November 13th - November 14th, 2013

I pulled into a long gravel driveway that led up into the trees. The driveway weaved around large spruce trees for quite a ways until it finally came to a small clearing. Two cars were parked in a little area. A rusted El Camino was parked crooked against the mountainside.

Next to the Pinto was a Frankenstein-Esque Ford Bronco. It looked like the original body was a dark blue, but the driver's side door had since been replaced with a sun-beaten red door, and the hood was now a dull white.

I pulled up next to the Bronco and parked. Just a few feet away from where the cars were all parked was a set of stairs carved into the mountain stone. The stairs led up the mountain about twenty or thirty feet before they reached a landing. I could see from down where the cars were that up by the landing was a small shack that looked so old the mountain could have grown around it. A few windows were boarded up, and tree limbs crouched over the roof of the shack, nearly blocking the door to go inside.

I took my phone out and tried to call Garth, but I quickly realized that I didn't have any service this far into the mountains. I got out of the car and swung my bag over my shoulder. I was excited to see Garth. I was excited to just be somewhere that I felt comfortable being for the first time in quite a while.

I struggled to make the trek up the staircase as my body was just exhausted. It felt like each pant leg was lined with lead, and each step up the stairs was more difficult than the last. Finally, I reached the top and started making my way to the front door, being sure to duck under the large tree limb that hung down from the tree above.

I walked up to the door and read the sign on it. Please Ring Doorbell! With an arrow pointing next to the door. Above the door, a taxidermized elk head was mounted. I went ahead and rang the doorbell and could hear the sudden sound of House of Pain's Jump Around started blaring from inside the cabin, and a noise started coming from the elk head. I looked up just in time to get splashed in the face with something from the elk's mouth.

I groaned. "Really, dude?" I started wiping my face off with the sleeve of my jacket.

Then a small slot opened on the door, just a crack. I looked down, and suddenly a few squirts of water hit me again, this time from the gap in the door.

"Hey." I put my arm up to block the water. "You already got me."

"Maybe. Can never be too sure," Garth said, "Give me a second to unlock the door."

I stood and waited for Garth to undo the eight or nine locks that were on the door. Everything from deadbolts to chain locks to a sliding bar lock.

Then the door swung open. Garth was standing there in a fluffy, blue bathrobe. There was some type of sickly-green paste that covered his face, except for his eyes. He had pink bunny slippers on and a towel wrapped around his head.

"Maddison!" Garth stepped towards me with his arms out. "It's so good to see you!"

"Hi, Garth." I chuckled and gave him a hug. "It's good to see you too." I stepped back from our hug and furrowed my brow. "Um, what… is on your face, by the way?"

"Oh, this?" He gestured to his face. "This is just a green tea matcha mud mask. It has great antioxidants. Also really helps nourish and moisturize the skin. Plus, my special lady likes my soft cheeks."

I raised my eyebrows and nodded. "Oh, I'm sure she does."

Garth looked down for a second. "Yeah. Well, you actually got here at the perfect time. I just finished my bath and was getting ready to make smoothies for the house tour. Come on in." He turned and started walking further into the cabin.

I stepped in. "Bath, huh?" I chuckled. "You really know how to chill when you have time off."

Garth turned and gave me a serious look. "Well, I do have a minor in Health & Wellness."

I nodded. "Hmm, did not know that."

"Hey, is someone here?" a familiar voice asked from another room.

I turned and saw Nate walking around the corner. My jaw dropped, and my heart skipped a beat.

"Maddi," Garth said and gestured to Nate. "This is that buddy I was telling you about—"

"Oh my god." I rushed up to him, and we embraced each other in a tight hug.

"Uh, I take it you guys already know each other?" Garth asked.

Nate pulled away and chuckled while still staring at me. "Yeah."

I stared back at him for a moment, but I remembered all of the times I tried getting a hold of him without a response, and I punched him in the arm.

"Ow!" Nate gasped, looking at me, caught off guard.

I hit him again.

"Ow!" he shouted and grabbed my arm before I could hit him again. "What?! What?!"

"What do you mean, 'what'?!" I yelled. "You never picked up or called me back. What the hell?!"

He nodded. "I know. I'm sorry. I just needed space after… Bobby. And I know that's not a good excuse."

I shrugged, staring at him angrily. "So, what? You're still hunting? You said you wanted out."

"I did, but it's all I know," he said and sighed. "Look, Maddi, I wanted to call you so bad, but I didn't know what to say. The way I left… I'm so sorry."

"We'll talk about it later," I said as I rolled my eyes and then turned to Garth. "How do you guys know each other?"

Garth shrugged. "We've been on a few hunts together. Plus, if Bobby wasn't around to help with research, I would give Nate a call."

Nate cleared his throat. "Where're Sam and Dean?"

I nodded. "Um, I left Sam back in Texas, and uh… Dean's MIA."

Garth shook his head. "Yeah, what happened? Sam didn't really explain… Dean just— He just disappeared? Seems kinda whack."

