A/N: So these next few chapters are going to once again be filled with angst. We will also see the return of Jake who appeared earlier in chapter ten. Hope you all enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural.

The house was quiet...actually to quiet for Natalie's taste. She had never witnessed Bobby's house become so still, almost like no one was living there. The four of them tried passing their time by being out in the garage, reading or looking at possible jobs. In the midst of all of this, they hardly uttered a word to each other. It wasn't the fact they were trying to ignore each other, they simply didn't know what to say. Losing Ellen and Jo, had numbed all of them to their very core.

Natalie has spent most of the time, lounging on the couch and reading through her father's diary. Nothing else could catch her attention. Not even the multiple calls that were coming from her sister and aunt. All of them, Natalie would simply ignore without any regret. She didn't have the capacity to try and have a conversation with either of them.

Bobby came rolling into the room, gazing at Natalie on the couch and then to Sam and Dean who were sitting at his desk. "Well, I think I might have found a job for the three of you."

Sam and Dean remained silent, giving Bobby a small nod while Natalie hummed in response. "I got a call from your Aunt, Nad." Natalie's eyes moved from the page in the book over to Bobby. "First, off...you need to answer your damn phone." Natalie rolled her eyes and closed her father's journal. "And second, the job is in Pierce, Nebraska. Twenty confirmed missing reports in the last three months."

Natalie's brows raised in surprise. "Is there anything that links these disappearances?" Natalie asked, leaning up on the couch.

"Well, the victims' cars were found abandoned on a stretch of road, practically out in the middle of nowhere. All of them, within close proximity with each other."

"You think this is worth checking out?" Sam asked.

Bobby shrugged. "It seems like it. I mean these people practically were wiped off the radar. No trace of them anywhere."

Natalie bit the inside of her cheek and gazed over at the boys. Dean stood from his chair, "Well, I say we go and see what all of this is about." Sam nodded in agreement and stood from his chair, grabbed his coat and walked out of the room with Dean behind him.

Natalie stood from the couch and picked up her coat, pausing when Bobby handed her something. "Your Aunt wired it over to me. Information about the victims you three may need."

Natalie nodded and took the folder from him. "Thanks, Bobby." Natalie walked past him and grabbed her bag from the kitchen table.

"You sure that you're alright to be going out on a job? All three of you?" Bobby asked Natalie.

Natalie shrugged and slid her arms through the straps of her bag. "Might as well. It gives us something to keep ourselves occupied with."

Bobby nodded his head solemnly and watched as Natalie got ready to leave. "Oh and Nad." Natalie stopped and turned back to him. "Please, call them. So that they can stop worrying."

Natalie half smiled and nodded, "Alright, I will."

The Impala was parked on the side of a stretch of road that went for miles. On either side of this road was nothing but open fields. Natalie would be lying if she said that she didn't enjoy this type of scenery. Growing up and staying out nearly all night in some meadow with her family, it grows on you. Natalie always found herself to be someone who enjoys rural areas instead of urban areas.

Natalie grabbed the folder Bobby gave to her and got out of the Impala. She walked over to the front of the car where Sam and Dean were standing.

Dean laid out the map on the hood, with Natalie and Sam on either side of him. "Alright, so the last victim, Ally Harrison, went missing..." Natalie eyes shifted from the map to the reports that her Aunt had sent, then she pointed her finger to an area on the map. "...right here. She was

making a phone call when she went out of range and lost connection. That's the last trace they have from her."

Dean nodded silently and scanned the map himself. Noticing that there was a pattern with where the victims cars were located. Dean reached over for the folder in Natalie's hands and read through it. "Well, found another link between them. All of the victims' cars were found within a ten mile radius of each other."

Natalie grabbed the side of the folder and read through the information Dean was talking about and then focused her attention on the map. "Can't believe I missed that."

"Right, so where do we go from here?" Sam asked.

"I say we head to the spot where Ally went missing. Try and see if we can find anything there." Natalie offered.

"Right." Dean folded the map and handed the folder back over to Natalie. "Let's get going then."

….

