WENDIGO
It was nothing but a bright red blur on these isolated back roads in Colorado. The engine roared like a monster and echoed through the tall wall of trees lining the roads. This blazing red, Yamaha Thunderace cried out as it sped up and down the highway with a rider at the handlebars, dressed head-to-toe in black leather.
The rider glanced down the road and saw an old black Chevy Impala with Kansas plates on the back. Naturally, it wasn't uncommon for people to be out of state, even for the backroads where the rider was now, so the rider wasn't all that surprised either but then, they both turned into the Lost Creek Colorado, National Forest. The rider began to speed up next to the Impala and saw two men in their 20's inside.
The two brothers drove down the road for the national forest. The oldest brother, Dean casually glanced out the window to looked in the thick woods of the forest, literally jumped out of fright when he met with a dark tinted visor of the Thunderace rider that drove up beside his car.
"Sam." He quickly called out to his brother without taking his eyes off the rider. "Hey!" He called again loudly and actually slapped his hand on Sam's shoulder.
"Dude, what the hell are you-" Sam looked away from the map with an annoyed expression but flinched when he saw the rider up close to the window.
The rider quickly looked away and drove down the highway and was out of sight in a blink of an eye.
"What's his problem?" Dean watched as the rider drove off till they were nothing but a red speck in the distance.
"So blackwater ridge is pretty remote," Sam said, looking over a 3D replica of the ridge while Dean checked out the decorations and pictures hung up in the rangers station. "It's cut off by these canyons here. It has abandoned silver and gold mines all over the place."
Sam's words seemed to go right over Dean's head. "Dude, check out the size of this fricken' bear." He called out, staring at the gigantic bear in a picture in front of him.
"And a dozen or more grizzlies in the area," Sam added, looking over the picture.
Suddenly, a female voice spoke up from behind the boys, low-toned and a bit rough sounding. "This place ain't some playground, that's for sure."
The two brothers looked over their shoulders and saw a woman standing behind them in the doorway of the back room. She was just a few inches shorter than Dean, even with the heels she had on. Shoulder-length wavy brown hair with blonde highlights and bright blue eyes that were striking and defined. This attractive woman also wore a form-fitting, two-piece black leather riding outfit with a big duffle bag slung her shoulder and a helmet in her other hand.
She spoke in a low tone as her lips curled up in a smirk. "And I'm sure your boys aren't here for a little walk in the woods." It was almost like she could read their minds and tell what they are actually doing here.
Dean scoffed at this after recognizing the outfit and helmet. She was the rider that about gave him and his brother a heart attack. It was no surprise by her attitude, that she was in the same 'business' as they were. The last thing Dean needed right now was another Hunter getting in the way. No matter how hot she was and how good she looked in that outfit.
A new voice wandered into the room. "You two aren't planning to go out near blackwater ridge by any chance?" A ranger walked into the room with a mug in his hand and gave the boys a suspicious look.
"Oh, no, sir." Sam quickly covered with a lie. "We're just environmental-study majors from the UV boulder. Just working on a paper." He said.
Dean waved his fist. "Recycle, man."
"Bull." The ranger said bluntly and pointed his mug at them. "You're both friends with the Haley girl, right? I'll you exactly what I told her. Her brother filled out a backcountry permit saying he wouldn't be back from Blackwater until the 24th. So it's not exactly a missing person, now, is it?" He explained.
"Sure seems that way." The woman muttered under her breath but only the boy could hear. Dean gave her a suspicious glance.
"Tell that girl to quit worrying. I'm sure her brother's just fine." Ranger Wilkinson walked away from his desk and suddenly handed the woman a piece of paper "And, ma'am, you're paperwork is already filled out. You're free to go. Have a safe trip." He said.
The woman smirked and folded up the paper. "Will do." She walked up beside Dean and placed a hand on his shoulder. "See you two later." She said in a low rumbling voice before walked out of the station.
Dean fought the urge to stare at her as she strolled out but he managed to stop himself. "That Haley girl's quite a pistol, huh?" Dean smirked, getting back on topic.
"That's putting it mildly."
"Actually, you know what would help is if I could show her a copy of that backcountry permit. You know so she could see her brother's return date." Dean suggested.
Wilkinson raised a brow at the two boys. "This is actually the second time someone asked me for one." He suddenly notified them but still looked through his paperwork for one.
Dean cocked a brow. "Really, who was the first one?" He asked.
"The girl who just signed up to stay in the forest for a few days. The one who left just now." Wilkinson then fumbled through the papers on his desk. "She said her name's 'Alice Marie Cromwell'." He shrugged his shoulder. "If you ask me, it's probably a fake last name, never heard of something as strange-sounding as that before."
Dean chuckled to himself as he and Sam walked out of the ranger's station, looking down at the copy permit.
"What, are you cruising for a hookup or something?" Sam questioned, noticing the look his brother was getting.
Dean took a glance at his brother. "What do you mean?"
"The coordinates point to blackwater ridge. So, what are we waiting for? Let's go and find dad. I mean, this Alice girl seems to be a Hunter, why not let her handle it? Why even go talk to this girl." Sam complained while walking over to the Impala.
"Maybe we should know what we're walking into," Dean said back. "And apparently there's another Hunter here, by the looks of it, and I don't know... There might actually be something going on around here, and when were you shot first ask questions later anyway?"
"Since now," Sam said, getting into the car.
Dean nodded his head and shrugged. "Alright then."
A young girl opened the door and saw Sam and Dean standing on the front porch of her house.
"You must be Haley Collins," Dean said. "I'm Dean and this is Sam. We're-"
"Rangers with the park service," Haley answered back immediately, not looking shocked at all that they were here. "I heard from your partner, Alice Cromwell."
There was a long pause to try to process how this Alice woman knew that they were coming, around this time too.
"Did she now." Dean nodded his head, trying to play it off with a smile and a short laugh. "Is Alice here now?"
"Yeah, come on in," Hayley said, moving to the side for them to come in.
"Thank you," Sam said and followed his brother in. "So if Tommy's not due back for a while, how do you know somethings wrong?" He asked her.
Haley walked into the kitchen with a bowl in her hand. "He checks in every day by cell. He E-mails photos, stupid little videos, but we haven't heard anything in over three days now."
The brothers walked into the kitchen and saw the woman from before sitting at the table. She was now dressed in dark jeans, black wedges and her black riding jacket now opened up to a gray top.
"The kid has a satellite phone." Alice cut in, already getting down to business. Dean and Sam both noticed that her demeanor seemed to have changed to become more serious, but that's natural for a Hunter. "Couldn't he just forgot to check-in, he could just be having fun." she asked Haley with a frown of confusion after trying to wrap her brain around the situation
"He wouldn't do that." Haley's other brother, Ben dropped his spoon when he heard her.
Haley then started to explain their situation "Our parents are gone. It's just my two brothers and me... We all keep pretty close tabs on each other." She said.
