The rest of the ride was silent; well, except for Dean's music blaring out of baby's speakers. Soon the welcome sign for the town whisked by the car window and Millie bounced in her seat, slapping it excitedly, "Oh my gawd, finally! I can't wait to get out and stretch my legs." Sam chuckled, "Yeah, I could use a stretch too." Dean rolled his eyes at them both, "It's only been a three-day drive. You two act like you haven't done this before." Millie playfully glared at him and then looked down at the map in Sam's lap. Slowly her eyes started to wander along Sam's long legs, instead of searching the map for a faster way to the Ranger's Station. Sam turned towards her, "Millie? Did you hear me?" A quick blush swept across her face as she looked back up, "Sorry, no. What?" Sam smiled a bit and then looked back down at the map, pointing to a small spot, "I asked if you were up for some hiking? It looks like that's what we will be doing up around this area." She gulped thinking to herself, 'Did you notice?' She smiled outwardly, taking in a deep breath, "Yeah, I should be good to go. I've been working out more when I have spare time." He nodded, not looking up, "That's good. Not like you couldn't handle it before, but getting in better shape is always good." He quickly added, "For anyone."
Dean sighed, "Damn, where is this place?" Sam finished giving him directions while Millie checked her cell phone…no reception. She tapped Sam's shoulder, "You got any reception up here? I need to call dad." He pulled it out, flipping it open to check, "Yeah, here." He handed it to her as they pulled into the parking area for the station. She smiled and dialed up the number. It rang a few times before he answered, "Singers' auto." She chuckled, "Hey dad!" She could hear a slight sigh of relief, "Hey, Millie. Good to hear from you. Garth brought your car by the other day." She got out of the car, stretching her body. The station was surrounded by gorgeously tall trees and the sky was super clear. She leaned back onto the car, taking in the fresh air, "Good. I hope you were nice to him. We just arrived at the coordinates from Uncle Johns' book, so I thought I would check in. My phone isn't getting any reception so try me on this one if you need something. Have you found anything regarding our message from beyond?" Millie frowned to herself as he told her he hadn't and to be careful. Then they said they're good byes as she followed the other two up towards the front door. As she walked past Sam, she handed him his phone.
The three of them walked around looking at the various things on the wooden walls and shelves. Sam's voice floated over to her, "So, Black Water Ridge is pretty remote." He pointed to the model in the middle of the room, "It's cut off by these canyons here-rough terrain, dense forest, abandoned silver and gold mines all over the place…" Dean pulled her towards him, only half paying attention to what Sam was saying, "Dude, check out the size of the friggin' bear." Sam walked over as the three off them took in the photo, "…And a dozen or more grizzlies in the area." Millie grimaced to herself, "It's no nature hike, that's for sure." A voice coming from behind them made her jump, "You kids aren't planning to go out near Black Water Ridge, by any chance?" They all turned at once, Millie flashing her pearly whites to the ranger who was holding a cup of coffee. Sam, quick on his feet, spoke first, "Oh, no, sir. We're environmental study-majors. From U.C. Boulder; just working on a paper." Dean tried to blend in, thrusting his fist into air, "Recycle, man."
Millie shook her head as she placed a hand to her forehead in embarrassment. The ranger clearly saw through them, "Bull. You're friends with that Hailey girl, right?" He pointed at Millie with his cup as he walked closer. She nodded, "Yes, we are…" She looked for his name tag, "Ranger Wilkinson." She walked over to the counter, slightly leaning on it as the boys followed her lead. The ranger chuckled softly; albeit sarcastically, "Well, I'll tell you exactly what I told her. Her brother filled out a back-country permit, saying he wouldn't be back from Black Water until the 24th. So, it's not exactly a missing person, now is it? Tell that girl to quit worrying. I'm sure her brother's just fine." He started to walk away as Dean spoke, "We will. Well, that Hailey girl's quite a pistol, huh?" The ranger agreed, "That is putting it mildly." Millie bit the inside of her lip as Dean continued, "Actually, you know what would help is if I could show her a copy of the back-country permit. You know, so she could see her brother's return date." Hesitantly the ranger agreed and made them a copy before sending them on their way.
Dean cockily opened it as they walked back out to the car and laughed, "Yeah." Sam walked up to him quickly, "What, are you cruising for a hookup or something?" Dean looked offended, "What do you mean?" Millie had to jog slightly to keep up with their pace. Sam spoke slightly angry, "The coordinates point to Black Water Ridge. So, what are we waiting for? Let's just go find dad. Why even talk to this girl?" Millie bit her lips as she stood at the backseat door. Dean answered, a crease forming on his forehead, "Maybe we should know what we're walking into before we actually walk into it." Sam looked over at her exasperated, "Don't look at me…I agree with Dean. Your dad just left coordinates; no information at all." The two of the gave him a look, "What?" Dean nodded quick thanks before leaning against the car's hood, a disbelieving smirk forming on his lips, "Since when are you all, shoot first, ask questions later?" Sam stared at him, straight in the eye, "Since now." He looked over at Millie as Sam sat down in the car, "Oh, really?" The two exchanged surprised looks before getting in.