"The day we took down Dick Roman, he vanished. I was with Sam when we rushed into the room where Dick was. Cass and Dean were standing on either side of him. Dean stabbed him, and Dick exploded. We took cover, and when we turned back, there was no sign of Dean or Cass." I shrugged. "Sam and I searched for Dean for a while but couldn't find anything."

Nate stepped forward. "So, why'd you leave Sam?"

I sighed and sat down on the couch. "Sam met this girl, and he kept making excuses not to leave. But I'm not ready to stop looking for Dean."

"I can give you the notes from my research. I couldn't find any good leads, but maybe it just needs a new set of eyes to look it over," Garth said, gesturing down the hall.

"Sam said what you found was a dead end," I said.

Garth nodded. "Seems like it, but—"

"You should probably eat or get some rest first before getting back to work. You look exhausted," Nate said.

I gave Nate a look. "Thanks for letting me know what you think I should do. I've taken care of myself without you for months, almost a year, actually."

Nate looked down for a moment. "Right, uh. I see that. I'll just go and run the errands. You guys have fun with your research." He turned and began to leave the room.

I put my arms out in frustration. "Oh, so you're just gonna leave?"

He sighed. "I mean, what do you want, Maddi?" He shook his head. "You don't want to talk about it. You don't seem like you want to be around me. But you also don't want me to leave? What do you want me to do?"

I glared at him. Honestly, I wasn't sure. "I don't know!"

"Well, until you figure it out… how about I go into town and get some supplies?" Nate snapped.

"Fine!" I yelled.

"Fine!" he shouted back.

"Are you two gonna be all right?" Garth asked.

Nate and I just stared at each other.

"Well, just so you know," Garth said as he walked over to some sliced cucumbers on the counter. "I've done some couples counseling in my day." He smiled and popped a cucumber slice in his mouth.

Nate walked past me to the door.

"Nah," we said in unison.

Garth perked up. "All right. Well, don't forget the bones this time!" he called after Nate.

"I won't," Nate said without turning back.

Nate left the shack, and I looked at Garth.

"What bones?" I asked.

"Special bones. We think we might be on the tail of a demon in the area," Garth said.

"Any way I can help?" I asked.

"Yeah, of course. It would actually be great to get fresh eyes on this can of weird we've uncovered," Garth said.

I shrugged. "So, what's the story?"

Garth started walking away. "Walk with me."

I followed after him.

"Well, a few weeks ago, we caught wind of a few strange deaths in towns outside of Denver," he explained, "First one was in Bailey, then Colorado Springs and Villa Grove. We think we tracked it to South Fork, a little town a few miles south."

Garth led me through a hallway and down a set of stairs. He opened a set of double doors into what looked like a large conference room.

There were dozens of shelves filled with books and strange display cases. A few rolling chalkboards were stored in a corner. There was even a massive cork board where news articles, pictures, and eyewitness accounts were pegged with a string connecting all of the loose ends.

"Whoa. Nice setup," I said.

"Thanks. We were pretty proud of ourselves." Garth smiled.

"All right, why do you think it's the same thing?" I asked.

"We found a bit of a connection between some of the victims. Uh, the first one." Garth walked to the corkboard, pulled out a collapsible pointer, and pointed out a small newspaper clipping. "Naomi Clarke was found a few miles from her campsite out by Shawnee Peak. Her body was torn to shreds. At first, we thought wendigo."

"But wendigos don't usually leave any meat behind," I said.

"Exactly! A local forest ranger said that they were out on patrol and heard screaming. They found the victim being attacked and shot whatever was attacking her… scared it off," Garth said.

"Did they get a good look at it?" I asked.

"Do they ever?" Garth laughed.

I chuckled and nodded. "True."

"So, Nate and I went out to take a look ourselves," he explained, "And found sulfur left on the bark of a tree right next to where the body was found."

"Well, that definitely doesn't sound like a wendigo," I said.

"Right." He took a step forward and pointed to another picture. "Damon Frazier, second vic, found in Colorado Springs. He went out with his girlfriend, Salena Newman, one night, and the next morning she found him in bed next to her with no heart."

"What could've done that without waking her up?" I asked, "Or have the control to not rip hers out too?"

Garth shrugged. "I mean, werewolf seemed obvious to us. Maybe the girlfriend had a bloody little secret. Wrong again! We took a look at their apartment and found sulfur on the window sill."

"Hmm, weird," I said.

"It was at this point we noticed a bit of a connection. The second vic's girlfriend said that he had just come home for break from college… University of Colorado, Boulder. We found a CU hat in the tent of the first victim. Not to mention a student ID and numerous bumper stickers on her car." Garth pointed to pictures of Colorado University apparel and memorabilia.

"Salena told us that Damon had a pretty close group of friends that all went to CU together. Naomi was a part of that group. As was the third victim." Garth gestured to a school portrait. "Lionel Steffenson. His mom found him in his bedroom. He had smashed his face into the mirror behind his door so many times that he was unrecognizable. His parents said that they heard him yelling for the screams to stop, and when they couldn't hear him anymore, they figured that he had just gone to sleep."