"Really..." Alice mumbled, nodding her head slowly.
"Can I see the pictures he sent you?" Sam then suddenly cut in.
Haley nodded. "Yeah."
Haley pulled a video up on her laptop. "That's Tommy." She pointed and clicked on a video.
"Hey, Haley," Tommy said to the camera. "Day six. We're still out near backwater ridge. We're fine, keeping safe. So don't worry, okay?"Talk to you tomorrow." The video stopped.
Alice's narrowed her eyes very slightly at the video and leaned her face closer to the film as it played again.
Dean spoke up. "We'll find your brother. We're heading out to Blackwater ridge first thing." He said to them.
"Then maybe I'll see you there." Haley said. "look, I can't sit around here anymore. I hired a guide. I'm heading out in the morning and looking to find Tommy myself."
Dean slightly nodded his head. "I think I know how you feel."
Alice leaned against the wall with her hands upon her chin. "Hey, can you forward these to me?"
"Sure."
Alice had herself and the boys moved to a local restaurant where she sat across from them. "So," She leaned against her chair and stared at the boys across from her. "before we get down to it, let's formerly get to know each other." She held her hand out. "I'm Alice. Alice Marie Cromwell."
Sam shook her hand. "I'm Sam Winchester and this is my brother, Dean." He gestured towards the grumpy man next to him.
"Winchester?" Alice lifted her brow at the familiar name. She looked over at Dean and saw he was giving her a look to get on with it. "Don't give me that look." She gave him a warning. "But since you don't know what I'm talking about, I guess you didn't see it in the film."
"See what?" Dean said in a harsh tone. He didn't like that she was acting cocky and especially that another hunter was in the area. Needless to say, this was his hunt and he didn't need someone else coming in and doing things their way.
Alice cocked a brow but didn't say anything. She opened her laptop. "It's not the first time someone went missing. I downloaded Tommy's video...because something caught my eye." She turned the video to them and clicked play.
Dean and Sam watched with careful eyes at what Alice said that she noticed. A chill sprung up their spines though when a black mass, outside the tent Tommy was in, quickly move in the background of the video. Tommy didn't even flinch or make any noticeable changes to his demeanor when the shadowy figure moved outside his tent. He didn't even know it was there.
Dean quickly got closer "Do it again." Once again she played the video but paused it, going by three frames. It was clear now that something wasn't right about that shadowy figure. It didn't look normal enough to be a human and it was far too fast to be anything but supernatural.
"The things fast." Alice's voice was grim. "Fast enough to move in three frames in under a fraction of a second."
Dean smacked Sam in the arm and grinned. "I told you something weird was going on." Dean looked back up to Alice and gave her a generally impressed look. "How in the hell were you able to notice that thing the first time?"
Alice smirked and snickered. "I've been a Hunter for as long as I can remember. It becomes second nature to always look behind oneself." She closed the laptop, her face turning serious once again and her voice dropping to an ominous tone. "One more thing. In 59', one camper survived the supposed 'grizzly' attack. Just a kid, and he barely crawled out of the woods alive."
Sam looked at her. "Do we have a name?"
An old man, Mr. Shaw, walking away from the brothers and Alice before sitting down on a chair. "I don't know what to tell you, rangers. It was only-"
"Grizzle attack?" Alice doubted him, cutting him off.
Dean has only been working with this woman for a couple of hours and he already noticed that she has two to distinct moods. Yeah, she can joke around no problem and be sarcastic as hell, but when it came hunting, she seemed to grow an almost calm but seriously chilling demeanor.
This was her 'Hunters Mode'.
"I don't know, it's not like you'll believe me." His expression saddened.
Alice kept a cool expression and moved in front of him and kneeled down. "Please, just tell us what you saw. I won't judge someone if they haven't explained themselves yet."
Mr. Shaw suddenly took a deep sigh and felt the woman's eye peer right into his. "I didn't see anything, it moved to fast." He began.
"It got into your tent," Sam added.
A horrid expression appeared on his face as the nightmare-like memories resurface that he wished he had buried. "It got into our cabin." He corrected. "I was sleeping in front of the fireplace when it came in. I woke up to my parents screaming."
Alice tilted her head. "Excuse me." Alice reached her hand out and pulled the collar of his shirt down to reveal four large deep claw marks down his shoulder. Her eyes narrowed upon the sight. "I know for a fact...that a grizzle didn't leave you this."
The old man grabbed Alice's hand and held it tightly when he began to recall the memories. "There's an evil in those woods." He said lowly.
Alice's eyes hardened as she saw the fear raise up in his old eyes that have now seen the true face of fear. Yeah, a child would lie about a monster, but after all these years...why would he lie now? "There's evil in every dark corner of the wilderness."
Dean, Sam, and Alice walked down the corridor of an old apartment after talking to Mr. Shaw and confirming his story. They were sure now if they had any doubts. Something seriously dangerous was going on in those woods. They were old woods, so God knows what lurked inside the darkness with no one there to see it.
"Spirits and demons don't have to unlock doors. If they want inside, they just go through the doors." Dean sighed and shook his head.
"So it's probably something else, something corporeal," Sam said but got a look from both Dean and Alice.
Did he actually say that?
"Corporeal?" Dean raised a brow.
"Excuse me, professor." Alice and Dean said at the same time, rolling their eyes. The two then turned to each other and stare, realizing that they said it at the exact same time.
"Shut up." Sam rolled his eyes at the two. "So what do you two think?"
"The claws, the speed that it moves..." Alice counted on his figures. "Not enough fingers to count. Its identity is still up in the air."
"Could be a skinwalker or a black dog." Dead suggested. "Whatever we're talking about, we're talking about a creature, and it's corporeal. Which means we can kill it." They were sure of that.
Dean opened the truck to his Impala and opened the secret floor to his weapons box that most hunters have. He propped it opened with a shotgun and began to load guns into a duffle bag. Alice walked over to her motorcycle and grabbed her bag that was hooked to the back. She pulled out a pair of hiking boots and pulled her heels off to replace them. Her eyes glanced over at Sam who was giving his brother a look.
"We can't let that Haley girl go out there," Sam said to Dean.
"Oh yeah? What are we gonna tell her? That she can't go into the woods because of a big scary monster?" Dean replied sarcastically.
"Yeah," Sam answered, making Alice lift her head.
"Her brothers missing." Alice cut in, walking back over to them with her bag slung around her shoulder. "She not going to just sit this one out, and it not like she will believe us if we do tell her, it will only make the situation worse. She'll just think we're crazy."
"Alice's right, Sam," Dean spoke up. "Now we go with her, we protect her, and we keep our eyes peeled for our fuzzy predator friend." He picked up the duffle.
"Finding Dad's not enough?" Sam argued, and once again getting Alice's attention. He slammed the weapons arsenal shut and then the trunk. "Now we gotta babysit too?" Sam looked over at Alice and saw her giving him a look. "What?"
