March 31st - April 1st, 2014

I stood in the research room at the cabin, staring at the pegboard covered with newspaper clippings and printouts of various articles. All of this work, and we still didn't have a substantial lead on Kevin's whereabouts. The pegboard was covered in red yarn that stretched from the center like roots of a tree.

Each and every lead we had followed up on wound up being a dead end. Some we chased down for weeks, hopping from breadcrumb to breadcrumb only to come up empty-handed.

I had been staring at the board for what felt like hours. Just going over everything once again to see if we missed anything or overlooked an alternate path.

"Hey, everything okay?" Nate asked as he walked through the door behind me.

I shook my head and sighed. "I just feel like there has to be something we missed, but none of us know how to track people online. Both Sam and Dean know how to do that, but I never learned, and I feel like that has to be the missing piece here."

"Do you know anywhere else Sam could have gone?" Nate asked.

"No, I don't think so. The last I knew… he was pretty comfortable in Keene with Amelia," I said.

"The guy who ran the motel said that they left town going north. Maybe that's something?" Nate asked.

I sighed. "I mean, he ditched his phone and left the motel. At this point, I don't think we have any chance of finding him."

"Okay." Nate shrugged. "So, what's the next move?"

I shook my head. "I honestly have no idea. We can't find anything on Dean. Or Kevin. And we don't know where Sam is. I don't wanna give up, but we are putting a lot of effort into people who either don't want to be found, or there's absolutely no way to find."

"So, what are you saying?" Nate asked.

"I think that we just need to focus on people that we know we can help," I said.

"Are you sure you wanna do that?" Nate asked.

I nodded. "Look, I'm not saying that we stop looking for them completely. I just think we need to pull back a little and focus on cases. We've only had one in over a month. Plus, I think that's what Dean would want me to do, get back to our roots… saving people, hunting things, ya know?"

"Okay, if that's what you wanna do, I'm right here with you," Nate said.

"I mean… for now, I think that's best," I said sadly.

Suddenly, Garth walked in with a huff.

Nate turned to him. "What's wrong, man?"

Garth shook his head. "I don't know what to do. I sent two hunters out on a case and haven't heard from either of them in over a week, and bodies keep piling up."

"What were they hunting?" I asked.

"It was supposed to be a simple werewolf case. I even did all the research for them. It should've been a cakewalk." He shrugged. "But I should've known better that Wally couldn't handle it yet. I just thought because Luke was with him, it would be fine."

"Is Wally new or something?" Nate asked.

Garth shook his head with a sigh. "No, not exactly."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked.

"Well, Wally's had a lot of mess-ups in the past. The last hunt he went on resulted in the death of another hunter. They were on a demon case, and Wally didn't do the devil's trap by the book and missed a couple symbols," Garth explained. "With all his mess-ups, he was basically shunned by any hunter that knew him, but he was begging me to help him get back into it. So, I thought I would ease him back and have him work with someone who was willing and had the time to train him. Luke was supposed to call me every night with updates on Wally's progress so we could decide together what to do with him after the case was done, but I haven't gotten a call in days. I'm worried one or both of them is seriously hurt."

"Okay, what do you wanna do?" Nate asked.

"I think we need to go check it out," Garth said, "This is all on me if something happened to them. Plus, more people are dying on top of that."

I looked at him seriously. "Garth, none of this is your fault."

"How could you say that?" he asked, looking seriously upset. "I was the one who sent them out there. It was supposed to be a quick in and out."

Nate and I exchanged a look.

"All right, where are we going?" I asked.

The entire drive up to Gunnison, Garth was on edge. He just sat in the back staring out of the window, but I could tell that this whole thing was really bothering him. It didn't take us too long before we were parking in front of the motel Wally was staying at.

"They should be in room seventeen. That's what he said in case anything went sideways," Garth said as we stepped out of the car.

The three of us walked up to the door, and Garth tried the handle. It was locked. He pulled out his lockpick and squatted down in front of the door. Nate and I turned to block him from the view of any passersby.

A few moments later, click, the door was unlocked.

"Yahtzee," Garth said under his breath.

He stood up and looked at Nate and me. We both pulled our guns out and held them at our sides.

"Ready?" I asked Garth.

Garth nodded and put his hand on the door handle before mouthing, "One… two…" and then swinging the door open on three.

We walked in, checking everything to make sure we wouldn't be surprised by anyone or anything. Garth knelt down and studied under the bed. Nothing.

Garth sighed. "Well, now what?"

