On the way to the cabin, we stopped at a store that sold supplies for camping and hunting, and Mr. Winchester had insisted that I get a pair of hiking boots and a heavy coat. I only had tennis shoes and they were still wet and cold from the night before.

The hiking boots didn't seem to keep me from tripping over things, but at least my feet were warm and dry. I followed behind Sam as we walked through the forest. The day was bright and cold as we walked, and we could see our breath.

My stomach twisted nervously the closer we got to the cabin. Once we were inside, Mr. Winchester beckoned me. He handed me a flashlight that had a long bulb in it.

"You're going to man the light for me," he told me, "I want you to hold it up for me so that I can see what's around."

Even though the sun was high overhead, it was still dim in parts of the cabin because of the trees that surrounded the building. I stayed by Mr. Winchester as he went through piles of books and newspapers on the floor, holding the light where he told me to. He kept my attention by talking to me every so often.

"Is this the box?" Dean brought over an old looking wooden box, with a hollowed out space for a gun inside and small round holes for bullets.

"Yes, it most likely is," Mr. Winchester said, "Keep looking, see if you can find any info on vampires."

I followed him as he combed through the room, and then he found Elkin's journal. "I'll have to spend some time looking through this later, don't have time right now." he said. He found a canvas bag with a shoulder strap, and put the journal in it, and then spent some time removing papers and maps from the wall. He put a couple of other books in the bag as well.

I was starting to shake from the cold. Even though I had a heavy coat, and was wearing a cap and gloves, standing still was starting to take a toll on me.

"Dad, we might want to take a break," Sam said.

Mr. Winchester stood up from where he had squatted down reading through an old book. "Hmm?" he looked over as saw me. "Oh...all right. I guess we can stop for now."

Dean walked over to me. "You holding up okay?" he asked.

I nodded.

He reached into a pocket and pulled out two packets, bending them and handing them to me. "Here, it's handwarmers," he told me, "put them in your pockets and it'll get your hands a little warmer until we can get to the car."

"Thanks," I said gratefully. I handed the flashlight to him and he followed his Dad over to where the bag was on the floor. Mr. Winchester shouldered the bag. "Let's go."

We had been walking for several minutes when he stopped. "Listen," he said.

I looked around, holding my breath. There was nothing, but I felt the hair on the back of my neck stand up.

"What is it?" Dean asked in a whisper.

"All the birds have stopped," Mr. Winchester said quietly, "There's something here with us."

"What do you think, a Wendigo?" Sam looked around.

"Could it be them?" Dean's voice was barely a breath, "I thougt they could only come out at night."

"No, they can come out during the day, they just move slower. Don't think they'd be up here in the mountains, though, the cold would make them even slower. No, it's something else," Mr. Winchester pulled out a gun, "Stay close, boys."

I had started to shake again, not just from the cold. I turned my head back and forth, trying to see what could be there. The woods had the same kind of stillness to them that had been there right before the Wendigo had jumped me, right before the Black Dog had run at me. My breathing started to get shallow.

"What if- what if it gets us?" I hissed, "How are we going to get back to the car?"

Sam turned back to me. "It's all right," he said. He had gotten a gun out too.

I felt like I couldn't move- I was too frightened. I grabbed ahold of a tree trunk.

Dean came up behind me. "Zan! What are you doing, kid?"

"Don't—want-to move -" I breathed, "I-I'm scared," I said in a small voice.

"Dad!" Dean called quietly, "Hold up!"

Mr. Winchester had started to walk ahead, and came back to us. "What?" he snapped, looking at me, "Come on, we've got to keep moving. Zan, we don't have time for this! Move!"

A moment later Sam pried my hands off of the tree and then swung me onto his hip. I wrapped my arms around him and buried my face in his chest as he carried me.

He set me down when we got to the clearing where the vehicles were parked. No-one talked as we got in and followed Mr. Winchester down off of the mountain. As the car got warm, I felt myself relaxing and getting sleepy.

The phone ringing woke me up. Dean answered, and said, "Yeah Dad. You did? Okay...you want us to—yeah, will do. All right, see ya."

He looked over at Sam. "Dad got a notification on the police scanner that a couple went missing, he's going to go check it out. He wants us to drop Zan at the motel and then join him," he glanced back at me, "We'll stop and get you some food, okay?"

I leaned forward. "You're going to drop me off at the motel? But- I want to stay with you!"

Dean shook his head. "We're going to be trying to track these vamps, can't have you along for the ride."

"But—I can wait in the car! I won't—I won't be in the way, I promise!"

"No, it's not safe. Better that you wait for us at the motel."

Dean pulled into the parking lot of a Gas-n-Sip and went into the store. He was back in a few minutes with a plastic bag.