Alice walked over to Dean and grabbed the duffle out of his hands and shoved the heavy thing over to Sam harshly. "There is a job that needs doing. I don't know what is going on with your father, but right now...focus on the mission at hand. Let's go." She said coldly and opened the back door of the Impala to get in.
Dean slowly moved over to the driver's side of the Impala and mouthed the word 'wow' at Alice's harshness, finding it damn hot at the same time. Okay, he will admit it, Alice was really growing on him.
Dean glanced at Alice through the mirror and saw her adjusting the scope of her rifle, and loading shotgun shells, and putting bullets into the magazine of her pistol. Dean's been a Hunter long enough to tell that she's been in this line if business longer then he probably has. She was calm and worked fast. In some hunter cases, they would be anxious about doing what she does. Dean felt kinda bad now that he was a bit harsh with her, but he can tell now that she can get serious when she know that someones in danger. He can see the hardness in her eyes when working a case because she's almost completely different from when they first met her.
His eyes began to wander up to her calm face. He had to admit that she was attractive, and she had a dangerous edge to her that practically screamed 'Don't piss off'.
"You look like you have something you want to say to me," Alice asked, lifting her blue eyes up to stare at him through the mirror. "Dean." She snapped the magazine into her pistol.
Even the way she says his name sounded dangerous. Tough girl, really...
"It's nothing, just...you looked comfortable." He pointed out.
"The guns you mean?" She waved her black pistol. "Well, I learned how to hold a gun before I learned how to talk, so...you can say it comes naturally." A small smile made it to her face. "You can't be all jittery when trying to load your gun. You'd probably end up shooting yourself before a monster does you in." She said dryly.
Sam looked over his shoulder at Alice and met her gaze. "You don't seem that old. How old were you when you started? Where is your family now?" he asked.
A chuckle escaped from Alice's lip's "Are you questioning me, Sammy?" She earned a laugh from Dean, but Sam looked displeased. "Don't worry about it. I have no problem talking about my family. I was introduced to the supernatural at a young age, about when I was... 6?" She mumbled, trying to remember. "I was a sheltered child, doing nothing but Hunting and learning, I rarely went to a normal school, mostly homeschooled." She slowly began to get quiet. "When I was 10...my father passed. And when I was 14 my mother died of cancer, and after that, it was just me and my older brother Aiden."
Dean blinked, he stared at her through the mirror. "You have a brother?"
"Yeah." Alice leaned back in her seat. "Aiden was all I had left, he was practically my life and everything I learned was from him. He was the biggest dork and never took anything seriously, even when Hunting. He was everything to me, he was my family and I loved him, but two years ago...Aiden was killed on a hunt." Alice bit down on her lips and rubbed her eyes like she was trying to cover her face from the boys.
"Hey, you alright?" Dean softened. "I understand where you're coming from."
"I'm fine." Alice took a breath. "I made peace with myself long ago." She grinned, cocking the last gun in her hands. "Look alive boys, we're coming up."
Dean drove up to the search party the had Haley, Ben, and their guide, Roy. Dean drove the car to a slow stop and the three Hunters stepped out.
"You guys got room for three more?" Dean closed the car door. They walked up to them with Alice slap in the middle of the brothers.
"Wait, you want to come with us?" Haley questioned them.
"Who are these guys?" Roy asked.
"Apparently this is all the park service could muster up for a search and rescue," Haley said with a roll of her eyes. Disappointed with only those three.
Roy eyed Alice's clothes. She wore thick leather that was obvious a black riding jacket. To his eyes, she looked like a biker punk. "You look more like a Harley rider." He questioned her. "You're a ranger?"
Alice smiled. "Yes, sir. We are." She answered back, but the polite words didn't match her cocky tone.
Haley started at them with a raised eyebrow. "And you're hiking out in biker boots and jeans?"
Dean looked down at himself. "Well, sweetheart, I don't do shorts." He walked past her with a smirk.
"What," Roy spoke up almost angrily. "You think this is funny. It's dangerous backcountry out there. Her brother might be hurt." He looked down at Alice.
Alice once cheerful and cocky expression flatlined and her voice became hard sounding. She looked back to Dean and Sam before turning back to Roy. "Believe me when I say this, I wouldn't have come all the way out here if I didn't know that. I know how to do my job, and I'm not going to tell you how to do your job." She purposely bumped into Roy as she walked past him.
Dean stifled a laughed and leaned in close to his brother to whispered. "I like her." He said while acting giddy, pointing to Alice.
Sam slowly nodded in agreement. "Yeah, she's starting to grow on me too. Definitely the 'Don't piss off' type." He said quietly.
The group hiked through the dense woods of the forest, Roy in the lead with Alice, Dean, Haley, Ben, and Sam bringing up the rear.
"Roy," Dean walked up to him. "You said you did a little hunting."
"Yeah, more than a little," Roy answered back.
"Uh-huh." Dean nodded. "What kind of furry critters do you hunt?"
"Mostly buck sometimes bears."
Dean passed Roy. "Tell me, uh, Bambi or Yogi ever hunt you back?" Suddenly Roy grabbed ahold of Dean's jacket. "Whatcha doing, Roy?" He said lowly.
Roy grabbed a stick from off the ground and poked a placed bear trap that Dean was about to step on if Roy didn't stop him. "You should watch where you're stepping. Ranger." Roy mocked, grabbed his stick and retaking the lead.
Dean looked back to Alice who was giving him a look. "It's a bear trap."
"Yeah..." She slowly nodded her head. "I noticed." Alice sighed and walked up beside Dean. "It's not a good way to go, you know. Stepping on a bear trap," she said with a smirk.
Dean snickered as she walked ahead of him, but he couldn't help to have his eyes wander up and down her. He continued to walk with the group but was suddenly stopped by Haley.
"You didn't pack any provisions and you guys are carrying a duffle bag." She began digging into him in a low tone that only Dean and Alice could hear. "You're not rangers." She claimed. Alice stopped and looked back to them along with Sam. Haley grabbed Dean's arm. "So who the hell are you?" She demanded.
Dean gave Sam and Alice a look that told them to keep walking, that he'll handle it. Sam nodded and continued on followed by Ben, but Alice took a few looks before shaking her head and continued on down the path.
Dean watched them for a second before beginning. "Sam and I are brothers, and we're looking for our father. He might be here, we don't know. I just figured that you and me, we're on the same boat."
"Why didn't you just tell me from the start?" Haley asked.
"I'm telling you now. 'sides, it's probably the most honest I've ever been with a woman...ever. So we okay?"
Alice was still close enough to hear that last comment. She scoffed and shook her head.
Haley paused. "Yeah, okay."
"And what do you mean I didn't pack provisions?" Dean pulled out a big bag of peanut M&Ms and stuck a hand in the bag as he hiked on. Haley waited for a moment before following.