"Wow." I shook my head. "So, what's your next move?"

Garth collapsed his pointing stick. "Well, we realized that the victims' deaths happened four days apart from each other. So, we have two days to save the next victim before it's too late."

"You know who it is?" I asked.

Garth nodded. "Henry Gibbs. Resident of South Fork, Colorado. About thirty minutes down the road. We are planning a trip to go see him."

"Right, follow the time frame. You can kill it before it kills him," I said.

Garth pointed at me. "Exactly."

"You want an extra hand?" I asked.

He smiled. "Yeah. That would be awesome."

I nodded. "Cool. I'm in then." I shrugged. "So, about this tour…?"

"Oh, we should probably wait until Nate gets back. Wouldn't want to break our Bro Code."

"Yeah?" I furrowed my brow. "What kinda Bro Code would that break?"

Garth looked off into the distance. "Can't say. That would be breaking Bro Code."

I chuckled. "All right then. So, how did you guys end up here together?" I asked. "Or would that break another Bro Code?"

"Well…" Garth's mood got a bit more serious. "Bobby died, and I didn't hear much from Nate at all. I was working a case in Bend, Oregon. Stumbled across him at a diner in town, and we got to talking. I asked if he could give me some help hunting down a vampire nest in the area. He agreed and came back with me, been here ever since." He shrugged.

I nodded sadly. "How— How long has he been here?"

"Oh, that was about four or five months ago," he said.

"Hmm." I shrugged. "He never mentioned knowing us?"

"No, but I'm sure he had his reasons." Garth looked at me sympathetically. "I'm sure he didn't mean anything by it. Hell, it's been a whacky year."

While Garth and I waited for Nate to come back with the supplies, we played a couple rounds of darts. Garth was eerily good at it.

He suddenly looked toward the door. "Nate's back."

"What?" I asked, "How do you know that?"

He furrowed his brow at me. "You can't smell it?"

I shook my head. "Smell what?"

Nate burst through the door with three pizza boxes. "Pizza's here! Eat up before it gets cold." He set it down on the dining room table and set the grocery bags down on the counter. "I'll be right back." Then he rushed back outside.

He came back with a few bags of groceries and a six-pack of wine coolers. He handed the wine coolers to Garth. "They were all out of fuzzy navel, so I got you pina colada."

Garth's eyes lit up. "Awesome!" He grabbed the wine coolers and put them under his arm.

My stomach growled when the smell of the pizza hit me. "So, pizza?"

"Oh, yeah. I'm starving," Nate said.

"Me too." I hurried over to the boxes and opened the lid, and immediately lost my appetite.

The pizza was covered in what looked like pickle slices. There was an unhealthy amount of ranch dressing drizzled over the slices, and a large pile of crumbled beef was layered between the pickles and ranch.

I looked at Garth and Nate. "Is there anything better?"

Garth laughed. "Better than the Dill Burger? I don't think so."

Nate nudged me. "Yeah, the Dill Burger is the most famous pizza in town." He reached down and grabbed himself two slices.

I gestured towards the second box. "Well, what about this one?"

Garth smiled wide. "That right there makes the big wigs at the Biggerson's Corporation green with envy."

I looked at him, a bit confused. "Um. Why?"

Nate flipped open the top. "'Cause it's the Happee Meal Pizza, that, of course, is trademark pending."

I looked down at the pizza. It was covered in cheese, french fries, chicken nugget pieces, and chunks of burger.

I shrugged. "It seems like you guys just really wanted fast food. Why didn't you just grab some burgers while you were out?"

Garth got very serious. "Maddi, if we did that, then we never could have gotten it on the pizza. That's the whole point."

I put my hands up in defense. "Okay, sorry." I nodded at the last box. "What's the other one?"

"Well, normally we only get these two and split 'em, but since you're here… I thought we'd try something new," Nate said.

I shook my head. "I won't eat anything close to an entire pizza."

He shrugged. "Yeah, but Garth and I will. I wanted to make sure you had food too." He flipped the lid back on the last box dramatically. "Welcome home… The Thanksgiving Dinner Pizza."

The pizza was covered in mashed potatoes, chunks of turkey, stuffing, and then drizzled with gravy and cranberry sauce. The crust, holding the monstrosity together, had dinner rolls around the edge.

"You couldn't have just gotten pepperoni?" I asked, shaking my head at the mess.

Garth chuckled. "How are you not impressed? It's like an entire meal baked into a pie. Talk about yum."

I shrugged. "I guess you either gotta be a dude or super stoned to enjoy these."

Nate gulped. "Um, yeah, or something."

Garth gestured towards the hallway. "Yeah, we hang out with Abe all the time. That's how we discovered these beautiful concoctions."

"Abe?" I asked, confused. "You've got another roommate?"

"Yeah, you'll probably meet him later." Garth looked at Nate. "I'm in need of a follow-up consultation soon."