Millie looked up the address and soon the trio found themselves standing in front of the door. Dean knocked and quickly it was opened by a short, thin, dark-haired woman. Dean spoke, "You must be Hailey Collins. I'm Dean, this is Sam and Millie. We're rangers with the park service. Ranger Wilkinson sent us over. We wanted to ask you some questions about your brother Tommy." She looked the three over, her gaze lingering on Millie a little longer than the guys, "Let me see some I.D." Immediately they all pulled out some identification, still hot from the print job. Hailey opened the screen after glancing at them all, "Come on in." Dean nodded his thanks as they all walked in. She saw baby outside, "That yours?" Dean turned around, "Yeah." She nodded, "Nice car." Then she led the way into the dining room, slightly swaying her hips. Millie rolled her eyes knowing that Dean couldn't resist looking at Hailey's butt. Her intuition was confirmed when he turned to Sam and mouthed, 'Wow.' Sam took in a deep breath, annoyed, "So, if Tommy's not due back for a while, how do you know somethings wrong?" She started setting up the dinner table, "He checks in everyday by cell. Emails photos, stupid little videos. But we haven't heard anything in over three days now." I nodded taking a step closer, "Maybe he can't get cell reception?" She looks at me worried, "He's got a satellite phone, too." Dean watched her walk back into the kitchen, "Could it be he's just having fun and forgot to check in?" The younger brother chimed in, "He wouldn't do that." He looked away slightly upset. Hailey finished where he left off, "Our parents are gone. It's just my two brothers and me. We all keep pretty close tabs on each other."
Sam raised his hands, "Can I see the pictures he sent you?" She walked into another room and came out with a laptop, quickly pulling up the files, "That's Tommy." She clicked through a few of them, "This is his last message." Millie squinted noticing something off about it in the background, apparently Sam did too. Dean spoke, "Well, we'll find your brother. We are heading out to Black Water Ridge first thing." She walked past him, about to sit down, "Then maybe I'll see you there." They all three looked at her questioningly, "Look, I can't just sit around here anymore. I hired a guide. I'm heading out first thing in morning and I'm going to find Tommy myself." Millie gave a soft smile while Dean spoke again, "I think I know how you feel." Sam interrupted their gaze at each other, "Hey, you mind forwarding these to me?" She nodded, "Sure." Quickly they left, not wanting to intrude on their meal time any longer.
As they drove through town Dean noticed a bar, "Good place as any to grab a bite." Millie chuckled as they parked and went inside. Dean immediately started flirting with the waitresses. Millie took in a deep breath trying not to let it bother her. Being with these two was starting to get to her. She wished that they would see her as more than just a friend, but she knew the kind they went for. Plus, Sam was still grieving…she didn't want him to rush into anything else right now. So, she kept her mouth shut as always. The waitress took their orders and Sam opened Millie's laptop. Her screen background made him smile; a photo of them all at the lake. Uncle John had taken it, when they tried to have a normal barbecue like other people. She smiled at it too, looking over his shoulder, "I think I was like 15 there." Sam chuckled, "Yeah, we were. You look really happy." Millie placed her chin on his shoulder, "I was." Dean came around to look, "Aww, look at us…you two were dorky as ever that summer." Millie stood up and grabbed the beer from his hand, taking a swig out of it, "jerk." Dean scoffed as she did so, "What if I had a disease?" She raised an eyebrow, "Do you?" He shrugged, "Nah, I just don't like sharing." She laughed and handed it back to him, "I'll go get my own." Sam shook his head at them as he did some research; Millie helped when she came back. She searched for missing persons in the past year and then found a link to some older cases, "Whoa…Sam check this out!" He nodded, "Wow, good work Mills." She smiled as they continued working.
Finally, the order arrived and everyone sat down. Millie and Sam began telling Dean what they found out; having to used raised voices with the growing crowd and it's noise. Millie went first, "So, Black Water doesn't get a lot of traffic. Mostly just local campers. Still, this past April, two hikers went missing out there. They were never found." Dean readjusted himself in his chair, leaning over to look at the stuff they had printed off, "Any before that?" Sam nodded, "Yeah. In 1982, eight different people all vanished in the same year. Authorities said it was a grizzly attack. And, again, in 1959 and before that, in 1936." Millie took a big swig of her beer, "Every 23 years, just like clockwork." Sam smirked a bit, as he watched her take another swig before sneaking some of Dean's fries. Then he pulled the laptop over, the video pulled up already, "Okay, watch this. Here's the clincher. I downloaded that guy, Tommy's, video to Mills' laptop. Check this out." He clicked the mouse; shifting the frames. In the background they could clearly see something moving around outside the tent. Dean sniffed, "Do it again." Sam did so and Millie spoke up, "That's three frames. It's a fraction of a second. Whatever that thing is…it can move." Dean punched him in the arm, "I told you something weird was going on." Sam sat up straighter, "Yeah. I got one more thing. Well, Millie found it. In '59, one camper survived the supposed grizzly attack. Just a kid-barely crawled out of the woods alive." Dean sat back in his chair, "Alright Millie-Kat! Is there a name?" Millie nodded in response and then they finished eating before heading out to the guys home.