Alice sighed as Roy finally stopped in a part of the forest that was noticeably thicker as well as deadly silent. It's been a couple of hours now since they began their search and daylight was burning away with every second. It won't be long till they had to stop and camp out for the night. They're hoping to reach Tommy's camp before sundown.
Roy looked back at the group. "This is it. Black Water Ridge." He said.
Sam walked past him and looked around the thick woods. "What coordinates are we at." He asked.
Roy pulled out a GPS. "Thirty-five and minus one-eleven."
Dean walked over to Sam and scanned the area in front of them with a suspicious look on his face. "You hear that?"
Sam nodded his head. "Yeah. Not even crickets."
"I'm gonna go take a look around. " Roy called out.
"You shouldn't go off on your own," Sam warned Roy.
"That's sweet. Don't worry about me." Roy boldly mocked him and brushed on past.
Dean looked back to everyone else. "All right, everybody stays together. Let's go." As everyone moved past him he noticed Alice kneeling on the ground with her head down. "Alice? Hey."
Alice lifted her head and snapped a thick, deep purple book in her hands shut. "What? Oh, sorry." She got to her feet. "I'm still trying to figure out what the hell's out there." She waved the book around.
Dean raised a brow and eyed the rough leather of the book. "A hunter's journal?" You pointed. "You got one too?"
"Hmm?" Alice looked down at the book in her hands and handed it over to Dean to look at. He flipped through the pages covered in all kinds of lore and even monster that he hasn't heard of before. He never saw something this advance before. Not to mention old too. The pages were beginning to tear.
"Holy..." He breathed in shock as he looked at the pages filled with all kinds of knowledge. "For some reason...I didn't think you would have one." He mumbled, handing the journal back to Alice.
Alice kneeled down, unzipped her bag, and stuffed it back in. "Doesn't every hunter have one? I don't care how good you are, you can't remember all the freaky shit that's out there."
Dean laughed "Ain't that for sure." He took out his hand for Alice to take.
Alice smiled and took it and was pulled up. "You got one too?"
"Yeah, our fathers. Tell me," Dean and Alice begun to walked to catch up with the group. "did you put that together yourself?"
Alice smiled warmly before shaking her head. "Nah, this journal was put together by years of Cromwell Hunters. This thing's older than I am."
Dean lifted a brow and noticed something that she said. "Your whole family were Hunters?"
Alice clicked her tongue. "Every generation up to me." She cut off her conversation and ran to retake her position as second in the lineup.
"Haley! Over here!" Roy called out. Haley ran ahead to where Roy was calling from and stood on the ground of Tommy's campsite, but was only greeted with disappointment and a torn-up camp, claw marks in tents, and splattered blood.
"Oh my god!" Haley's gasped in horror.
"Look's like a grizzly," Roy said.
"Tommy?" Haley walked around, dropping her bag. "Tommy! Tommy!"
Sam ran over to her. "Shh! Shh-hh-hh!" He quickly stopped her from making any further noise.
"Why," Haley questioned him.
"Because..." Alice walked up to the front of the group and at the edge of the campsite. "It still might be out there." She warned them with a chilling low voice.
"Sam. Alice," Dean called to the hunters from the other side of the camp edge. They walked over to him and crouched next to him to see what he was looking at. Tracks, dragging marks in fact, in the dirt leading out of the campsite. "The bodies were dragged from the campsite. But here, the tracks just vanished," he mumbled so only his brother and Alice could hear. "That's weird." They stood up. "I'll tell you what, that's no skinwalker or black dog."
Dean, Sam, and Alice walked back to the campsite and saw Haley kneel down and pick up Tommy's cellphone, broken and covered in blood.
Haley felt Alice's hand on her shoulder. "People bleed every day and live through it. He could still be alive." She reassured her worries with gentle words.
"Help!" An unknown voice called from the far distance that caused everyone to jump on guard. "Help!"
Roy took off in the direction of the voice with everyone behind him but leaving all their stuff behind, but the things in their hands.
"Help! Somebody!
Everyone came to a halt and looked around at the area where they heard the voice, but there was not even a soul in sight or sign that anyone was actually here. They couldn't even hear the voice anymore, and all was quiet.
"It seemed like it was coming from around here, didn't it!" Haley asked frantically.
Alice lowered the rifle in her hands, her eyes widen in horror and realization. "The problem was...it was." It then suddenly clicked in her brain and her skin turned pale. "Everyone back to the camp, now!" She practically screamed.
Alice came to a halt when she stopped in the middle of the campsite, and not even one of their packs was in sight, everything was just gone.
Haley gasped. "Our packs! What the hell is going on?"
Alice breathed out and ran her fingers through her hair. "The damn thing's smart. It wants to cut us off, stop us from calling for help." She explained, her voice shaking a bit, catching the Winchester boys' attention.
"You mean someone, some nutjob out there just stole all our gear." Roy corrected.
Alice marched over to Dean and Sam, her expression full of panic and worry, clearly alarming the boys. "I need to speak to the two of you. In private," she said and the three of them moved away from the group.
Dean quickly stopped Alice in her tracks and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, Alice. What's wrong? You know what it is?"
Alice quickly nodded her head. "It took my pack that had my journal in it. Can I have your Hunters journal for a second?" She asked with a frantic voice. Dean nodded and handed his father's journal over to her. Once it was in her hands, Alice quickly opened it up and flipped through pages. She stopped and pointed to the one she wanted. "Right here," Alice breathed.
Dean stared down at the page, the Wendigo page, and looked back up at Alice. "Oh come on, Alice." He eyed her. "I know you supposed to be an expert on these kinds of things, but...Wendigos are in the Minnesota woods or, northern Michigan. I've never even heard of one this far west." he shook his head in disbelief.
Alice stared at him with wild eyes and snapped the book shut. "That's the same mistake I made when I went hunting for one, and that mistake cost me my brother's life." She hissed in a sharp whisper, grinned her teeth. "I don't give a damn if they're out in the middle of the ocean." Dean only stared at her in shock and said nothing. "I know those bastards like the back of my hand. I'm not gonna make another mistake like that again and get someone killed because of my dumbass!" She snapped out her last words, breathing heavily with a flushed face.
Dean reached his hand out and held her shoulder and patted her back in an attempt to calm her down. He could feel her shaking under his touch. Dean stared down at her eyes then sighed in frustration. "Great." he waved his gun around. "Well, then this is useless, right?"
Alice took a deep breath and crossed her arms. "You would have better luck just throwing it at him. Shooting at it will only piss it off."
Dean patted her shoulder. He was now feeling an extreme amount of guilt just by seeing her lose her cool like this. "Sorry, Alice. About your brother, I know what it mean's to lose someone too." His voice softened and he slowly saw the hardness in Alice's eyes fade.