I furrowed my brow and shook my head. "You guys are weird." I peered into the boxes again. I shrugged. "I do like chicken nuggets," I said and grabbed a slice of the Happee Meal Pizza.

Garth smiled and patted my shoulder happily. Then he gasped and looked at Nate. "Did you grab the bones?"

"Oh, yeah." Nate walked over to the kitchen counter. "I couldn't remember what flavor you wanted, so hopefully, this is right." He picked up a plastic bag and handed it to Garth.

I shook my head. "Flavor? I thought these were 'special' bones for a spell?"

Garth laughed. "They are. We just prefer to get them with the meat still attached." He ripped open the bag and opened a styrofoam container to reveal a pile of golden fried chicken wings.

I rolled my eyes. "Seriously?"

"Definitely, mi amiga." Garth smirked and then nodded at Nate. "What kind are they?"

"Sweet chili," Nate said.

"Sweet!" Garth shouted happily. "My fav. I see you actually got the bones this time."

"Well, I can't emotionally cope with you yelling at me," Nate said, with a sad look on his face.

"You have said that this is an abusive relationship," Garth said.

I watched them in confusion and slight concern as I slowly chewed my pizza.

They both started laughing and then hugged each other.

"I seriously have no idea what's happening," I said.

Garth grabbed a slice of The Thanksgiving Dinner Pizza. "That's okay." He chuckled and then started walking. "Follow me." He waved with his pizza slice.

Nate and Garth led me out of the dining room area and into a hallway. Garth stopped for a second. "We've already shown you the library." He said with a mouthful of pizza.

Nate stepped ahead to a large door with a heavy-looking wheel on the front, almost like a submarine hatch. "And this here is our safe room. Filled with anything you might need to survive a while if you need to." He started turning the wheel, struggling a bit.

Garth spoke up, "This might take him a minute. So, the door is made of solid iron, and the wheel is lined with a heavy strip of silver. Plus, I got it off of an old boat, so it's seen many years of saltwater."

I nodded. "Impressive."

"Just a few more turns," Nate said between heaves.

Finally, the door creaked open and revealed a pretty decent-sized room. There was a set of shelves lining the walls covered in various books, bottles, and boxes. One of the walls had a rack of guns, machetes, wooden stakes of different varieties, and a massive flamethrower.

A few sets of bunk beds sat on the eastern side of the room. Tucked against the western wall were a few large crates with dates stamped on them. June 2023, January 2027, and April 2034 were just the ones I could easily see.

"What's in those?" I asked.

"Emergency rations," Nate said.

I could see Garth give a little shudder.

I looked at him. "Not good, I take it?"

"Well, we just finished December 2013 about a week ago. That was Uncle Eustace's last crate that he got. I don't think that he liked having a variety of flavors to choose from. He only ever ordered Beef Stew and Salisbury Steak," Garth said.

"Sounds disgusting," I said.

"Yeah, those are probably the two worst flavors you could choose," Nate said.

I chuckled. "Well, it looks like you guys are set for a while if anything happens."

"That's the plan," Garth said, "But for now, onto the next room."

Garth and Nate led me out of the room.

"I'll catch up with you guys in a minute," Nate said as he started to close the door.

I followed Garth down a set of stairs before we reached another large door. This one just looked like a door for a massive walk-in freezer. Garth pulled out a ring of keys and began swiftly unlocking the various locks that held the door closed.

By the time Garth was done, Nate had returned.

"Oh, you're getting a bit faster on that. Nice," Nate said.

"Well, we have to do this every time we come down for bed. And leave in the morning. Except for days when we don't really wanna leave," Garth said.

"You guys come down here a lot?" I asked.

"Well yeah. It's the safest spot, so we keep the bedrooms down here and other stuff," Nate said.

I followed them into the new area. It had a full-size kitchen and dining room. A hallway split off to the north and another to the west. There was a fruit bowl sitting on the dining table that was full of candy. Garth walked over to the refrigerator and put his wine coolers in it.

"So, this is where we cook," Garth said as he waved his hand towards the rest of the kitchen.

"Thanks, I wasn't sure." I chuckled.

Nate walked over to the dining table. "And this is where we eat."

Garth pointed to the fridge. "If you're thirsty, there are a bunch of drinks in here. Plus, some odds and ends."

Nate walked over to the cabinets. "If you're ever feeling hungry, we have a variety of snacks and cereals."

He opened one of the cabinets and revealed numerous boxes of cereal that were typically geared towards children.

Garth walked down the northern hallway. There were three doors here.

He opened the first. "Here, we have my room."

A twin bed was pushed up against the back wall, and a Bell Biv Devoe poster was hanging above the bed. The walls were covered with posters of R&B groups and superheroes. Taking up most of the room was a hot tub. Next to it was a shelf with various bottles and jars. And the ledge of the hot tub was littered with candles of varying heights.

Garth stepped forward to the shelf. "These help me relax a bit. If you're ever feeling a bit stressed and wanna use the Relaxation Station, just let me know. I can also recommend a specific bath bubble for you. I have lavender. It has calming properties that will help relieve any stress you might have. Then there's jasmine, it also helps calm your nerves like the lavender, but it energizes you if you aren't feeling like your best self."