Nate and I put our guns away. I walked over to the nightstand and saw a newspaper sitting on it.

I picked it up and turned towards Garth. "Hey, this is from March 26th."

Garth took a look at the newspaper. "Yeah, looks like they haven't been here for a few days."

He gestured towards a slice of moldy pizza sitting on the coffee table with a few bites taken out of it.

"Better check the closets. See if there's anything they left behind," Nate said.

We did a quick search and found Wally and Luke's suitcases in the closet.

"It literally looks like they just disappeared," I said.

Nate nodded. "What do we know about the hunt?"

"Not a lot. Pretty straightforward. Couple of deaths in town. Victims' hearts were missing. I sent them up here to see what they could dig up. Luke said that they were close to finding the werewolf's hideout, and it's been radio silence ever since," Garth said.

"Did he say where they thought it was?" Nate asked.

"Uh, north. He said it was to the north of town," Garth said.

As Garth finished, we heard keys jangling on the outside of the door. We all perked up.

The door handle started to turn, and we pulled our guns out, waiting for whoever it was to come inside. Suddenly, the door swung open and clanged against the wall behind it.

Garth sighed and lowered his gun. "Damn it, Wally. I told you to keep in touch. Where the hell's Luke?"

The man standing in the doorway looked shocked. He stood there for a moment before walking inside and closing the door behind him. He walked to the bed slowly and sat down on the edge of it.

Wally swallowed hard. "Luke didn't make it. Werewolf got 'em."

"What happened?!" Garth shouted.

Wally shook his head. "This whole thing turned into something bigger than we thought."

"What do you mean?" Garth was visibly upset. "Wally, what happened?"

Wally put his hand up to try and calm Garth down. "Just— Just let me explain… there's more than we thought. They ambushed us. We thought 'cause of how few victims there were in the few weeks before we got here that it was only one or two." He looked at the floor, shaking his head. "We were wrong."

Garth shook his head, frustrated. "Why haven't you called?"

Wally looked up at Garth. "I didn't know what to say… you're the only one left who has faith in me, and I wanted to make this right first."

"I'd have more faith if you reached out for help," Garth said.

Wally stood up. "Well, look, you're here now, so maybe you can help. I've got one of them. I'm gonna start questioning it. I just came to get our stuff before we needed to check out."

"How long have you had it?" I asked.

Wally sighed. "Day. Maybe day and a half. Took us a bit to track 'em down."

I gestured around the room. "Looks like you haven't been here for a while."

"Like I said, took us a while to track 'em down." Wally lifted his head.

"Well, why wouldn't you just kill it then?" Nate asked.

"We've gotta find the rest of the pack. Only one way to do that," Wally said.

We followed Wally out of town to see the werewolf that he was holding for questioning.

"Seems a little strange, don't ya think?" Nate asked.

I nodded. "Yeah. He seemed on edge. Like he was hiding something."

"I just think he was freaked out that we were there. I don't think he was expecting us to just show up and be in his motel room," Garth said.

I shook my head. "I don't know. Something's off about the whole thing. Luke gets killed, but Wally manages to capture one of them without the rest of the group of werewolves coming back to kill him and get their friend back?"

"Yeah, it definitely feels strange that they haven't found him yet. Especially 'cause he said it's a whole pack," Nate said.

"Maybe he's just covering his tracks really well. Would explain how they haven't found him yet. Or maybe they aren't even looking for him," Garth said.

I shrugged. "That doesn't make any sense. You said it yourself… he's not the best hunter. Now suddenly, he's able to cover his tracks from a pack of werewolves enough that he's had one of them for a day or so, but he still hasn't figured out where they're staying?"

Garth shook his head. "I don't know. I just don't want this all to be my fault. I was the one who gave him another chance." He stared out of the window at the passing lights of cars.

"Whatever happens, this isn't your fault," Nate said, "I know you well enough to know that you think something stinks about this too. He's not telling us everything, man, and we need him to, so we can help him."

Garth nodded and continued staring out of the window.

A few minutes later, we pulled down a gravel road that led through a large group of trees. About a half-mile down the road, the trees parted and opened up into a large wheat field. Standing in the middle of the field was a large, dilapidated barn.

Wally stopped his car about ten feet from the barn's front door and got out.

Nate looked across at me. "Ready?"

"Yeah, let's go figure this out," I said as I opened my door and stepped out.

Garth took a moment and then joined us outside.