He and Sam came into the room with me, and he went over to his duffle and got something out. "Here, this is one of my extra phones," he said, pressing some buttons. "I've unlocked it for you, and look, number 1 is my phone, number 2 is Sam's phone, number 3 is Dad's phone, and number 4 is Dad's other phone. Go down the list if there's a problem. We'll be back soon."

"You got this," Sam said with a smile. I hugged him quickly, and then turned to Dean and gave him a hug too.

It wasn't like I wasn't used to being alone in a motel room. Dad left me alone all the time while he hunted. The difference was that with him, I dreaded him coming back, whereas with the Winchesters, I wanted them to come back. I realized that I felt safe with them.

I turned on the t.v., and sat down to watch cartoons. As the day wore on I got hungry, so I looked through the bag that Dean had brought in. He'd gotten some bags of chips and snacks, and some microwaveable containers of soup and pasta. I microwaved a container of ravioli and ate it while trying to watch a John Wayne movie. It wasn't the same without Dean here providing commentary.

I got out my coloring books and worked on them for a while, then I tried to solve the Rubik's cube. I managed to get three sides figured out. By then it was dark, and I was hungry again. I microwaved a container of soup and ate a bag of chips. I didn't want to go to bed by myself, so I stayed up, finding a channel that was showing old Disney cartoons.

I woke up when there was a bang on the motel door. Then it opened quickly, slamming back against the wall.

Sam came in first, with Mr. Winchester and Dean holding a man between them. The man had his hands tied behind his back and he was slumped over. He looked out of it, and his eyes were only half open. "Where—did'jou—get—dead-man's blood-" he slurred.

"Zan, go into the bathroom and close the door," Mr. Winchester said, "Don't come out until one of us opens the door."

The man raised his head suddenly and focused on me- I felt like I had seen him somewhere before. He tilted his head back and sniffed the air.

"I know- you, I recognize- your smell," he said, "You're the- sister of that delicious little girl with the blonde ringlets, aren't you?"

I knew then, that he was one of the vampires who had killed my mother and sister.

He grinned meanly, "Ohhh, she was-"

"Zan, go! NOW!" Mr. Winchester barked.

At the same moment, rage surged up in me. I rushed towards the vampire, clenching my fists. "You fucker! You killed my mom an' my sister!" I shrieked.

"NO!" someone bellowed, and arms circled my waist from behind and lifted me off the ground. I pounded on them and kicked my feet.

"Zan, stop!" Sam shouted, dragging me backwards.

"Your father was such a stupid fool, thought he could take on a whole nest himself," the vamp chuckled, "I've never seen a sloppier hunter, he didn't know what he was doing, and look, it got half his family killed."

Sam had dragged me into the bathroom, and he set me on the closed toilet seat.

Mr. Winchester appeared at the door. He looked livid. "You stay in here until I come get you, and that's an order," he said in a hard voice. He stepped away and Sam left me in the room, closing the door behind him.

I could hear them talking in low voices. I heard the vampire say, "You think that's going to scare me?"

Then I heard Dean say, "Tell us where!" in a loud voice.

I wrapped my arms around myself and shivered. I couldn't believe that one of the vampires that had killed my mother and sister was in the other room. What were they going to do with him?

It felt like I was in the bathroom for hours, but finally the door opened. Mr. Winchester looked at me, "We're going to take care of the nest," he told me, "We should be back in a few hours- do not leave the room."

"Yes sir," I said meekly.

He stepped back and I came out the bathroom.

Sam was folding up a tarp and the door was open, cold air was flowing into the room. I shivered and wrapped my arms around myself again. There was a bloody knife atop a pile of bloody rags, and Sam picked them up and put them into a garbage bag.

The straight-backed desk chair had ropes tied around the back and the legs, and it looked like there was a shiny substance on them.

Sam had taken the tarp and the bag out to the car, and he came back in and picked something else up. It was a pillowcase from one of the motel pillows, and it looked like it had a ball in it. Then I noticed that the end of the case was red- like blood. I didn't want to think about what could be in it.

Mr. Winchester pointed at the bed. "You get your butt into bed," he said tersely, "When we get back, you and I are going to have a talk about obeying orders."

Sam picked up the bloody machete, and walked outside.

Mr. Winchester left, closing the door hard, and I heard the key in the lock.

I climbed into bed and pulled the covers up, shivering from the cold and also from nerves. I was worried for them- were they going to try and fight a whole nest of vampires? What if something bad happened? I curled up in a ball under the covers. I couldn't believe I'd run at the vamp. I couldn't believe I'd disobeyed Mr. Winchester like that. What was going to happen when they came back to the room?