The trees were tall and situated in places not very close to one another. Sam stood up too and followed her gaze. "I'll tell you what, that's no skin walker or black dog" he whispered.
"I was just thinking that too. They couldn't possibly drag a body then leap into the trees" she agreed. Troi looked down from the trees and her eyes fell on Haley. She was crouching on the ground with some silver thing in her hands.
Troian could see the pain in Haley's eyes and found herself waking slowly towards her. As she got closer, Troian could make out a silver and broken satellite phone in her hand. The phone's screen was cracked and the antenna was crooked. Haley turned the phone over in her hand and a swipe of blood covered the back. She instantly started crying and fell to the dirt. "Whoa, hey. You know he could still be alive" Troi soothed as she crouched down next to her.
"You better be right" Haley sniffled.
Out in the distance a voice echoed through the trees, startling everyone. "Help! Help!" Everyone gathered towards the trail. Roy was standing in front of the group with his gun pointed in the direction of the noise.
"Was that-?" Troi whispered towards Haley. She was cut off by yet another scream rippling through the trees. "Help! Someone!"
Everyone took off at a sprint towards the voice. Roy was originally in the lead, but Dean's long legs eventually earned him the lead. He ran with Roy close behind until they ran into a clearing.
"It seemed like it was coming from around here, didn't it?" Haley asked. No one was in sight and the shouting had stopped.
That's when it dawned on Sam- they all dropped their packs and ran towards the voice. Now, they were in a wide open space without weapons or protection. It was a ploy by this thing to corner them and strip their defense. "Shit" he mumbled under his breath.
"What?" Troi whispered.
"Everyone back to camp!" Sam barked as he took off towards the campsite.