Wally walked up to the barn door and pulled a ring of keys out of his pocket. He grabbed the chains that were holding the door closed. He unlocked the padlock and unchained the door. Quickly, he swung the door open, revealing the poorly lit inside of the barn.

There was a stack of crates directly inside the door, and behind those, I could barely see the top of someone's head. We walked around the crates and could see a woman tied to a chair.

As soon as we walked into her full view, she started shaking, trying to break the ropes that held her in place. Her screams were muffled by a rag that was shoved into her mouth. Her eyes were swollen like she had been crying for hours. Make-up was smeared down her face, and there was dirt stuck to her clothes.

"Well, let's get this started then," I said as I stepped forward to remove her gag.

Wally cut me off and stood between the woman and me. "Hold on. Not just yet. Gotta let her stew a little longer."

I furrowed my brow at him. "You don't think a day is long enough for her to 'stew'? Bodies are still piling up, we've gotta figure this out, and that's gonna be pretty hard if she can't talk to us."

"If she's able to scream and carry on in here, it could attract her pack. The longer it takes for her pack to find us, the more willing she will be to cooperate. She won't have a reason not to," Wally said.

"Or it'll draw them here, we can take care of them, and it's a win if she doesn't talk anyway," Nate said.

Wally shook his head. "Problem is, we aren't too sure how many of them there are. Evidence Luke and I found pointed to at least seven or eight. And I'm willing to bet there's more than that."

I shrugged, annoyed at this point. "So, what do you propose we do? 'Cause standing here doing absolutely nothing is getting us nowhere."

Garth stepped between us and put his hands up. "Whoa, whoa. Let's keep our cool, guys." He reached down and pulled his silver knife from its sheath.

The woman started to struggle and scream even more when he pulled the knife out.

Wally looked at Garth. "What are you doing?"

"Just gonna double-check and make sure we actually have a werewolf." Garth made his way closer to the woman.

A look of disgust crossed Wally's face. "You think I haven't already checked? I did all of the tests, and she failed them all. Just trust me. We need to kill her, and soon. Can't give her a chance to escape."

"I thought you said that we need to question her to find the rest of the pack?" I asked.

Wally's glare met mine. "After we question her. We kill her."

I looked away from Wally. Nate and I looked at each other and shook our heads. Something seemed off, and we both knew it.

"Well, I just wanna check for myself. Can never be too sure with these things." Garth turned to continue towards the woman.

"You can trust me," Wally said.

Garth paused. "Okay, let's start questioning her then."

Wally sighed heavily. "All right, I guess, since you insist."

Garth nodded and removed the gag from her mouth. As soon as it was removed, she started breathing frantically and crying harder.

"Please, please," she cried, "You have to help me. This man is insane—"

"Shut up!" Wally shouted angrily and pulled the gag from Garth's hand, moving to return it to her mouth.

I reached out to stop him. "Hey, wait! Just let her talk."

Wally glared at me. "Why? She's a disgusting monster. If she's just gonna lie, what's the point?"

The woman continued crying. "I'm not a monster. You have to believe me. He killed my husband."

Wally nodded. "Yeah. Because he was a werewolf. Better him than all those innocents he killed."

"You're crazy!" the woman shouted.

Garth walked up and put a hand on Wally's shoulder. "Hey, can we talk for a minute? Outside."

Wally looked taken aback. "What? Why?"

Garth sighed. "Wally, just please."

Wally looked at the woman and scowled. "Fine. But not outside. Just so we can keep an eye on her."

Garth nodded and led Wally across to the other side of the barn.

Nate and I turned back to the woman.

"What happened?" I asked.

The woman became less frantic once Wally walked away. Her breathing slowed down, and she was able to speak more clearly.

"My husband and I were having a nice weekend getaway. We rented a cabin in the area and were just getting settled in. As we were unpacking our bags, he…" She nodded towards Wally. "And some other man barged into the cabin with guns raised."

Nate and I looked at each other and then continued listening.

"The other man claimed that he wanted to ask us a few questions and needed us to cooperate," she continued. "We sat down, and he was asking about how long we had been in town and a bunch of other weird questions. Once he was done, the crazy one started freaking out."

"What do you mean?" Nate asked.

"Well, they stepped away so we could barely hear what they were saying, but the crazy one was getting upset and started screaming. He was yelling about how my husband and I were werewolves, but the other guy kept shaking his head. He didn't agree with the crazy one," she said.

"Did anything else happen?" I asked.

The woman nodded. "He pulled a gun out and started running towards us. The other man grabbed him by his shoulder and spun him around. Somehow the gun ended up going off, and the other man fell over."