"It's fine." She patted him on the back, hard (It actually kind of hurt a little.), and started to walk back to camp. "Guys, we have to get these people out of here." She says in a wary voice. Alice and the boys walked back to the campsite. "Alright." She clapped her hands, getting everyone's attention. "Things have changed and gotten...complicated and dangerous. We need to leave."
Roy eyed her. "Kid, don't worry. Whatever's out there, I think I can handle it."
"That's not what I mean." Alice shook her head and turned to face Roy finally. "If you shoot that thing then you're just gonna make it mad. We have to leave and I mean now."
Roy glared. "One, you're talking nonsense. Two, you're in no position to give anybody orders!" He shouted at her.
"And you think you are? You think too highly of yourself." Alice shot him down immediately.
"Relax," Dean called out to them when she saw things were about to get heated. He trusted Alice to kick Roy's ass but that's the last thing they need right now.
Alice ran a hand through her hair in frustration and breathed out. "It was a bad idea from the start. Never should of let you come out here from the start. I'm trying to protect you."
Roy stepped into Alice's space and stared down at her, but only for Alice to glare right back not backing or looking away. "You protect me? I was hunting these woods when your mommy was still kissing you good night. Do you even know how to use that gun?"
Dean suddenly saw Alice's shoulders relax, but the tension around them was still enough to choke someone.
"You think you rule the forest all because you have a gun in your hands. You said you hunt things? Those are not the only things that roam the forest." Her voice dropped and the air around her seemed to be getting colder and colder. It was enough for Sam and Dean to notice. "That thing is a perfect hunter. It's smarter than me, you, and everyone in this camp combined. If you keep going on like you are now, then you are just gonna get yourself killed, and I have no time for you and your dumbass way of thinking."
Roy didn't take her seriously and only laughed at her. "You know you're crazy, right?"
Dean moved to grab Alice by the shoulder. She was tense as he gently pulled her back before she could literally drop this guy's ass all the way to hell and back. "Alright, Alice. you made your point." He slowly felt her relax.
Haley moved between Roy and Alice, putting her hands up, hoping to stop any fight that might happen. "Stop. Stop it. Everybody just stop. Look. Tommy might still be alive and I'm not leaving here without him."
There was a long pause before Dean spoke up. "It's getting late, This thing is a good hunter in the day, but an unbelievable hunter at night. We'll never beat it, not in the dark. We need to settle in and protect ourselves." He ordered.
"No...no!" Alice cried, her face stained with blood and married with a fresh cut to her cheek. She cradled her heavily wounded brother in her arms, his stomach ripped apart and covered over with blood and the reminds of his shirt. "Aiden! Please... please don't leave!" She cried out, screaming. "Please don't...leave me..."
Aiden's lips trembled as blood flooded his lungs. This is the first time he saw Alice act so broken and helpless and it pained him that he couldn't do anything. He already became numb to the unbearable pain he was feeling just a short while ago. His time was limited now and he would feel it slipping away fast. He wanted to stay. He wanted to stay so badly for his sister, he didn't want to leave her like this...so scared and alone. He didn't know what will become of her after his departure, but even if he doesn't believe in God, he will be praying for her.
"Alice...Al..." He began to speak but only coughed up the blood in his lungs that were stopping him from doing anything. "Ally...you gotta...you gotta get out...of t-t-these damn wo..ods...!"
Alice shook, her breathing heavy and ragged. "Aiden...I don't..I..I...what am I suppose..."
"I...love you, Alice...my baby sist..." His words didn't finish, and to Alice's absolute horror, she felt his body slump in her arms and his chest...no longer moving.
"Ah..." In almost an instant...her tears stopped and were replaced with a hard glare. She started off into the forest of the night, fully expecting the monster to come out and attack once more.
Night finally fell but their worries only intensified but the campers had no choice but to set up and hold on till daybreak. Alice sat down on a log on the outside of the camp and stared into the darkness of the forest. She closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. She sighed and shook the unpleasant memories out of her head.
Dean walked over to Alice and left Sam with Ben and Haley. He moved right in her line of sight and crouched down. "You wanna telling me what's going on in your head right now?"
Alice rubbed her face with her hands and peeked at Dean through her fingers. "The last time I hunted one of these things was 2 years ago, the same day that Aiden died. I'm all jittery...maybe because of trauma, I don't know." She sighed and admitted. "Aiden, that stupid son of a bitch pushed me aside and ended up getting killed. I remember...that bastard tearing his stomach out before it fled into the wood. Son of a bitch...that mountain was infested with so many..." She dropped her head as she spoke through her teeth.
Dean was now beginning to understand what was making Alice all worried. This was a personal matter. "Alice. Hey." he placed his hand on both sides of her face to force her to look at him. "You're not in this alone, me and Sammy are here to take that thing down...so don't go thinking you have to do this all on your own." He said to assure her, and he could see that it was working. "You might find it hard to trust us since you always worked with your brother, but I'm a brother myself...so I know what you're going through." He said.
Her expression fell but her heart sped up. "I don't really have a choice in the matter to trust other hunters. After all...they are all dead. I'm the last one left. My whole family is gone. " She pulled Dean's hand away from her face but held on to them for a feeling of warmth against her cold hands. Dean froze as if time stopped entirely as Alice continued to speak. "I don't think you know this but...The Cromwell family has been known to be the best hunters around. Sometimes being blown out of proportions to be the best in the world even. Smart, strong, and dangerous. What a load of crap since they all ended up drying anyway." She sounded like she was disgusted with those rumors.
Dean didn't know what to say about this. He was left wordless and with a blank mind. All he could feel now were her cold and rough hands rubbing against his.
"Help me! Somebody help me!" The voice from earlier called out from the deep and dark woods, knocking Dean and Alice out of their conversation.
Alice shinned her flashlight into the woods but even with the light, she still couldn't see anything and because the creature was moving too fast.
"He's trying to draw us out. Just stay put." Dean gave everyone a warning and stayed close to the group.
"Inside the magic circle?" Roy gave a mocking tone, but high on guard.
"Help! Help me!" The voice was cut off by a growling sound.
"Okay, that's no grizzly." Roy convinced in an instant, pointing his gun.
Haley and Ben stayed close to Alice. The hunter flinched and jumped back with them when she heard something rush through the bushes behind them. Alice put her hand up around Haley and Ben, keeping them close. "It's circling us," Alice called out to Sam and Dean.
Roy shoots at the rustling then again into the bushes. "I hit it!" He cried out and ran into the forest to see where he hit.
"Roy, no!" Dean shouted, but Roy was already gone. "Roy!"
"Dean!" Dean turned to face Alice. "I got these this! You and Sam go after him!" She ordered.
Dean gave a nod. "Alright, stay here!" He called back to her before he and Sam disappeared into the forest after Roy.
Alice could still hear the sound of Roy's voice but it was cut off and nothing but silence followed. Sam and Dean came back, but Roy didn't return.
