Chapter Ten. We are drawing closer to the end my fellow readers and writers. I hope you enjoy it.
Dean arrived back to a horrible sight. There was no sign of Bobby or Sam. Huntress locked her dark eyes onto to Dean and began to spin around in circles. She was barking frantically and whining. Huntress paddled the ground and Dean felt an icy fear grip his chest.
In that moment he realised Huntress was in no way involved in this. It had to be a Wendigo. There was no other explanation. Although the situation was still dire this thought brought Dean a bit of relief as he knew Wendigo's traditionally kept their victims alive for days to feed off of their blood.
The only reason the picnic must have been different is one of the victims had attacked and enraged it. Even though Sam had found evidence of a blood trail leading off into the woods there was a slim chance that the victim was still alive. Huntress continued to bark and bounce around the motel room until Dean shushed her firmly. Obediently Huntress stopped and regarded Dean with expectancy.
Without a moment's hesitation, Dean grabbed Huntress's harness and roughly aided her in. His hands were shaking. Huntress remained patience, but as soon as she heard Dean clip on her leash she began to pull. Dean allowed a small smile to cross his lips before he went to the Impala and opened the boot. Selecting his trusty flare gun he glanced down at Huntress, who was sitting by his side looking up at him with her tongue hanging out of her mouth.
"Let's go get ourselves a Wendigo!" Dean said with confidence as Huntress began to drag him into the woods.
As they saw the entrance to the cave Huntress strained against the leash. Dean's hand felt raw where the leash had rubbed against it as he had to use all of his strength, struggling to keep Huntress under control. Finally Dean had had enough and at this critical stage he couldn't afford Huntress's excitement to screw it all up. They needed at least the element of surprise. Tugging sharply backwards, the leash temporarily winded and choked Huntress so she let out a small yelp. Dean hissed as quietly as he could,
"Heel Huntress!" Huntress obeyed instantly and Dean gave her a quick scratch behind one of her ears as a reward. "Damn it I hope they are in there," Dean muttered to himself and Huntress nudged his hand with her head. Looking down at her Dean noticed she was wagging her tail madly. "Huh you're that confident that they are inside?" Huntress simply nodded her head and Dean thought his mind was playing tricks on him.
She blinked and waited for Dean's next command. Dean began to creep forward slowly and Huntress followed practically glued to his leg. Her eyes were fixed straight ahead.
Entering, the hunter and his dog were plunged into darkness. The cave felt chilly and drips were continuously whispering. Suddenly, the sound of crunching bones could be heard underfoot and Dean grimaced as he looked down. Pulling out his pocket torch from his jacket Dean shone the beam and saw a decaying corpse. Huntress sneezed and Dean chuckled. Suddenly a series of lights switched on. Huntress and Dean jumped simultaneously.
"What the hell?" Dean said aloud astounded by the artificial lights.
Standing at the back of the cave was the Wendigo its arms hanging by its side. It had a hole in its left ear, where the bullet must have penetrated when the victim had retaliated. Dean could just about make out the shape of his brother and Bobby behind the massive bulk of the Wendigo. This was the moment of truth.
Huntress was growling, but seemed focused on the Wendigo. She wasn't straining against the leash in desperation she was waiting. The Wendigo growled back and began swinging its arms around wildly. Clearly this Wendigo must have been a brainbox as a human. If it had managed to create artificial lights in the ceiling of the cave!
"I don't know about you, but I don't think your home improvements are quite complete. I think the walls need a splash of red. What do you say Huntress?" Dean grinned as Huntress briefly stopped growling and looked up at Dean.
If Huntress was a human Dean swore she would have been smirking. The Wendigo went down onto all fours and began to charge. Dean bent down and unclipped the leash. Standing up he yelled "Sic 'em Huntress!".
Bounding forward Huntress flung herself at the massive bulk and began to rip at its face. Growling malevolently the Wendigo grabbed Huntress and slammed her against the rock wall. Holding her there it began to rip at her with its long claws. Huntress whimpered in pain, but she never stopped flailing and fighting back. Dean seized his chance. He had no time to feel sorry for Huntress. His main priority was to rescue his brother and Bobby.
Adrenaline pumped through his body and Dean leapt behind the back of the Wendigo. Noticing him the Wendigo snarled and threw Huntress in the opposite direction. Hitting the ground Huntress began to spin around on the sharp rocks. Digging her claws into the gravelly ground she managed to grip and regain her balance. Ignoring the pain Huntress charged forward in pursuit of the Wendigo, who was rapidly enclosing on Dean.
Reaching his brother and unaware of the danger Dean smiled as Sam's eyes flew open.
"Dean?" Sam questioned in surprise. Marks were in his neck from where the Wendigo had been feeding and apart from a couple of scratches he looked fine. Dean pulled out his pocket knife and began to cut the ropes.
"Dean, behind you!" Bobby called hoarsely as Dean flipped onto his back and poised his flare gun to shoot the Wendigo. However, the Wendigo got there first and slashed the flare gun out of Dean's hands. Clutching his arm where blood was now pouring from, Dean braced himself for the end. The Wendigo raised its gangly arm again, standing tall on its back legs. Snarling and snapping.
However, Huntress flew through the air and clamped her fangs down onto the Wendigo's arm causing it to screech in pain. Using all of the strength she could muster, Huntress began to push her weight down through her body forcing the Wendigo to bend forward. All the while she was tearing at its arm, she refused to let go. Dean had no time to even register the impossibility of what he was witnessing.
Instead he lunged for his flare gun and pulled the trigger, aiming at the Wendigo's head. Black smoke puffed out of the gun, but no flare ejected.
"Shit." Dean swore, distress rang through his tone.
I apologise for such long chapters in this story. So I have decided to carry this one over and I thought ending the chapter like this seemed quite fitting ;) A tiny bit of suspense. Please feel free to review any positive or negative criticisms are accepted.