A/N: I finally got the time to write this, so here it is! Things are definitely starting to come together.. I hope you've all got something to hang on to because the action will be picking up soon. On a sidenote for this chapter, I feel like I made Gwen a little much like Ellen because I'm used to writing Ellen more so than Gwen... Maybe it's just me.

Also, here's a shoutout for all my followers and loyal readers and just everyone. You guys are my reason for writing and I just want to thank you for being patient and supportive. You may all have a lollipop, courtesy of Gabe, and I hope you can bear with my erratic updates for the rest of this story.

The rest of the day passed slowly, Dean's group staying inside and playing games or just talking and generally trying to avoid Michael's posse. It wasn't until that night, when Dean and Cas were leaving cabin 3A to get some shuteye just before curfew that Dean decided on a course of action. At least a temporary one.

"I'm gonna hide out and see if they leave again tonight. See what they're up to," Dean said to Cas when they were standing outside of their cabin.

Cas gave him a dubious expression. "I don't think that's a good idea. They could…hurt you," he said in a small voice.

Dean smiled a little. "I'll be fine. I don't think they'll do much, plus I won't give them the chance to catch me."

"I'll stay with you, then."

"No, Cas, it's not…"

"Safe?"

Dean grinned at the hole he'd dug himself into. "Fine, but you have to do what I say or else we might get caught."

Smiling, Cas' eyes glinted. "Deal."

They hid in a dimly lit grove of trees with a direct view of cabin 6A. Dean was determined to wait at least an hour or two and hope that Michael and the others would leave and head out to where they were the night before, or at least go somewhere that they could spy on them.

Dean was just getting comfortable leaning on a tree a bit from the path when he heard footsteps crunching on the dirt and glanced around to see Gwen heading their way. He held his breath and counted on the shadows to hide the, meeting Cas' eyes and motioning for him to be silent, but he would have no such luck. Gwen stopped near where they were and tilted her head to listen.

He thought quickly, what could they do if they were caught? Excuses… they wouldn't work on Gwen, he just knew. He had an idea suddenly. Barely making a sound, Dean moved to Cas and pressed his back into the tree he was party hidden behind. Cas' eyes widened in surprise until Dean covered his mouth with his own in a slow, passionate kiss. Dean prayed that Gwen wouldn't see them, but if she did, he figured she'd probably leave them alone.

As it turned out, she did see them, and Dean looked out the corner of his line of sight to see her brows rise. Making a show of ignoring her, Dean slid a hand under Cas' shirt in plain view and continued kissing him. It barely took any energy to get absorbed in Cas, though, and his tongue moved across his mouth until Cas easily gave in and returned the assault of his kiss with fervor.

Dean opened his eyes slightly and in his peripheral vision caught Gwen shaking her head and moving past. Even after she was gone, he continued the kissing his boyfriend for a solid couple of minutes before pulling away with a grin. He was a little out of breath, and so was Cas, who was also sporting a nice pink flush.

"Nice job," Cas muttered, eliciting a flash of Dean's ego in the form of another wide grin.

"Only thing I could think of," Dean said with a slight shrug.

"Obviously." Cas had a mischievous smile of his own that Dean would have kissed again if he hadn't heard the quiet sound of a door opening nearby. He pulled Cas a little more behind the tree and stood behind him, hands on his hips so they could both lean out from behind the trunk and see what was happening.

Three figures were quietly leaving 6A and slipping around to the backside where they disappeared from sight. Dean glanced at Cas and they shared a look before both moving from cover and looking to make sure there was no one else around. They went around the back of the cabin, peeking out from around the corner and dismayed to find the trio was nowhere in sight and hadn't left any trails. Stepping from cover, Dean turned towards Cas.

"Damn… They must have run or something," he mused aloud.

Cas was looking at the ground, wandering towards a group of trees. "Dean, come here," he called out. Dean immediately looked over and went to him.

"You find anything?"

"I'm… not sure." Cas crouched to look at something on the ground, though it was difficult to see in the darkness surrounding them. Dean kneeled beside him and tried to see what Cas was seeing.

"Are those…?"

"Dogs made these, Dean," Cas said matter-of-factly, his eyes regarding the imprints of padded feet in the dirt.

"There are no dogs around here, except that one… and there's at least two sets here." Dean stood, feeling disconcerted beyond belief. "How the hell are these even here?"

Cas sighed lightly and looked at him directly in the eyes. "I think there is more happening here than we thought."

"Shit…" Dean ran a hand over his face. "Alright, we'll talk to Sammy tomorrow and check this out again in the light. Meanwhile, we should get back because someone's coming." His eyes were trained back to the path where he saw a light moving from far off and a figure walking with it. "Damn, it's your dad. We really better go."

Cas gave a pained sigh and followed him back into cover, weaving between trees off the beaten path to get to 7A, which was only about a hundred yards away and around a corner, but still felt like forever considering how slowly they had to move to avoid Zach. But they made it to 7A without a hitch and slid inside, Dean breathing out in relief until he realized that the lights were on and someone was standing with their arms crossed in the middle of the room.

"Gwen?!" Dean exclaimed, more than a little surprised to see her there.

"Hi, boys," she said cheerfully, brushing a bit of her dark hair behind her ear.