"And then there's Garth's favorite, peppermint," Nate interrupted.

Garth put his hand up towards Nate. "Whoa, bro. No need to cramp my chill." He turned back towards me. "Right, so peppermint. This bottle of lovely bubbles helps me concentrate. It gives me that extra boost of energy I need after a long day."

I nodded. "I'll keep that in mind."

Nate chuckled. "My bedroom is next," He turned and started leading us out of Garth's room.

We walked across the hall, and Nate opened the door. We followed him inside. The room was small, like Garth's. There was what looked like a bunk bed against the wall. Instead of a mattress on top, a large flannel blanket was draped down, covering the bottom bunk almost like a curtain. There was a small desk with a lamp and a pile of comics sitting next to a larger stack of novels. A parts manual for Buick Rivieras sat open in the middle of the desk, with multiple bookmarks hanging out of the top.

"There's not much to it, but it gets the job done as far as bedrooms go," Nate said as he turned.

He turned off the lights, and Garth led us out of the room.

"This last room we just use for dry storage and our indoor shooting range, of course. Gotta stay sharp." Garth opened the door, and there were multiple crates labeled like the ones upstairs. Large five-gallon jugs of water were stacked in a corner, and a booth was set up where you could practice shooting a target in a thirty-foot hallway. Next to the shooting range booth was a table for staging and cleaning the weapons. And multiple firearms and blades were hanging on the wall, similar to the storage room upstairs.

Garth walked by us and out into the hallway. "Okay. Now for the last few rooms."

He and Nate led me down the western hallway to a large iron door, almost identical to the one separating the stairwell from the main area on this floor.

Garth opened the door. "This here is our secondary safe room. Pretty much identical to the one upstairs."

"You guys are like super prepped," I said, "Where'd you get this place from anyway?"

"First of all." Garth started leaning against the wall. "You can never be too prepared to deal with what mother nature has to offer. And secondly, I inherited this from my Uncle Eustice. He was very enthusiastic about his conspiracy theories."

I nodded, looking around the well-stocked room. "Yeah, I can see that."

"And we appreciate his enthusiasm." Nate closed the door and gave it a little pat.

Garth started rubbing his hands together. "Prepare yourself. For the crème de la crème."

I smirked. "Ooh. I'm excited."

"You should be." Nate rushed over to the last door and presented it, Vanna White style.

Garth walked to the door and began to open it. Once fully open, the doorway revealed a decent-sized room, similar to the bedrooms. Light began ricocheting off the walls as a disco ball slowly dropped from the ceiling and started spinning. Run DMC's It's Tricky accompanied the disco ball. The bass from the stereo system in the room caused the floorboards to tremble slightly.

Garth turned to me with a huge smile on his face. "This is where we chillax."

"Wow, you guys really have this place rigged up," I said.

Nate chuckled. "Yeah, it's just a nice place to come and unwind at the end of the day. Really helps clear your mind."

I looked around the room. There was a couch covered with a few flannel blankets that was facing a large television. Gaming systems were hooked up to the TV, and a bookcase full of games sat next to it. In one corner of the room stood two arcade cabinets next to a pinball machine.

Something on the floor in front of the couch caught my eye. I stepped forward to look closer and saw an Abraham Lincoln head made of glass. He was wearing a top hat that extended three feet into the air and had a corncob pipe in his mouth.

"Whoa. What do we have here?" I asked.

Garth walked up and sat on the couch. "Well, this is Abe." He picked it up by the hat and held it out.

"Yeah, he helps us relax." Nate sat down next to Garth and handed him a lighter.

Garth smiled. "You wanna try it out?"

I paused for a second and then shrugged. "Eh, sure."

"Maddi?" someone asked as they shook me.

"Huh?" I asked groggily as I rubbed my eyes awake.

"You fell asleep," Nate said, "Come on. Let's get you to bed."

I looked around the room to see Garth was no longer around. "Where's Garth?"

Nate shrugged. "He was tired too. I told him to go to bed, and I'd help you."

I yawned and sat up. "I can just sleep here."

"No, no," Nate said, "You can just stay in my room. We didn't have time to get you set up before you got here."

"Ha." I shook my head. "No way."

Nate sighed. "Maddi, I didn't mean stay with me. You can have my room, and I'll take the couch."

"Nah, I'm still good," I said, "I don't need to owe you anything."

"Wait… okay…" He shook his head. "You won't owe me anything. Just take it. No strings attached. I just don't want you to have to sleep on the couch."

"I'm good." I shrugged.

Nate sighed. "Okay, why are you acting like this?"

I stared at him for a moment. "I'm still pissed at you. A couple hours of fun doesn't change that."

He shook his head. "Just let me explain—"

"Nate, Bobby, died, and somehow you made it about yourself!" I yelled.

He furrowed his brow and shook his head angrily. "I did not! I left. You're the one who followed."

I nodded. "I wanted to make sure you were okay!"