The long night might have been over, but they were far from safe. Sam was sitting off to the side, leaning against an old rotten tree stump. His thoughts drifted as he playing with the lanyard attached to the binding of their dad's hunting journal, while Alice and Dean stood among Haley and Ben at the torn-up tents.
"I don't..." Haley began but the words didn't make it out of her mouth correctly. "I mean, these types of things, they aren't supposed to be real."
"I wish I would tell you differently," Dean said grimly
"How do we know it's not out there watching us." Haley glanced around the woods but of course, saw nothing.
"We don't," Alice said rather bluntly. "But we're better now then we were last night. At least now we can see." She tried to assure them but can't even assure herself.
"How do you know about this stuff" Confused, Haley looked at Alice.
"Well... " She lifted her arms and shrugged her shoulders. "It runs in my family and theirs." She gestured to Sam and Dean.
Sam came walking up to the group. "Hey. So we've got a better chance in the daylight, and I for one, want to kill this evil son of a bitch."
Well, hell, you know I'm in." Dean agreed immediately. He looked at Alice. "What about you?"
Alice gave him a look of pure confusion. "You really think I'm in the mood to let that bastard keep breathing?" The cruelness of her words leaked from her mouth, but Dean was only able to smirk at her honesty.
Sam opened of their dad's journal to the page Alice showed them before. He pointed to the cave-like drawing on the page of the monster. "'Wendigo' is a Cree Indian word. It means 'Evil that devours'." Sam explained from the book
Dean walked by the group. "They're hundreds of years old. Each one was once a man. Sometimes an Indian, or other times a frontiersman or a miner or hunter."
"How's a man turning into one of those things?" Haley said turning to the boys.
"It's the same old story. During some harsh winter, a man finds himself starving, cut off from supplies or help. Becomes a cannibal to survive, eating other members of their tribe or camp."
"Like the Donner party," Ben commented.
"Cultures all over the world believe that eating human flesh gives a person certain abilities. Speed, strength, immortality." Said Sam.
"If you eat enough of it, over the years, you become this less than human thing. You're always hungry." Dean said grimly.
"So if that's true, how can Tommy still be alive?" Haley said, beginning to fear for her brothers safely.
Dean then turned to Alice who stood to the side of the group her back against a tree and arms crossed. He gesturing for her to finish.
"Letting me give them the bad news, huh?" Her lips went flat. She gave a big sigh and pushed off the tree. "You're not gonna like this, but...more than anything, a wendigo knows how to last long winters without food. It hibernates for years, but when it's awake, it keeps its victims alive. It..." She stopped for a second. "It stores them so it can feed whenever it wants. If your brother's alive then it's keeping him somewhere dark, hidden, and safe. We gotta track it back there."
"And then how do we do that?"
"Guns are useless, so are knives." Alice counted on her fingers. "There weren't many options to begin with, but...at a last resort..." She looked at Dean.
Dean held up lighter fluid, a beer bottle, and a strip of cloth he picked up. "We gotta torch the sucker."
Alice placed her hand on a tree and used it to push herself off the ground and proceeded on the path. She led the small group through the forest and scanned everything and every tree, but she hoped she wouldn't see anything for a while. Alice stopped and looked at a tree that she passed and saw something quite ominous, bloody claw marks. After noticing this, she looked ahead and saw more clam marks on about every tree in front of them. Some were at eye level and others were high in the trees.
Alice held her hand up to stop the group. "Sam. Dean." She called to the boys, but not taking her eyes off the trees.
"What is it?" Dean asked but the only answer he got was her pointing to the claw marks on the first tree she saw them on.
"Alice," Sam called to the girl, yet she was unmoved from her spot. "You know, I was thinking, these claw marks, so clear and distinct." He noticed Alice's look became riddled with caution. "They were almost too easy to follow."
They jumped slightly at the sound of a low growl once again. It really was playing with them. Sam, Dean, and Alice whipped around at the creaking branches. Haley stood by a tree but looked up when she felt blood dripped on her shirt. She quickly leaped away from the falling corpse of Roy's body came out of the tree.
Dean felt around Roy's neck. "His neck's broke."
Alice quickly turned around where she believed she heard the sound of growling. "We got to get out of here! Get out! Go!" She shouted and everyone took off.
Ben fell and tripped over the roots of the trees, but while Sam helped him up. He, Sam, and Alice got separated from Dean and Haley. Alice quickly lifted her head at the sound of Haley's terrified scream. The three of them ran through the forest to where the sound of her screams came from but found no one in sight or miles. Dean and Haley were just gone. Vanished.
"Haley!" Ben called for his sister, but no answer.
"Haley!" Alice called out. Not even seeing a moving leave in the distance, it was like they were swept up and vanished without a trace like they weren't even there. Alice's chest felt tight and her hands begun to shake. She breathed in and screamed even louder. "Dean!" Alice was met with the uncalled-for silence that filled the woods.
"If it keeps its victims alive," Ben stood behind Alice, who was still scanning the wood for any kind of activity. "Then why did it kill Roy?" He asked the hunter.
"Honestly." Alice crossed her arms and leaned her back to a tree. "It was probably because he shot at it and pissed it off."
Ben nodded his head. Actually agreeing with her answer, but while looking around, Ben's eyes caught something colorful coming from the ground, when he looked down at it, he realized that was in fact, M&Ms. He picked it up off the floor and looked at Sam and Alice. "They went this way." He called out.
Sam caught up to him with Alice behind him. "It's better than breadcrumbs." Sam laughed and tossed it to Alice.
A smirk crept up to Alice's lips. "Not bad." She tossed it away and the three of them moved on the trail of colorful M&Ms.
They crept through the dense brush and small hills with Sam in front, Ben in the middle, and Alice keeping the back, constantly looking over her shoulders every time she heard the leaves shake. Sam turned his head, seeing an entrance to a mine. It was old by the looks of it. There was a small doorway with rotten wood covering the left side of the entrance with moss overgrowing around it. It had a red sign attached to the wood, reading 'WARNING! DANGER! DO NOT ENTER EXTREMELY TOXIC MATERIAL.'
Sam looked back at Alice, and she shrugged. "When the hell did that ever stop us?" She commented boldly and matched right through the small opening without batting an eyelash.
Sam turned to Ben, shrugging and following in right after Alice.
The inside of the mine was dark, cold and it had the strong smell of musk and dirt. The three of them kept to the track, almost covered over by dirt. Sam and Alice shined their torched down the long dark hall but saw nothing hidden in the darkness, but a single light at the far end of the tunnel.
