Chapter 14
"Sam, what are you not telling me?" Cole questioned Sam again when he saw the fear creep into his eyes and body language.
Sam cleared his throat and tried to figure out a way to tell him what made that scream and not sound like a crazy mad man. He looked down at his hands as he sorted his thoughts in his head.
"I'm not going to like what you're trying to say, am I?" Cole asked seeing the frustration and doubt on his face.
"All I ask is that you keep an open mind." Sam started looking over at Cole. "That wasn't an animal in the sense you think. Look, there are things out there in the dark that most people don't know exist and would probably freak out if they knew it did. My brother and I, we hunt them and if called for, we kill them."
"If it wasn't an animal, then what was it? I've never heard a human sound like that."
"That's just it, it's not human, at least not anymore, it's a wendigo." Sam said pausing to let that sink in.
Cole knitted his forehead together, trying to figure out what Sam was talking about. He looked back over at him waiting for him to continue with more information because he had no idea what that was.
"Legend goes, that wendigos were once human until something forced them to become cannibals, like being lost in the wilderness and having to resort to cannibalism in order to survive. Also called the Evil That Devours is larger than humans, emaciated from constant hunger with teeth and fingernails that have grown into fangs and claws; they have speed so fast you can't track it and glowing eyes. It's a damn near perfect hunter during the day, but at night..." Sam pauses giving a short laugh before continuing. "It's smarter than us and can imitate a human voice. That's one of the ways it lures its prey into its clutches."
Sam looked over at Cole for his reaction to what he had just said. He saw puzzlement and confusion pass over his face as Cole tried to digest what Sam had said. After more than ten minutes, Cole finally spoke up.
"So how does this thing die?"
"Fire is about the only thing that will destroy it."
"Great, the one thing we're lacking. So if this thing is killing people, why don't people know about it?"
"From what we know usually it only kills every seventeen to twenty years. It stores its victims for later consumption and can go into a sort of hibernation state."
"Alive or dead?"
"Both, let's just hope we are going away from his hunting grounds."
"This sucks, so now we have two enemies on our asses."
"I know, but from the scream, I think it's still quiet a ways off." Sam said getting up and brushing away leaves and debris from the ground so he could draw symbols for protection.
"What are you doing?"
"Putting down warding to help protect us tonight. It's not much, but it won't hurt." Sam said finishing the last one before he lost all the light and couldn't see. There was a three quarter moon tonight that cast some light around them. Sam looked out into the trees searching for anything that might be out of place. He listened to the night noises knowing it was good to hear them; they were not frightened by the predator.
"You think we're safe for the night?"
"Probably as safe as we can be, try to get some rest."
"What about you?"
"I'll grab a few hours in a bit." Sam said settling down not far from Cole.
"If you wake me, I can take over the watch."
"I should be good."
"Look, it seems like you have more experience than me with what's going on. I need you to be rested and alert if we have any hope of getting out of here. So wake me in a few hours so you can sleep."
"Alright." Sam said realizing he was right. He had to admit with Cole having some military training did give him an advantage that most people wouldn't have and for that he was thankful. Just maybe they could hold out long enough for Dean and the girls to find them and get them out of here.
Sam listened to Cole shifting around until he settled and his breathing evened out as he drifted to sleep. Sam glanced over at him before turning his concentration back to the woods around them. This was going to be a long night; one he was hoping would go by fast.
spn
The bullet sounded very loud and echoed down the hall. Dean felt wetness on his face and the pressure around his throat stopped just before he started to black out. Without being held up, he fell to the floor coughing and trying to draw in a breath. He felt someone take his arm, helping him up as he tried to gain his balance and clear his vision.
"Dean are you ok?" Sky asked as she and one of the other guys helped him stand.
Drawing air in was still hard and painful, but he worked on pulling oxygen into his lungs. He rubbed his throat and tried to speak but only made croaking noises that couldn't be understood.
"Here, drink this." Sky offered pulling out a water bottle and pressing it into Dean's hand.
After taking several very painful swallows, Dean cleared his throat again and looked down at the dead body in front of him seeing the gunshot to the head. He looked up at Sky knowing she was the only one who had a gun and could have shot him.
"I'm not as strict when it comes to killing a human, especially when they're trying to kill someone I know." she shrugged wiping bits of blood from his face.
"Let's..." he started wincing in pain. "...find the others." he finally got out pushing himself away from the wall to look for his gun.
One of the guys saw it and picked it up and handed it back to him. He nodded his thanks and looked over at the five guys they had rescued.
"Any of you use a gun?"
"Damn straight, two years army." one of the younger ones said stepping forward.
"I was raised around them, went hunting with my Dad all the time." another offered.
He reached down and jerked a gun from the dead body and handed it to the first one that answered. He took his gun and gave it to the other guy knowing at the moment he wouldn't be too good of a shot.
"Use them only if ya need to." he said hoarsely.
"Got it." the guys said checking the clips and being sure a bullet was in the chamber.
spn
Dean started down the hall using the wall for support until Sky slid under his arm and helped steady him. They made their way back the way they came without meeting any other resistance. They stopped at the desk waiting for the others to come back. They all turned when movement caught their attention coming from the other hall. The two with guns raised them ready to defend everyone.