Dean pulled the Impala over to the side of the road, upon reaching the spot where Ally had gone missing. Natalie rolled down the window and leaned her head out, her eyes scanning the area around them. All there was before them were fields, a few hills and a vast, yet open woodland in the distance. She spotted a faint and worn down trail that led through the open field and disappeared behind a small hill.

Natalie turned to look at Dean. "Hey, maybe we should follow the trail. It might lead us to something."

Dean looked through the passenger window, spotting the trail and then nodded his head. "Just what we need. A creepy trail that may lead us to something unwelcoming." Dean commented.

He turned the Impala onto the trail and slowly drove down the path. The Impala drove around the corner of the hill to reveal just another small open patch of field that laid in front of the woods. But, there was a car that was parked near the hill.

Natalie's brows furrowed at the sight of the vehicle, something about the familiarity of it sparked her senses. Dean parked the car just a few feet away from the vehicle and Natalie quickly got out. Sam and Dean headed to the trunk and opened it, taking out their bags and guns. Natalie quickly grabbed her bag and gun before heading over to the car.

She peered in through the window and began to thoroughly examine the car. Why is it so familiar? Natalie circled the car a few times, searching her head for an explanation. Finally, it came to her and her face lit up. She turned back to Sam and Dean, "This car belongs to Jake's dad."

Dean's brows furrowed as he walked over to her, "Jake?" Dean's face then fell with annoyance and he sighed, "You mean that kid you were talking to outside the diner that one night?"

Natalie nodded, a small smile tugging at her lips. "Yeah. His dad has had this car for a long time. I mean years. Since Jake was a kid. Kind of like the whole deal with the Impala."

Dean hummed in response, taking a brief look at the car before narrowing his eyes slightly. "Well, what are they doing here?"

Natalie scoffed lightly. "We aren't the only hunters Dean. They probably heard about the disappearances and decided to check it out."

"Yeah, well, just because they are here, doesn't mean we are just gonna leave all of this to them." Dean turned around and scanned the woods before them. "Let's go."

Natalie followed Dean with her eyes, her face dropping in its expression. She adjusted her bag on her back before trudging forward with Sam following behind. He's got that over protective attitude coming out again.

The three of them made their way into the woods only to have to walk up a fairly steep hill. Natalie took only a small amount of pleasure of being out in nature like this. She could almost relate it to hiking, though hiking never involved looking for something that was responsible for multiple people going missing.

The hill soon began to level out, allowing the three of them to breathe a sigh of relief. They came across a series of small buildings, almost like a village of sorts. Natalie looked over at Sam, seeing the equal confused look on his face.

"Isn't this just homey?" Dean commented.

They walk out from the woods and towards one of the small houses. Natalie walked up to one of the windows that had been shattered, save for a few shards. "What is this? I mean it just looks like an abandoned village."

"Could have been just a very small community of people who lived here. Seems to happen a lot, especially out in the country." Sam said, walking up behind her.

Natalie hummed in response but soon felt her body freeze at the sounds of footsteps inside of the house. She leaned closer to the window, her head peering in through one of the openings. There was nothing she could see that would make footsteps. She continued to scan the room, when someone popped up from under the ledge of the window inside the home.

Natalie jumped back in surprise, seeing the barrel of a gun pointed at her. She thought, in that moment, she was about to be shot, that she would most likely die on this job. Everything seemed to rush through her mind, as she closed her eyes, preparing for the worst.

"Natalie?"

A voice questioned, causing her to hesitantly open her eyes. Looking in through the window, Natalie saw that familiar face looking back at her. "Jake?"

Jake pulled his gun back and walked away from the window. The front door soon opened as Jake walked out. "Sorry. Thought you were something else."

Natalie let out a relieved breath. "No, it's fine. Uhm..." Natalie could feel someone walk up behind her and she didn't have to look to know that it was Sam.

"I see you have the Winchesters with you as well." Jake said lightly.

Dean walked over to Natalie and stood next to her. "Yeah. Is that a problem?"

Natalie casted Dean a hard glare. "Dean."