A low growling sound caused them to jump and stumble a bit. Sam and Alice cut off their lights. Alice quickly grabbed the back of their shirts and signaled them to follow her up against a wet wall that they practically glued themselves to. There were heavy footsteps and loud breathing coming from another part of the tunnel. The creature cut the corner and they immediately hit their head against the wall to hide as much as possible. Ben gasped and whimpered when he saw it. Sam quickly covered Ben's mouth and prevented him from uttering a single sound while Alice held her arm out to make sure the boys stand in place. She watched the Wendigo with stony eyes as it walked away from them, taking another part of the tunnel. Alice let out a sigh of relief when it was out of sight.
The three of them carried on through the dark and shined their lights down the hall. The floorboards creaked below them and the wood broke under their weight. Alice let out a shriek as they fell through the floor, hit the ground hard with a loud thump. That was a wake-up call.
Ben lifted his head up and met with a human skull right in front of him. He leaped backward, but Sam caught him.
"Hey, it's okay, it's okay, it okay." He reassured him. He looked around and saw Alice beside him groaning and rolling on her back. "Alice, you alright?" He asked.
Alice bit her lips and nodded. "Yep, yep...just fine..." She quickly answered and sat up. She turned her head to the right and spotted Dean and Haley dangling from the ceiling. "Oh my God."
Sam sprung from his spot and hurried over to his brother. He grabbed him by the front of his jacket and shook him. "Dean!"
Ben ran to his sister's side. "Haley, wake up."
Sam shook Dean once again and he finally opened his eyes, gasping and groaning.
"Dean! Hey, you okay?" Sam asked him.
Dean closed his eyes tightly and breathed deeply. "Yeah." He winced.
Alice sighed and stumbled to her feet. She winced when she felt a sharp pain in her right leg. "At least no one's dead." She breathed in deeply and limped over to them.
"Good to see you too, sweetheart." Dean joked.
Alice pulled out a knife from her back pocket. "Yeah, same here." She smiled slightly.
She reached up and cut the rope holding him to the ceiling. Both Sam and Alice eased him down to the ground. Dean tightened his jaw and groaned in pain. Alice handed Sam her knife for him to cut Haley down.
Alice placed her hands on the sides of Dean's face to get a better look at him. "Are you sure you're all right?" She asked.
Dean grimaced and hunched forward in pain. "Yeah. Yep. Where is he?"
"We saw him leave. So he's gone for now." Alice said.
Haley rubbed her wrists from the rawness that the ropes caused. She looked up and spotted something to her horror. It was her brother Tommy. Hanging from the ceiling by his hands, motionless.
"Tommy..." She choked out. Ben brought her to her feet and they limped over to their brother as she began to cry. "Tommy..." her voice cracked as she reached her hand out and touched his cheek. His head jerked up and Haley shrieked and jumped back. She grabbed her brother to steady him and looked at Sam. "Cut him down!"
Sam used Alice's knife and freed him from the rope. Tommy almost fell to the ground but was caught before he could.
Dean looked to the stolen supplies that were right next to him and spotted Alice's pack. He opened it up and saw her family Hunter's journal and many other weapons. Half impressed and shocked about how many she has, he spotted something red pushed up against the side. "Alice," he called to her. Alice turned her head saw Dean getting up, grinning while holding up two flare guns. "You're awesome."
Sam looked to Alice then back to the flare guns. "Flare guns." he shrugged and grinned. "Those'll work."
Dean laughed and twirled the guns.
They headed down the tunnel once again in a desperate attempt to escape with Sam and Dean taking the lead, Alice took the middle, and Ben and Haley supported Tommy while holding his arms around their shoulders. They heard that distinct deep and ominous growl like before echo through the dark tunnels.
"Looks like someone's home for supper." Dean's eyes trailed the darkness.
"You guys will never outrun it." Alice brought up, groaning in pain with her throbbing leg that she landed on wrong. "But it can be distracted."
Dean raised a brow and turned around to face her, but noticed something in her hand. An air horn "Where the hell did you get that?" He pointed.
Alice grinned and held up the air horn. "My bag, of course." She held out her hand. "Give me your gun. I'll draw its attention while you guys get out."
Dean didn't like this one bit. Alice looked like hell right now and was more injured them him because of that little tumble she had. He shook his head. "Alice..."
Alice suddenly reached out and grabbed his hand clenching the gun. "Just do it." She said in a firm voice that was unshaken and unfazed by any kind of fear.
Dean sighed in defeat. He felt like he would not win against her if she was this serious. She was as stubborn as a rock. Dean grabbed her hand and squeezed it tightly, looking her dead in the eye when he spoke. "Don't get yourself killed." He opened her hand up and placed the flare gun in it. Dean held her gaze for a moment before Alice stepped back.
"Get out! Run!" She pointed down the tunnel.
Dean gave Alice a wink before looking at Haley and them. "All right. Listen to me. Sam and I are going to get you out of here. Let's go!" He gave one final glance to Alice before she disappeared down the dark tunnels. he felt his heart sink into the ground when the air horn blasted through the tunnels.
Sam walked around the edge of the tunnel, flare gun up and ready. After he saw it was clear, he looked back at them. "All right come on! Hurry!"
They hurried down the dark and musty tunnels with Sam and Dean leading the way. Their heart sank to the very pits of hell though when the Wendigo's low growl was heard and Sam immediately raised his gun in the direction of the sound.
"Sam," Dean called out, limping behind him. "You're not gonna pull an Alice are you?" he gave him a wary tone.
Sam turned around. "Get them out of here." He told them exactly what Dean did not want to hear.
Dean rolled his eyes but sucked it up. "Fine." He turned to the family of injured three. "Let's go." He ordered them.
"What about Sam?" Haley asked.
"He can handle it." Dean gave them a push to keep going. He looked back to his brother one last time. "Come on!" He took the three down the tunnel, leaving his brother in the dark and cold cave, alone with the man-eater.
Sam darted to the wall and waited in the silence where nothing was heard except his breathing and his heart pounding in his chest.
"Come on." He whispered. "Come on." He waited in anticipation.
Sam looked around the corner and the Wendigo shrieking right in his face. Bearing its sharp teeth at him and showing it brown wrinkly skin. Sam ducked down and quickly shot at the monster, but it was too quick and he missed his only shot. Sam got to his feet and ran down the tunnel as fast as he could.
Dean froze and turned around after hearing Sam fire his only round. "Sam!?"
Sam darting down the long hall and right into them. "Come on, hurry, hurry, hurry."
They were running down the tunnel at this point with the Wendigo's loud footsteps slamming against the ground right behind them. They ran around the corner but came to a dead end. Sam and Dean felt their heart burning with pain and pumping with adrenaline as the Wendigo's dark figure turned the corner. The boys quickly got in front of them and held their arms out to protect them.
"Get behind us!" Dean and Sam stood before the killer in their last stand.
They could see it coming closer and closer. It was tall, but nothing more than skin and bones. Its arms were freakishly long with claws that scraped across the ground as it walked. The more it approached the fewer ideas they had in their heads to get out of the mess, but it was too late for it was to close at this point. They were in no shape to fight, with a dead-end and no weapons.