Nate and I exchanged a look.

"What?" we asked in unison.

She nodded. "That's when my husband told me to run out through the back door. But..." She started to get emotional. "When we ran, he shot my husband too. I didn't know what to do, but I ran. I kept running until he caught me. Then he brought me here. He said he needed to figure out what to do with me."

I knew Wally's story didn't make any sense, and I was absolutely furious.

I charged up to Wally. "What did you do?!" I shouted and slammed him up against the wall.

Wally looked at Nate, who had been close behind me. "Get your girl."

Nate punched him in the face and dragged him back up the wall with his forearm across his neck. "Answer her."

Wally looked at us, shocked.

"Now!" Nate shouted.

"Guys, guys, what's going on?!" Garth shouted, completely lost in the chaos.

"Tell him, Wally," I said.

He gulped hard and looked at Garth with puppy dog eyes. "I messed up, buddy."

Garth furrowed his brow. "What do you mean?"

Wally shook his head. "I wanted so bad to prove I could do this again. That I could get back in the game."

Nate pressed his forearm against Wally harder. "Tell him what you did to Luke!"

"I killed him, all right!" Wally yelled.

"You what?!" Garth asked with dread all over his face.

"It was an accident," Wally said pathetically. "The werewolves, they pushed him into me… the gun went off. There was nothing I could do."

"Liar!" the woman yelled.

"I am not!" Wally shouted back at her.

Garth shook his head, now thoroughly pissed off. He walked over to the woman, holding his silver blade.

"Wait!" she yelled. "No! No, please!"

"Ma'am, ma'am, it's okay," Garth said calmly, "I'm trying to help you."

The woman was visibly shaking, but she nodded reluctantly before Garth pressed his knife to her arm. She didn't react at all, and the silver clearly did nothing to her.

Garth stomped over to us angrily. "You said you tested her!"

"I did!" he shouted. "She's acting!"

"It burns their skin, dumbass," I said.

Wally shrugged, running out of excuses. "She's a good actress."

Garth shook his head. "No, Wally… tell me the truth."

Wally looked at Garth for a long moment and then let out a deep breath. "Okay, okay. Yes, I messed up… bad… and there isn't a pack. But listen… Luke wouldn't listen to me, and I wanted to finish the hunt."

"So, you killed him?" Garth asked.

"That was honestly an accident. I was trying to shoot one of the werewolves, but he grabbed me. The gun went off when he stepped between us," he said, "They took off running, and I needed to finish it, so I shot the guy… only problem was, the shot wasn't direct to the heart, but he was dead, which means he wasn't the werewolf. So, I brought the girl here 'cause… clearly, it was her all along."

I shook my head. "No, neither of them were werewolves. Why don't you understand that? Garth just tested her."

He shrugged. "Like I said, good actress."

"Explain how more victims keep popping up then," Garth said.

Wally sighed and nodded. "Okay, I don't know, but if we just take care of her, we can finish this hunt and go our separate ways."

Garth tilted his head, confused. "Take care of her?"

Wally nodded. "She is a werewolf after all."

"No, she is not," Garth said.

Wally looked at Garth and nodded. "Okay, fine, but she's seen too much at this point."

"We don't kill innocents!" Garth yelled.

Wally lifted his head, struggling against Nate. "We do to protect our own."

I stepped forward, shaking my head. "No, we absolutely do not."

"I've heard enough of this." Garth walked over and untied the woman.

Wally shook his head, a look of defeat in his eyes. "No! No, no, no!"

The woman stood up and took off running.

Garth turned to us and looked at the ground. "Look, Wally, you're done."

"What are you gonna do? Kill me?" Wally was starting to get upset like he couldn't believe what was happening.

Garth looked Wally dead in the eyes. "No, we're not gonna kill you, but I am going to tell every hunter I know to stay clear of you, and if I have to, I will tell them what you have done. It'll be out of my hands what they do if they ever see you."

"Where's Luke's body?" I asked.

Wally swallowed hard. "He's still at the cabin."

"I guess that's where we're off to then." Garth turned to Nate. "You can let him go."

Nate relaxed his arm and turned to leave. Wally stood there in shock as Garth and I gathered whatever we had brought and started to leave.

Nate held the door open for Garth and me.

As Nate turned to follow us, we heard Wally cry out in anger, "You can't do this to me!"

We all turned to see that Wally had pulled out a gun and aimed it at Nate, but before we could react, a loud shot rang out, and Nate collapsed.