"I didn't ask you to!" he yelled.

"Are you kidding me?!" I shouted and stood up from the couch. "I was worried about you, and I didn't want you to just leave!"

"Why?!" he asked.

I furrowed my brow and hesitated. "Because!"

"Because why?!" he yelled.

"Because… I loved you too!" I shook my head and shoved him. "Screw you!"

We stood there and stared at each other for a moment.

"Uh… is everything all right in there?!" Garth asked from down the hallway.

"Yes!" Nate and I shouted in unison.

Nate looked at me sympathetically and shook his head. "I can't even tell you how sorry I am."

I shook my head, feeling emotional. "You can't do that to me again." Tears started to stream down my cheeks. "You left, and everything went to hell. I needed you… so much, and you just… weren't there."

He reached and went to pull me into a hug. "Maddi, please—"

I moved away from him. "No, don't touch me." I looked down and took a deep breath. "After you left—" I shook my head, not wanting to say.

I looked at him for a moment, not ready to tell him about Crowley and the demon blood.

"What?" he asked.

I shook my head and started to tear up.

Nate pulled me into a hug and rubbed my back, just letting me cry into his chest.

"I miss him so much," I cried.

"I'm so sorry I wasn't there for you," he said and kissed the top of my head. "I never wanted to hurt you. I wanted to talk to you so badly, but I knew the way I left things was awful. All I thought was… you deserve better than me. I knew I needed to figure myself out before I got involved in your life again."

I pulled away and looked up at him.

"You mean so much to me… I ran because I was afraid I would watch you die too." He shook his head. "But I realized I was just a coward, and I wanted to get right with myself before I went back to you… if you would even want me back. If I could do it all again, I would never leave you."

I nodded tearfully, put my hands on his face, and pulled him down to kiss him. I could feel all the emotions I had felt for him before swarming back.

I pulled away, and he went in for another kiss, but I turned my head. "Um, I should get to bed."

"Okay… yeah," Nate said as he stepped back.

Both of us were feeling overwhelmed by the rollercoaster of emotions we were going through.

"So, do you wanna take my bed?" he asked.

I shook my head, avoiding eye contact with him. "No, it's okay… I'll take the couch."

He looked at me, unsure.

"Seriously, it's fine. I spent a good portion of my childhood on couches." I smiled.

"Okay." He stared at me. "Um… yeah." He nodded and then leaned in but hesitated and walked away. "Night, Maddi."

I gasped awake, experiencing one of the several nightmares I've had about Dean since he went missing. I sat up and took a few deep breaths before standing. I walked down the hall to the kitchen to pour myself water and realized it was only 3AM.

I drank some water and sighed as I walked back down the hallway to the couch but paused at the Y in the hallway and stared down at Nate's door. I thought about it for a moment and then walked over to it.

I really didn't want to be alone. Since I left Sam, my nights had been anything but peaceful. Plus, knowing Nate was so close after not even knowing where he was or if he was even alive for so long just made me want to be with him.

I knocked softly on the door, slowly opened it, and walked in. The lamp by his bed switched on quickly, and he peered out around the blanket that was draped over his bed.

"D?" he asked.

I shut the door behind me and walked over to him. "Do you mind if…?" I pointed to his bed.

He shook his head. "No, of course not." He pushed the blanket further open, and I climbed in. He put his arm under my head and rubbed my shoulder. "You okay?"

I nodded. "Yeah, I just… really missed you."

"I missed you too," he said.

I leaned in and kissed him for a long moment. He kissed me back and pulled me in close. I moved around and straddled him, and leaned down to kiss him.

"Are you sure?" he asked.

I nodded and continued kissing him.

The next morning, I woke to my phone buzzing and grabbed it to see I had another missed call from Sam and a voicemail.

"What's wrong?" Nate asked as he kissed my shoulder.

"Sam called," I said and put the phone up to my ear to listen.

"Maddi, please answer your phone or call me back," Sam said, "I just want to know you're okay. I'm not asking you to come back or to tell me where you are, just… please let me know you're safe."

I pulled my phone back and clicked it off. I felt terrible, but I wasn't ready to call him. I really wanted to see if this would work, and I could still hunt before I talked to him. I didn't want to be persuaded to go back to that place, even if it was to be with him.

"What's up?" Nate asked.

"Oh, he's just checking in," I said and then stepped out of bed to get dressed.

We stepped out of the room after throwing on some clothes, hoping Garth wasn't up yet.

"So… you guys made up then?" Garth asked as soon as we stepped out.

"Uh…" I said and looked at Nate.

Nate shrugged. "Well—"

Garth nodded. "It's okay. My bedroom is literally right next to yours." He smiled and nodded at Nate and then walked by us. "I'm happy you guys made up. It's healthy."

Nate cleared his throat as we followed Garth out to the kitchen. "So, when are we leaving?"

"I was thinking we'd have breakfast and head out," Garth said.

Ring! Ring!

