Disclaimer- Supernatural and all its characters belong to the CW and Kripke.
Previously on Supernatural- Sam hesitated for a second before he took Meghan's hand and walked back into the woods.
Officer Wilson breathed a sigh of relief as the park entrance came into view. "Finally" he thought as he turned into the park and followed the road to the campgrounds. He parked beside the only car in the lot, a black impala. Reaching across the seat, he picked up his pack and grabbed the flashlight out of the glove compartment before stepping out of the car. He scanned the area quickly for any signs of life. Finding none he stepped up to the front of the cars where he observed several sets of footprints leading into the woods. Squatting down to get a closer look, he noticed that there appeared to be three sets of footprints, one distinctly smaller than the others. After another glance at the prints, Officer Wilson stood and followed them into the woods. He had a family to reunite.
Meghan and Sammy had been walking for at least an hour before they came to a fallen tree. Knowing that her friend wasn't going to be able to walk much farther, Meghan decided to stop for awhile to rest. "Let's take a break, Sammy." she suggested.
"But what about the bad man, Meghan" Sam questioned?
"We'll be okay, Sammy. We're just going to stop for a few minutes to catch our breath. He won't find us here." she told him.
"Are you sure?" Sam asked staring up at her with a fearful expression.
"Of course I am" Meghan said with more confidence than she felt. "Why don't you put Muffin down so she can stretch her legs?"
"Okay" Sammy said. He patted the pup a couple of times before carefully placing her on the ground. "Now you stay close, Muffie. Understand?"
Happy to be turned loose, the little puppy ran around sniffing at everything in her path. Tail wagging she explored the flora near the log and her owner. She continued to romp around and play while the children sat and watched.
As he sat resting Sam's mind was replaying the flight through the woods. Everything kept coming back to one puzzling point. Gathering up his courage Sam turned to his friend and asked the question that had been bugging him since they left the cabin. "Meghan, how did you know that truck belonged to a bad man?"
Meghan grimaced as she heard her friend's question. She had hoped he wouldn't question her about it. She really didn't want to talk about what had happened, and she definitely didn't want to scare the little boy anymore than he already was. But he had asked which meant she had to tell him something. Taking a deep breath, she began, "I know that's a bad man because he hurt someone close to me a long time ago. We were playing in front of my cabin one evening when he came and took her away."
Questions tumbled out of Sam's mouth before he could stop himself. "Did they find your friend? Was she alright? Did the police catch him and take him to jail?"
"Whoa, slow down, squirt! One thing at a time" Meghan instructed. "Now to answer your questions, yes, they found my friend after several days. And no she wasn't alright. The police did question him but they let him go. They said they didn't have any evidence to put him in jail."
Sammy pondered the story for a minute. Then he spoke again. "But didn't you tell them what you saw?"
Meghan watched Muffin playing for a few seconds before turning back to her friend. "I tried. But the police and everyone else just ignored me. It was like I was invisible or something." Meghan told him. Not wanting to discuss it anymore, she added, "C'mon, we better get moving again if we're going to stay ahead of him."
Sam called Muffin who came running and jumped in his arms. Sammy stroked the pup's fur before he wearily stood next to Meghan. Together they made their way deeper into the woods.
John pushed Dean behind him blocking him from the bushes and whatever lay beyond them. Guns aimed at the target, Bobby and John stood shoulder to shoulder awaiting the latest threat. The closer the rustling got the more tense the hunters became. Fingers on triggers they waited for their adversary to show itself. After what felt like hours, the leaves on the bushes finally parted to reveal the enemy; an opossum. The opossum took one look at the two hunters and immediately fell over and played dead.
Dean stared from the men to the possum and back again before bursting out laughing. "Great job, guys. You saved me from that horrible monster! What would I have done without you two?" He managed to get out between laughs.
Bobby looked back at Dean like he'd grown two heads. "I think Dean's been out here too long, Johnny." Bobby said watching the boy as he tried to get himself back under control. When no reply came, Bobby turned to look at his friend and was shocked to see the oldest Winchester fighting back his own laughter. "Shit! Not you, too" Bobby exclaimed!
John managed to compose himself before speaking. "C'mon old man, you've gotta admit that it's alittle funny." he coaxed.
Frowning, Bobby turned and started walking again, shoulders shaking as he struggled to keep his own laughter at bay. "You Winchesters have a very warped sense of humor." he called back to his friend.
John and Dean exchanged glances before running to catch up with their friend. Getting along side Bobby, John matched his stride while Dean walked ahead a few paces. Walking backwards in front of the hunters, Dean peered up at his dad and Bobby. "Pot meet kettle" he introduced breaking into a smug grin.
Clyde Taylor pulled his truck behind the last cabin on the road and got out. Quickly grabbing his bag of supplies, he started towards the woods. He couldn't believe his luck. He'd started for the park as soon as he had heard about the missing boy. Keeping the radio on for any news he was thrilled that they didn't find the child before dark knowing that the search would be called off until morning. That gave him plenty of time to find the boy and have a little fun with him. It had been a long time since he'd had a child that young. Clyde preferred girls but a boy would do nicely. After all opportunities like this don't come along every day, and he was determined to make the most of it. Stalking towards the woods, he knew he only had a few hours to track, catch, and play with the boy before the police and rangers started the search up again. He walked into the woods thinking of all the fun he was going to have.
Meghan and Sammy slowly continued their trek through the woods with Muffin following along behind. They had talked about anything and everything trying to stay awake and alert. Too exhausted to talk anymore, they both concentrated on just putting one foot in front of the other. Hearing a noise behind them stopped them in their tracks. Holding their breaths the two friends listened intently to determine what the noise was. Once again a shuffling noise came from the woods behind them. Someone was coming! Meghan grabbed Sam by the hand, and the two took off running in the opposite direction of the shuffling noise. Not caring where they were headed they dashed through the woods at top speed. Suddenly, the trees were gone and the ground dropped out beneath their feet! They felt themselves falling farther and farther down. Hitting the ground hard, Sammy lay unmoving. Meghan crawled over to her friend and checked him over. She was relieved when she felt a strong pulse and saw his chest rising and falling steadily. Stroking his hair she started whispering quietly to him hoping her voice would wake him up. She gave up after several minutes when no response came from the boy. Deciding she had to find a way to get them out of this situation, she looked around. They appeared to be on a ledge of a cliff. "Of course" Meghan thought. "How could I have forgotten about the cliffs?" Glancing back down at Sammy, she knew she wasn't going to be able to get him up the cliff on her own. She needed help, but she couldn't leave him here by himself. While she was racking her brain for a way out of this mess, a faint bark caught her attention. Looking up, she noticed Muffin standing at the edge of the cliff staring down at them. That was it! Muffin could help! Meghan hoped Muffie would listen to her and trust her just this once.
"Muffie" Meghan shouted. "Sammy's hurt. Go get help!" When the pup didn't move, Meghan tried again. "Go get help, Muffin" she called. "Hurry! Sammy's needs help! Go get Dean!" The name seemed to do the trick as Muffin quickly turned and disappeared from view. Meghan sat back down beside Sam making herself as comfortable as possible. Running her fingers through his curly brown locks she whispered to her friend and prayed that Muffin would find help and bring them back in time.