The Wendigo shrieked out this inhuman-like roar that made their hearts stop, but at the moment his roar was overshadowed with an even loader air horn sound from directly behind it. The Wendigo turned around as Alice stood behind it with an unrelenting look on her face.
"Hey," she said in a casual and tired voice before pulling the trigger.
The flare shot right into the stomach of the monster as it irrupted in flames. It screamed out as its skin burned away like paper drowned in gasoline. It continued to scream in like an animal being murdered as its face burned away and its shouts of pain faded along with its body. It gave out one last roar that sound like a cougar as its body fell to the floor, still aflame.
Alice let out a sigh of ease and made sure to burn that sign in her eyes. She threw the gun away. "So I guess that's that." She gave a lazy smile.
Dean grinned. "Not bad, sweetheart."
Alice smirked and winked at him. Dean will admit this, she really saves their asses because they really were slap-out-of-luck, and just damn...Dean stopped carrying about staring for too long and burned Alice's face into his memory, just enjoying the view.
So the night went on as the ambulance arrived along with the local police right outside of the ranger station. Ben and Sam gave a summary to the police about what not happened. Ben only described the monster as a bear, while Haley and Dean were already patched up.
"So I don't know how to thank you," Haley said. Dean though gave a lascivious smirk and she cracked a smiled despite herself. "Must you cheapen the moment?"
"Yeah." Dean laughed.
A paramedic came up to Haley. "You riding with your brother?" She asked
Haley nodded. "Yeah." She turned to Ben. "Let's go."
Ben gave a small nod and turned to Sam. Sam smiled and gave him a pat on the back.
Haley stared at Dean and leaned in, giving him a kiss on the cheek. "I hope you find your father." She parted along with her brother. "Thanks, Sam." Haley began to walk off with Ben.
Alice paid no mind to them and was already getting prepared to leave. She was dressed back in her black riding outfit and was about finished loading her stuff in her bag. She always did this and doesn't care for 'thanks'. She doesn't do this job to be praised. She does her job and gets out before people start asking the right questions. She does this job because she has to. Because there are not enough people out there to stop these things from happening.
"Alice!" Haley's voice caught her ears. She turned her head in her direction and saw her and Ben smiling and waving at her. "Thank you!"
She doesn't do this job to be praised, but it doesn't stop people from thanking her for saving their lives, and honestly, it felt rewarding when it did happen.
Alice gave a wary smile and a single wave. "Take care of each other!"
Haley nodded. She turned around as her lip started to quiver. 'Thank you', could not even compare to what she really wanted to say. No world could compare to the thanks she was feeling, for Alice saving the lives of her and her brothers. It was enough though, and Haley let it at that. She jumped in the ambulance with Ben and sat beside Tommy.
Sam and Dean sat on the hood of the Impala and stared at the ambulance as it drove off with Haley still looking out the window at them.
"Man, I hate camping," Dean said and Sam only agreed.
"Me too."
"Sam, you know we're going got fine Dad, right?" Dean turned to him.
Sam only nodded. "Yeah, I know. But in the meantime?" Sam then started to grin. "I'm driving.
Dean stood still for a moment but gave in. He tossed his brother the keys. "But we're not going alone." Dean glanced behind him as a motorcycle started up.
Sam turned around to see what his brother was staring at. "Yeah...we're not going alone." he agreed with a laugh.
Dean got up from the hoot and walked over to Alice reeving up her motorcycle to leave. Dean placed himself between the exit and her bike, putting his hands on the handles, and stared at her. "You really don't like sticking around, don't you." He gave her a charming grin.
Alice sighed and shut off her bike to listen. "What do you want, Dean?" She cut right to it.
Dean stared at her, his playful expression was dropped and was set to a serious one. "Look...me and Sam agreed, but you don't have to if you want. We were wondering if you would like to help us find our dad."
Alice was shocked, to say the least when he asked her that. "Dean..." She shook her head and stared at the ground.
Dean then back away, holding his hands up. "You don't have to if you don't want to, but..." He suddenly switched the charm back on and grinned. "It's going to a long way home." He dangled her bike keys in his hand.
Alice's eyes widen. She looked down and saw her keys were actually missing. "When did you-" She got off her bike and marched over to him. "Dean, I'm not playing. Give them back." She tried to snatch at the key, but he only pulled them out of her reach. "Dean!"
Dean took another step back. "Alice...we're going to need your help on this one. I can tell back in the mine, and how you saved our asses...it's going to be tough without you."
Alice stopped reaching for the keys. "Dean...it's hard for me to work with other Hunters..."
"You're afraid. I know." His soft voice caught her off guard and caused her to freeze. "You don't want to work with someone because you don't what to be responsible for another life. You don't want to lose someone. Like your brother, right?"
He read right through her like she was made of glass. It's not like she was trying to hide it though. After her break down back in the woods, it was pretty obvious. It's not that she can't trust them, it was like she was afraid to lose anyone more.
"My whole family were all very tight-knit because we were all we had in the end." Alice took a deep breath and looked him directly in the eyes that seemed to make her heart speed up and her hands shake, and when she spoke, she sounds earnest. "I loved my family."
Dean nodded and started to walk towards her again. He grabbed her hand and opened it up. "Then help me find mine. It's only going to get harder from here, and we're going to need all the help we can get." He dropped the keys back in her hand.
Alice stared down at the keys in a frozen state. She did not move and she did not utter a single word for five seconds. Alice tilted her head to the side and smiled. She remembered now. She did this job not because they wanted to, but because no one else would. She got too many things from Aiden. They were practically drilled in her head and one of them was that you can't just turn away from someone who needs your help, because you're only gonna regret it later.
Alice had skill above all Hunters. It runs in her family, but what's the point of having them if you're not gonna lend a hand to others.
Alice chucked and clenched the keys tightly in her grasp. She looked back up to Dean and smiled. "Let me know if your car can't keep up with me." She gave him a pat on the cheek and walked away.
Sam squinted his eyes when he didn't see Dean move. "Did she say yes?" He called out to him.
Alice held up her hand and spun it again. "Let's get going, boys!" she hopped on her bike and started it up.
Dean snapped out of his daze. He grinned like a child and walked back to his car as Sam got in the driver's seat. Dean jumped in the passengers and they slammed their doors closed almost in sync.
Dean pointed to Sam. "You better not lose to her." He warned him
Sam cracked a smile and laughed as he cranked up the Impale while Alice drove right next to them. She pulled them down the visor of her helmet and pointed right off what way they were going to go.
Alice stepped on the gas and blew out some dirt from underneath her tires. She drove out of Black Water Creek and down the long stretch of highway with the Impala's engine roaring right behind her.
Author's Note:
And so we start a new story since two of my other ones are coming to an end very soon. Got a HELL of a lot planned for this series since we got 15 seasons to deal with haha. I hope you like Alice Cromwell!