Garth looked at his phone and answered it. "Hey, Sam. What's up buddy?" (…) "What she—"

I waved my hands frantically and mouthed, "no." Garth looked at me, confused.

"Don't tell him I'm here," I whispered, "Don't tell him you've even talked to me."

He furrowed his brow. "I'll keep my eyes and ears out for her." (…) "Yup, I'll let you know as soon as I hear anything." He hung up and looked at me. "Why don't you want Sam to know you're here?"

I shrugged. "I just don't yet."

"Maddison, you have to tell him you're okay at least," Nate said.

I nodded. "Yeah, I know. I will when I'm ready."

"Maddi…" He sighed.

"Seriously? Don't lecture me about talking to people," I said.

He nodded. "Okay, fair. But doesn't what happened between us give you more reason to talk to him?"

I sighed. "Look. I will talk to him, but not yet. I want to make sure I'm settled in here first."

Garth nodded. "I don't feel good about it, but I'll do it for you."

We pulled up in front of a small yellow house. Nate put the car in park.

"Number 84, this is the one." Garth pointed to the house.

I opened the door and stepped out. Garth and Nate followed me up the walkway and to the front door of the house.

Nate walked up and knocked on the door.

We waited for a moment and could hear someone shuffling things around frantically.

"I'm busy. Go away!" a voice demanded from behind the door.

"We just want to talk for a second," I said and waited for his response.

We heard a heavy sigh. "I don't have time."

Garth stepped forward and knocked on the door a bit harder than Nate did. "Sir, this is the FBI. We need to ask you a few questions regarding your fellow CU students' deaths, Damon Frazier and Naomi Clarke. This is a serious matter, and I suggest you open the door."

The door slowly creaked open. Just inside the door was a stack of duffel bags almost overflowing with clothes and other items. A young man stood next to the bags waiting for us to come in.

He sluggishly moved a box out from the doorway and looked up at us. He looked exhausted. He was slouching heavily, his hair was disheveled, and he had large bags under his eyes.

We all flashed our badges. "Henry Gibbs?" I asked.

The man nodded.

"We have been following the deaths of your fellow students closely, and we have reason to believe that you may also be in danger. Can we come in?" Nate asked.

Henry's hands started to shake, and he stepped to the side. "Of course." His voice cracked.

We all walked in, and Henry led us into the living room. We all sat down. Henry leaned forward with his elbows on his knees, clasping his hands together.

"Henry, we have reason to believe someone is going to come here tonight. Is there anything you can tell us about your friends? Was there anyone who held a grudge against you guys?" Garth asked.

Henry started shaking his head. "You don't understand. This is all my fault. I knew we shouldn't have messed with that box."

"What box? What happened, Henry?" I looked at him thoughtfully.

"My friends thought it would be fun to look inside an old wooden box that was a part of my professor's collection of Native American relics. I had a bad feeling about the whole thing, but we were just looking to pull a small prank before graduation." Henry's leg started bouncing nervously.

Garth leaned forward. "Was there anything on the box? Any symbols or writing?"

Henry nodded. "Nothing that I had seen before from studying the history of local tribes. It definitely wasn't Native American. Just the sort of stuff you see on TV. Ya know? Like horror movie stuff."

"So, what did you guys do?" Nate asked. "And what happened?"

"We opened it." Henry started to get choked up. "A blast of black smoke erupted from inside and flew up into the sky. You could just feel that something wasn't right. And then we all left campus for the weekend."

I nodded. "And shortly after that is when Naomi was killed?"

Henry swallowed hard. "Yeah."

"When was the last time you saw or spoke with the professor that the box belonged to?" I asked.

"The day we left campus. But she doesn't have anything to do with this. No, this was something dark. We unleashed whatever was in that box, and now it is hunting us down, one by one." Henry sat up. "I have to get out of here."

Garth chuckled. "I don't really think it's going to matter where you go. This thing is gonna track you down one way or another." He turned to Nate. "Get the kit."

Henry started to look confused. "What? What are you talking about?"

Garth looked at Henry seriously. "Demons, kid."

"I— I thought you guys were FBI?" Henry asked.

I stood up. "Something like that."

Henry looked up at me. "What do you mean, 'something like that'?"

While Nate and Garth got everything we would need to take on a demon, I told Henry about what we do and that he was in good hands. I explained what we were doing with the salt and the devil's trap, and now it was just a waiting game.

Garth walked into the living room. "The kitchen is all sealed up and salted." He looked at Henry. "By the way, you're gonna have to get more Twizzlers after this. I got a little hungry back there."

"Aw man," Henry said, "I thought you said you guys were professionals."

"What makes you think we aren't professional?" Nate walked into the living room, eating a slice of pizza.

Garth looked at Nate jealously. "Dude. There anymore?"

Nate smirked. "Sorry, bro, last one."

"Guys, really?" I asked. "The demon should be coming any minute now."

"Exactly. Don't wanna be caught in a fight with a demon on an empty stomach," Nate said before taking a bite of his pizza slice.

A loud rumbling started to shake the house, and the back door began rattling. We all turned towards the back.