"No, I don't have a problem with that." Jake responded. Another man walked out from the house and Natalie couldn't help the smile that appeared on her face. It was Jake's father, David Smith, and Natalie was honestly glad to see him.

David paused and looked at the people around him. The two men he had never seen before but his eyes settled on Natalie. "Natalie Collins. Been a hell of a long time since I last saw you."

Natalie's smile grew. "It's nice to see you too. Sorry, I haven't really kept in contact, it's just been...crazy, I guess you could say."

David nodded understandingly and soon glanced over at Sam and Dean. "Who are they?"

"I'm Dean Winchester. And this is my brother Sam."

David's brows raised in realization. "Ah, the Winchesters. I've met your father but never had the privilege of meeting you boys."

"That seems to be quite a common thing." Sam chimed in.

"So, I'm guessing these disappearances are why you three are here, correct?" David questioned.

Natalie nodded. "Yeah, my Aunt found out about it and sent us the information. Have you two found anything yet?"

Jake shook his head. "No, we just got here not to long ago, haven't found anything that might lead us to the missing people."

"Well, there are still quite a few of these house we can check out. We should be able to find something." Natalie responded.

"Jake and I have only been able to check a few. I think we should split up and search the rest of them." David added.

Natalie nodded in agreement. "Well, Sam, Dean and I will take the ones at the far end. Let's meet back up here in maybe twenty minutes?"

Both Jake and David nodded before heading off in one of the directions. Natalie turned and walked off of the porch but stopped and looked back to see Sam and Dean standing in place. "Are you guys coming or not?"

Dean and Sam looked at each other and slowly walk off of the porch. Natalie could see the looks on their faces and she sighed in annoyance. "Come on guys. We can trust them, alright. So, just relax. Okay?" Natalie stared at the boys until they finally nodded their heads. "Good. Now let's go."

Dean opened the door to one of the houses and shined his flashlight in. After scanning the room he slowly walked in, prompting Sam and Natalie to follow. Sam and Dean walk into what looked like a living room as Natalie continued forward into the kitchen. She shined her flashlight in every corner, checking for any kind of trace as to what caused these disappearances.

Natalie walked through the kitchen until she came to a door that was opened only slightly. She pressed her hand against the wood of the door and slowly pushed it open. As she shined her flashlight in, Natalie felt a wave of nausea wash over her at the sight she saw. A large mass, that looked like a human, was lying on the floor. Most of the skin had been peeled off and the flesh was in stages of decomposition. Layers of maggots and flies engulfed the rotting flesh and the smell was something she had never experienced before.

Natalie could feel herself choking and the feeling that she would vomit any minute. "Sam! Dean!" Natalie managed to call out amongst her gags. Sam and Dean came rushing into the kitchen and made their way over to Natalie. They both shined their lights in and saw the exact same scene.

"What the hell?" Dean silently exclaimed, covering his mouth to try and hold down his disgust.

Sam scanned over the mutilated, decomposing body and cringed, in both disgust and empathy. "Whoever they were..."Sam began, letting out a deep breath. "I sure hope they put up one hell of a fight."

"That hardly even looks like a human." Natalie covered her mouth, gagging at the lump that was forming in her throat. "What the hell does this?" Natalie asked, finally looking away.

Dean pulled his hand away from his mouth and grimaced. "Guess we are going to find out soon."

Natalie raised her head, daring herself to cast another glance into the room, only to look away in disgust. "I-I'm gonna check out the other houses." Natalie said quickly before turning around and running out of the house.

She stumbled through the doorway and bent over, her hand flying to her stomach. She could feel the bile swirling around in her stomach and when she thought back to the mutilated mount of flesh, it was just enough to push her over the edge. Natalie lowered herself near a few of the bushes near the house and vomited. This was definitely something that she had never encountered before. Whatever was responsible, it wasn't something she read about in her father's journal. Perhaps it might be something Sam and Dean have encountered but not her.

Natalie spit out what was left into the bush and slowly straightened her back. She still felt nauseous but being out of that room made her feel a whole lot better. Natalie took a few deep breaths and looked at the house a few feet from her. She silently prayed that there wouldn't be a rotting corpse in this house as well.