"Don't shoot they're with us." Dean told the two guys taking his gun from the one and giving him the guard from the desk gun.
Dean stepped toward the others when he saw Alex limping, Claire holding her arm and Krissy with blood on her face and sizeable bruise already forming on her check. He saw Castiel in the back dragging a guy along with him.
"What the hell happened." he groveled out as loud as he could.
"Met a damn giant." Krissy grunted madly. "What happened to you?"
"Yeah, he took three darts and didn't even slow him down." Claire grimaced.
"Took us all out before Cas took him down." Alex groaned.
"Yeah, met his brother." Dean nodded coughing hard before continuing. "Who's this?"
"He's a pilot; tell him what you told me." Cas growled giving the guy a firm shake.
"Hey man, I was only doing what I was told." the pilot whined. "I took two guys out early this morning to a preserve owned by the company."
"One of them was Sam by his description." Castiel finished.
"Look, here's a map." Krissy told everyone pointing to a framed map on the wall.
"Show me where you took them." he whispered hoarsely.
"Here, there's a cleared area where they're dropped off." he showed them.
The girls studied the map intensely for a few minutes before turning back to the others. Krissy turned on a computer sitting on the desk and begin to speed type going through web sites and looking for information.
"Ok, there's a huge track of land owned by Prichard Holdings. There's a logging road that goes into the mountains and can get us within probably a couple of miles of the landing zone, but it's going to take us couple of hours or more to get there and we probably need four wheel drive." she explained. "Look at this; it looks like a couple of cabins probably three or four miles from the end of the logging road. That must be their base camp."
"We can attack from that side while you and Sky hunt for Sam and her brother." Alex suggested tearing off the part of the map they needed.
"No heroes." Dean ordered the girls.
"We can handle them; they've never dealt with real hunters." Claire told him with confidence.
Dean nodded to the girls before turning back to the pilot.
"There any four wheels around here?" Dean asked getting into the pilot's face.
"Around back at the hanger." he told him backing a step back from an angry Dean.
"Cas can you get me to this spot?"
"Yes now that I know where it is."
"Wait, let me call my uncle, he may be able to help." Sky said picking up the land line and dialing a number.
"Hello Uncle Jethro." she started. "Yes I know what time it is."
Everyone listened to the one sided conservation as she explained what they had found.
"We have a general location on Cole, do you think you could get a thermal scan of the area and see if there are any heat signatures?" she asked. "We're a couple hours northeast of Boulder, Colorado in the mountains."
"Hey, check this out." Krissy grinned pulling a sat phone from a drawer of the desk she was riffling through. "This might come in handy."
"I know, I know...Yes I am...They are helping...I will...I can take care of myself...Can you call me back at 866-659-7513...I will...I'll let ya know when we find him...Thanks Uncle Jethro...Love you."
"What did he say?"
"He's going to wake his agents up and get back to us. If he can help, he will." she said hanging up and handing Krissy the sat phone back.
"After we're gone, you guys called the cops and get them out here. You should be ok here until they get here. All the other guards are tied up and knocked out."
"Thanks man, I hope you find your brother."
"We will." Dean replied. "Come on show me where this hanger is." he hissed shoving the gun in his back and pushing him toward the door.
"What's your plan?" Krissy asked already figuring out part of it.
"I'm coming with you." Sky told Dean as he headed out the door.
"One of the girls will take a four wheel drive, one the Impala and one your car and head for the logging road Kris found. They'll find a place to leave our cars and continue on with the four wheeler. Once we find Sam and Cole we meet up with them somewhere along that road."
"What if the hunters are already there?"
"We stop them." he replied looking over the vehicles parked by a hanger. "Keys?"
"Inside in the office."
"Show me."
The pilot led Dean into the hanger while the others waited outside. Minutes later Dean came out alone with keys and handed them to Claire.
"Cas can you fix her arm?"
"Yes." he said touching Claire's arm gently.
Claire didn't flinch when he touched her arm, but she looked uncomfortable with him doing it. She moved it carefully feeling the pain gone.
"Thanks." she mumbled stepping back from him.
He did the same with Alex before turning to Dean and wrapping a hand around his neck let warmth and healing powers take away his hurt. Dean swallowed easily a couple of times and smiled at him.
"We'll take that one, think you can handle it?" he asked Claire.
"No problem." she said running to get inside it.
"Kris you take my car and Alex can drive Sky's. I don't know if we'll have any signal out there, so once Cas takes us there, he'll come back and ride with you guys."
"How will we know where to meet ya?"
"I'll have Sky pray to Cas, he can find her since she's not warded. Now let's go get the other cars, I wanna get a couple of things out of the trunk before we head into the woods and we need to be out of here 'fore the cops start arriving and askin' questions."
"Here, you'll need this if your uncle calls." Krissy said handing the sat phone back to Sky.
"Thanks." she smiled slipping it in her pack.
A/N: So Sam and Cole have more trouble than they thought. Hope you enjoyed this twist. Thank you for all who have favored, are following and the kind reviews. Let me know what you think, please review.
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