Suddenly, with a loud crack, the front door exploded off of the hinges behind us. We all turned to see a middle-aged woman with black eyes walk into the house.

Henry looked at the woman. "Professor?"

The demon chuckled. "Not anymore, kid." She started walking towards Henry. "I see you brought hunters."

Garth stepped in the way and dumped a bottle of holy water onto the demon. With a screech, she recoiled but then turned back towards Garth in anger.

The demon thrust its hand at Garth, causing him to be thrown from his feet and into the wall.

While the demon was distracted with Garth, I handed Henry a can of salt. "Go in your room and lay a line of this down behind the door. She won't be able to get you that way."

Henry accepted the can, nodded, and ran upstairs.

"Bold move Winchester." The demon growled.

I turned and saw that Garth was struggling to get up. The demon swiftly moved to within a few feet of me. Before I knew it, she backhanded me, and I was on the ground.

She stood over me with a grin. "I came for one treat, but I have been blessed with four." The demon reached down towards me.

Nate ran from the hallway and tackled the demon to the ground, but she overpowered him. She knelt on his chest and pulled a jagged knife from her ankle.

"No! Get away from him!" I screamed at the demon.

Suddenly, the demon paused. Her arm stopped, holding the knife in place. She stood up and turned away from Nate. The demon's eyes were glazed-over, and she had a blank look on her face. She took a step towards me, and then another. Then the blank look faded from the demon's face and turned into a scowl. She lunged forward.

"How did you do that?" she asked through gritted teeth.

I dodged out of the way and turned back towards the demon. I swung out with a right, and she grabbed my arm, bringing me in close to her face.

Frustrated, I leaned back and headbutted the demon. She recoiled, and I shoved her onto the floor in the hallway, where we had set up the devil's trap.

The demon scurried to her feet and tried to step forward. She looked up at the ceiling and noticed the devil's trap. "No!"

I chuckled. "Go back to Hell, bitch."

The demon looked at me again with a glazed-over, blank expression. Black smoke began to slowly pour out of her mouth. She dropped to her knees as the smoke continued to pour.

I turned to where Nate and Garth were. I didn't think that I heard either of them recite the exorcism. Not to mention it happened too quickly for them to be able to do it.

The smoke sunk to the floor and began singeing the floorboards as it descended through them.

A moment later, the smoke cleared, and the professor's body slumped to the side. I looked at Nate and Garth, who were both standing and staring at me in disbelief.

"What?" I asked, confused.

When we walked back into the cabin, the boys turned to me.

"So, I don't mean to pry, but how did you do that back there?" Garth asked. "I've never seen someone exorcise a demon by just telling it to go to Hell."

I looked down and nodded. "I'm honestly not really sure." I shook my head. "The only thing I know is that I have powers. I guess I just don't know all of them yet."

Garth raised his eyebrows. "I heard rumors about Sam, but not you. I had no idea."

I nodded. "Yeah, how it all happened is a really long story, but I went through something pretty bad a couple years ago that forced them out. All I know is I can heal myself and others." I shrugged. "Apparently, now I can control demons…?"

"I thought they were going away or weren't that strong anymore," Nate said.

I sighed and nodded. "Okay, this is gonna sound super messed up and crazy, but just hear me out." I looked at Garth. "So, long story short… Sam and I got these powers because a demon bled in our mouths when we were babies."

"What?" Garth asked.

I nodded. "Yeah, I know… messed up, nasty… the whole nine… I get it." I looked down, ashamed and then looked back up at Nate. "I started drinking demon blood on my own and made a deal with Crowley to get it."

Garth and Nate looked at me in shock.

I shook my head. "I thought if I did, I could keep Sam and Dean safe, but it got bad. Crowley had told me that he would give me the blood in exchange for keeping my brothers alive long enough to take out the leviathans, and after that, our deal was done. I thought I would be fine stopping cold turkey, but I was wrong. I didn't want to admit to myself that it was getting to the point that I couldn't just stop on my own. Then Sam and Dean found out, and Dean just looked at me like… like I was the biggest disappointment, and now he's gone."

I looked down sadly, and I started to tear up. "I never got to show him how hard I worked to move past all of that… for him… because I knew he would want better for me." I cried.

"He will never know how sorry I am for what I did and how much I miss being with him every day." I shook my head. "But I got myself under control. I started eating right, working out." I shrugged. "Even meditating. Sam helped me through the entire process. I tried anything I could to stop depending on it, and it worked. Apparently, very well because when I was going through withdrawals, it was like my powers never existed. Then they slowly started to come back, and now they seem to be evolving."

Nate nodded. "You don't feel the need to—"

I shook my head. "No, definitely not. I will never do that again, even if it kills me."

"Hopefully, it never gets to that point," Garth said.

Nate nodded. "Yeah, if you're ever worried, just talk to us."

I nodded. "Yeah, I will." I paused for a second. "It does make me wonder though… the demon that did this to me told me I was meant to be his 'perfect child.'"

Nate and Garth looked at each other and then back at me.