Natalie let out a wet groan and walked over to the house. She turned on her flashlight and cautiously opened the door. She checked the area before stepping into the house. It was in the same condition as the other one. Everything was dingy, obviously no one has lived here in a while. She swept through the living room, finding nothing, then she ventured into the kitchen. Her flashlight shined on the kitchen table and she spotted something. Walking over, Natalie reached down and picked up a wallet that was in good condition. It wasn't worn down like everything else in the house, so it had to be something.

Natalie opened up the wallet and saw an I.D that read the name Ally Harrison. "Right, then. Now we have something to go off of."

Natalie went to put the wallet in her pocket, when the faint creaking noise of a door opening soon echoed throughout the room. Her body stiffened and her blood ran cold when she realized it

was coming from behind her. Natalie closed her eyes before slowly turning around and was only able to focus on the barrel of a gun pointing at her.

She let out a breath as a sharp blast soon filled the air. Natalie felt her body jerk backwards, making a quick impact against the floor. Her eyes widened at the deafening shrill that was resonating in her ears. Natalie began to erratically look around her, her breathing turned into rapid pants as she tried to keep her sight focused on anything, to try and keep herself calm, but her vision was slowly merging within each other.

Heavy, muffled footsteps soon vibrated through the floor, causing Natalie to cease her breathing, her entire body freezing. The footsteps continued on their slow approach towards her, making the ground shake beneath her and each one only caused her fear to increase. She needed to get up, she needed to find Sam and Dean but her body was filled with a heavy numbness.

Natalie's eyes soon focused on the figure standing over her, though she couldn't make out any features since her vision was still out of focus. The figure simply stared down at her and it caused a sheer sense of panic to run through her. She opened her mouth to scream but nothing came out. This thing...whatever, or whoever it was, it was going to kill her and she was incapable of defending herself. The figure continued to eye Natalie, almost like it was debating whether to kill her or let her suffer through this and die miserably. The figure soon stepped away from Natalie and walked away from her sight.

Natalie remained still, hearing the retreating footsteps and the sound of a door opening then closing, only then she let out a relieved breath. Now, she needed to get the hell out of here, or at least get Sam and Dean's attention. Surely, the gunshot would have alerted them, but she had to make sure. Natalie could feel her senses begin to twitch back to her life. The numbness slowly began to disappear at her feet and gradually crept it's way up her legs and across her abdomen. The piercing ringing in her ears soon diminished and her vision gradually cleared. Everything was starting to come back to her and soon the shock wore off.

Natalie felt her body cripple with an unbearable, deep and searing pain that was emanating from her right side. She slowly began to move her body onto her left side, but soon the pain began to increase in an agonizing intensity. Natalie's eyes closed and she choked on her cry as she fell once again onto her back. Her hand flew up to her side and her fingers carefully traced the

outline of then wound, then submerged her fingers into the gaping hole. Natalie let out a pained breath, pulled out her fingers then covered the wound with her hand. Hot blood began to seep beneath her palm and in-between her fingers. Natalie tried breathing through it, hoping that it would take an edge off of the pain, but it didn't. If anything as the seconds ticked by, the pain was becoming worse.

She knew that if she didn't try and do something, she would die right here. Natalie didn't want to though. She remembered telling Sam that she didn't fear death and at most times she looked forward to it. But, right now, Natalie didn't want to die at least not like this, not in this kind of agony.

The room began to fill with her pained whimpers and cries as she tried to find her voice. She needed to alert any of them. She thought of Jake, David, Dean and Sam. Any of them would have heard that gunshot, hopefully, but Natalie couldn't take any chances. Natalie began to prepare herself for attracting the attention of any of them. But, only one person came to thought in this exact moment. Only one person whom she wanted right now next to her and to talk to her, tell her that everything was going to be fine. Natalie sucked in a breath and opened her mouth, then screamed out as loud as she could. "Sam!"

Cliffhanger! DUN DUN DUN! How did you guys like it?! Please, please don't forget to review! Xx