"Ms. Campbell," Cas greeted her cordially, looking considerably less surprised than Dean.

She gave him a little smile of approval, having known him for quite some time because of her work related relation to Zach. "Before you ask why I'm here, I'm sure you already know. Don't think I don't know what you two have been up to."

At that, Dean and Cas shared a look. "I really don't think you know," Dean dared to say.

"You're trying to figure out the black dog that keeps showing up."

Dean gaped at her. "You know about that?"

"Of course," Gwen replied easily, "this is my camp after all."

"What is it?" Cas asked quietly.

"A black dog."

Rolling his eyes, Dean gave her a look. "Obviously."

With an expression bordering on contempt, Gwen replied, "Not your average black dog, but an ethereal version of one. They're usually native to the UK and are generally regarded as death omens. It's said that whoever sees one will die, or one of their family will."

"That's bull!"

"Obviously," Gwen shot back. It really seemed like she didn't like Dean and he had no idea why. "You've seen him, and so have I, and so have countless others over the years, though nobody has died from it. So yeah, it's bull. But because you two and your little group seemed intent on figuring out the big mystery, I figured it was time to step in. No one is supposed to know about this, and it usually just gets passed around as a ghost story, ignored mostly and definitely not looked into by a ragtag Scooby-Doo team."

"Hey, we're not like Scooby-Doo!" Gwen just laughed. Dean looked at Cas, who was staring at the floor in contemplation.

"That solves one mystery," he said quietly. "But there's still something else."

"What do you mean?" Gwen asked, her interest peaked.

Cas met Dean's eyes and they both made a silent decision. "It's nothing," Cas told her. "Just thinking out loud. I guess now that we know about the dog…"

"Why is it hanging around here anyway?" Dean asked, crossing his arms.

Gwen shrugged. "No idea. It's been here a lot longer than I have, I know that. It's strange, more so than the usual strange of one of those, but I have no clue as to what it's doing here. So far, nothing has ever happened to anyone, so I'm letting it be."

Cas had moved away from them slightly, calculating something in his head, but he was still paying attention enough to ask, "Isn't that dangerous?"

Shrugging again, Gwen just said, "Hasn't been an issue so far." She let out a deep breath. "Anyway, I suppose I'll let you two catch some shuteye. It is past curfew after all." She moved towards the door and had it open before she turned back to look at Dean. "And don't think next time I'll walk away just 'cause you're making out with your boyfriend, either."

As the door closed, Dean started to laugh. He rubbed his forehead with his hand and glanced at Cas. "Well, that was interesting."

Cas sat on the bottom of his bunk. "Yes, but it still leaves the question of Michael and the others."

Sighing, Dean moved towards the bathroom. "Let's just stick to the plan and tell Sam in the morning. We can figure this out when the sun comes up. In the meantime, I say we get some well-deserved sleep." He went to relieve himself quickly as Cas just sat on the edge of the bed, looking troubled.

"I just don't get it!" Sam nearly shouted in frustration. They were all sitting around the campfire the next evening, the three boys having finally filled in Brady and Jess about the happenings around camp, though leaving out some unnecessary parts regarding Michael and Dean. Both had taken it quite well, surprisingly, and Dean found he was glad for the extra brainpower on the team.

Dean sighed into his hand. "I know," he said in a tired voice. They had been brainstorming all day the different possibilities that could explain the trio of baddies. Still, they were no closer to an answer than the night before. Nothing anyone could think of seemed plausible… "Maybe because it's not!" Dean mused quietly.

"What's not?" Cas asked beside him.

Dean abruptly stood to pace slightly. "Okay, so we've been thinking about things that could be possible to actually exist to explain this shit. But maybe this is something impossible. Maybe we can't figure it out because we're trying too hard to make it fit with normal logic, when all of this is anything but normal."

"So, you're saying we need to take into account all sides and not just what we think of as natural, right?" Jess asked, sorting through what Dean had just said.

"Yeah. I mean a damned ghost dog is seriously unnatural, so maybe this is, too."

"Good thinking, Dean." Sam put his chin in his palm, pursing his lips to think again.

"It's gotta be shapeshifters," Brady suddenly piped up.

"Shapeshifters?" Dean asked with a smidgen of doubt.

"Yeah, you know, like people who can turn into animals or other people. That sort of thing."

"Skinwalkers," Cas whispered. Dean looked at him. "Humans who are also dogs, they're called skinwalkers," he said, loud enough for everyone to hear.

"What do you know about them?" Sam asked.

He shrugged. "Not very much. I came across something about them in a book one time. They can be any kind of dog generally, from a poodle to a wolfdog."

"Are they like werewolves or something? Like full moon and eating people kind of thing?" Dean's mind was whirring with the new information, seeing it fit in a lot of ways.

Cas shook his head. "Not in that sense, no. They can change forms whenever they want, I think, and as humans they still have a good sense of smell and hearing."

Dean thought back to when he'd been spying on the other boys and they had all turned like they'd smelled him at the same time when the breeze blew by. He shivered slightly just thinking about how creepy it had been. "Yeah, that makes a lot of sense actually."

"So we've got a freaking ghost dog haunting the grounds and three skinwalkers who've got it out for us. Fantastic." Brady huffed and brooded silently as Sam laughed and Jess cracked a smile.