A/N: I don't own these characters or the show Supernatural, sigh. Just borrowing them for a little fic.
A/N 2: I'm sorry this took awhile. I kept at writing it and I'm not completely thrilled with it but I figure if I just post it already maybe I can move on to the next chapter. No cliffy this time at least :)
Dean stared at the bones in the uncovered earth, then the flashlight died completely and they were left in the dark. The moon was not yet up, but Dean could feel that his brother was still in front of him.
"Sam," he quietly said his brother's name, not knowing why he felt like whispering.
"Yeah?" Sam's voice drifted to him, equally hushed.
"You still have that emergency light stick I gave you to put into your pack?" he asked.
A momentary silence, then, "Yeah. Hold on."
There was a rustling and then the sound of a package tearing. A tiny snap could be heard and then a dim yellow light illuminated the hole. It gradually grew stronger, and Dean could see Sam's face in the glow.
He held out his hand, and Sam gave him the light stick. Dean raised it nearer to the bones, and looked at them closely. He frowned.
"Hey, you know, I don't think they're human." He told his brother.
"What are they, then?" Sam asked.
"Some kind of animal, I think. I've seen enough bodies to know the difference."
Sam cocked his head in thought.
"This might sound strange, but you think it could be the bones of a bear?"
"Why?" Dean asked him.
"Just a hunch."
Dean took another look. "Yeah, maybe." He swung the light stick to look at Sam. "It doesn't help us get out of here, though."
"Think we should wait for morning?"
The normal night sounds of the forest drifted down to them from the top of the hole.
Dean eyed his brother. "You should really get some ice on that sprain. And I'd rather not be down here in the dark if that bear decides to come back. We go with the original plan-only you'll boost me up, and I'll drag you out."
Sam nodded, and wincing in pain managed a half-crouch and then gave his brother a boost up. Dean held the light stick in his teeth for visibility as he went up and climbed over a top edge of the hole, the red backpack still over one shoulder. He finally swung himself over onto solid ground, and immediately looked around to see if anything menacing was nearby, but the clearing was empty.
"Okay, all clear. I'm going to throw you the light stick." He told Sam, leaning over the hole.
"Okay." Sam said, wanting his brother to hurry. Now that he knew he was sharing quarters with a dead possible bear, the hole in the dark was actually a bit creepy.
The light stick landed on the ground next to him, and he picked it up. Rising, he lifted the arm with the light stick and Dean gripped his forearm. His brother lay nearly flat on the ground for balance and dug one hand into the dirt for leverage as he heaved.
Sam scrabbled at the dirt wall, trying to dig in a handhold to help lift himself. At last he was over on the ground beside his brother, both of them panting.
"Next time you see something red saying 'come get me' you leave it, got it?" Dean finally gasped out.
"Let's just hope it gives us some clues." Sam replied.
After resting a few minutes they decided to peruse the backpack once they were safely in the car. They would come back the next day during daylight to check out the bones and continue the search for whatever was taking the hikers. Sam limped behind his brother to the edge of the clearing and Dean grabbed a handy tree branch to make a splint for Sam's ankle with part of the spare T-shirt in his pack. With another tall branch to use as a makeshift walking stick and after dry swallowing a couple of aspirin Sam was ready to follow his brother to the Impala.
They went slowly, lighting the way when necessary with the light stick and trying not to attract any attention of the ursine variety. Finally they reached the spot Sam had first met the bear and Dean halted, holding out his hand to stop Sam from moving forward. Sam looked at him questioningly.
"Just want to be careful." Dean whispered to him and he nodded. They looked around carefully but it was quiet, except for the normal forest sounds. They made it back to the parking lot without any further complications and Dean sighed in relief at the sight of his car.
Nate and Jake, thanks for reviewing! I originally thought thiswas goingto be one of those humorous light stories but it morphed on me so I guess we'll find out together about the drama :), Solus Nemo, thanks for the review! Nothing bad in this chapter really, my muse hid on me, but maybe after the newest episode it'll reappear and be scarier ;), Ghostwriter, glad you liked, I know this chapter is lame in comparison but hopefully the next will be better, pmsdevil01, I love your screenname, it is so true for me lol, glad you like it and I hope you stick with it, Michelle P., thanks for reading and reviewing, I plan on continuing this, I think I just needed a new episode to inspire me, Lu14, thanks for reviewing and I'm definitely going to keep working on this. Now I just watched a new ep and another one that looks really good is going to air next week so I plan to have a new chapter out by then. Everyone have a great week!