Impala, one week later.

"Max, just take the damn pills." Dean said, his tone loud enough to let on that he was getting annoyed, but quiet enough not to wake Sam from where he slept in the backseat of the car.

I sighed heavily. Everyday, the same argument. "I said, I'd do it when we got to a motel." I snapped back, becoming more and more frustrated each time he mentioned it.

He shook his head and shoved the little bottle forcefully into my hand, his eyes never leaving the road ahead, we both knew straight up I was lying. "No, you'll take them now while I can see you do it. I'm not an idiot, Max, I'm not taking you lying about it anymore. Take them."

Dean was right, the arguing and lying was getting old. We both knew full well that I wasn't taking them, and we both knew if it came down to it and we got to a motel room, I still wouldn't take them. I finally looked at him, for the first time in about an hour, his attention momentarily leaving the road for him to shoot a glare my way. "Why?" I pressed, the only argument I could find, my voice not nearly as strong enough as I intended.

"Because-" He stopped and shook his head, I wasn't even sure that he knew anymore. "-you need them."

"For the millionth time, Dean, I don't need them." I looked down at the small bottle in my hands and picked at the label, even the thought of taking them made me feel depressed.

"Max, I'm warning you," His tone was hard now, it wasn't going to be long before he snapped and started yelling. "-don't make me pull this car over." He warned.

I rolled my eyes, I couldn't even be bothered to fight anymore, it wasn't worth it. "Alright, you know what, fine, you win." I pulled the cap from the bottle and took two of the pills while he watched, swallowing them without a drink. I replaced the cap and shoved them back into his hand, looking out of the window. "Happy now?"

"Ecstatic." He shot back, matching my pissed off tone with his own. I shook my head, turning away from him and refusing to answer. "Maxie," He began, his tone softer. "-you know I'm only thinking of you here."

I scoffed and opened my mouth to answer, stopping when Sam gasped awake in the backseat. Dean and I glanced between each other before he shoved the pills into the pocket of his leather jacket, something I prayed to god Sam had missed. He blinked hard and rubbed his eyes as he sat up straight. "You okay?" I asked him quietly, looking over him slowly. He obviously wasn't, he was exhausted, grieving and frustrated.

"Yeah," He answered simply, same as always. "-I'm fine."

I nodded slowly, taking the hint that he didn't want to talk about it again. "Another nightmare?" Dean pressed, glancing at him through the rear view mirror for a couple of seconds. Sam cleared his throat, clearly not wanting to give an answer. "You wanna drive for a while?" He offered.

Sam only laughed at that question, looking a little taken aback. "Dean, your whole life you've never once asked me that."

Dean shrugged at him. "Jut thought you might want to, never mind."

"Look, man, you're worried about me, both of you are, I get it, and thank you, but I'm perfectly okay."

"Mm-hm." Dean mumbled, neither of us believing him for a second.

Sam picked up the map lying in the space between me and Dean, looking over it slowly. "Alright, so where are we?" He asked, an obvious attempt at changing the question.

I shrugged, I hadn't even been paying attention to where we'd been driving, everything had been a blur. "We are just outside of Grand Junction." Dean answered him lightly.

I shifted in my seat so that my back was leaning against the door. I glanced over the back seat as Sam folded down the map, looking over the large X labelled 35-111 in the center. "You know what, maybe we shouldn't have left Stanford so soon." Sam said quietly, looking as though he was in deep thought when he's said it.

Dean glanced at me for a second, we were both clueless. Neither of us knew how to deal with this, we didn't know what to say to him, we didn't know how to make it any easier on him, we just tried to avoid bringing up the subject completely, figuring if Sam wanted to talk about it, he'd bring it up himself. He'd been pretty quiet the past week, not really talking unless he had to. He hadn't slept more than about an hour at a time, always waking up from some kind of nightmare when he did. "Sam, we dug around there for a week, we came up with nothing." Dean reasoned. "If you wanna find the thing that killed Jessica-"

"We gotta find dad first." He concluded.

"Dad disappearing, and this thing showing up again after twenty years, it's no coincidence. Dad will have answers. He'll know what to do."

Sam nodded slowly, looking back down at the map, a small frown on his face. "It's weird man, these coordinates he left us, this Blackwater Ridge.."

"What about it?" I asked him.

"There's nothing there. It's just woods." He put the map down again, looking between us. "Why is he sending us to the middle of nowhere?"

Dean shook his head, I simply shrugged, looking back out of the window ahead as we passed a sign; 'Welcome to Lost Creek Colorado National Forest.'

A few minutes later, Dean pulled up the car and climbed out, followed by me and Sam. I wandered into the ranger's station behind them, leaning in the doorway as they walked further inside. "So, Blackwater Ridge is pretty remote." Sam said, looking over a map to the side of the station. Dean didn't seem to be paying attention to him, mostly looking at the various decorations around the small room. "It's cut off by these canyons here, rough terrain, dense forest, abandoned silver and gold mines all over the place." I sighed at that, hiking through those woods wasn't something I'd been particularly looking forward to in the first place.

"Dude, check out the size of this freaking bear." Dean said lightly, looking intently at a framed photo on the wall.

Sam crossed the room to stand behind Dean, looking over his shoulder at the picture. "And a dozen or more grizzlies in the area, it's no nature hike, that's for sure." He added. Awesome.

I looked up as another guy walked into the room from the back, looking between us slowly. "You three aren't planning on going out near Blackwater Ridge by any chance?" He asked, the sound of his voice startling Sam and Dean as they whipped around to face him.

"Oh, no, sir. We're environmental study majors from UC Boulder, just working on a paper." Sam lied, laughing slightly.

Dean grinned and raised a fist. "Recycle, man."

"Bull." I looked over at Dean who didn't move, remaining un-phased. "You're friends with that Haley girl, right?"

I watched Dean think it over for a few seconds before he nodded. "Yes. Yes, we are, Ranger-" He paused, narrowing his eyes towards the ranger's nametag. "-Wilkinson."

"Well I will tell you exactly what we told her. Her brother filled out a backcountry permit saying he wouldn't be back from Blackwater until the twenty-fourth, so it's not exactly a missing persons now, is it?" Dean shook his head. "You tell that girl to quit worrying, I'm sure her brother's just fine."

"We will. Well that Haley girl's quite a pistol, huh?"

I rolled my eyes at that. "That is putting it mildly." The ranger agreed.

"Actually you know what would help is if we could show her a copy of that backcountry permit. You know, so she could see her brother's return date." The ranger eyed him suspiciously for a few seconds before looking over Sam and me. Dean simply raised his eyebrows at him.

"Alright, wait here." He muttered, turning and leaving us alone again.

Dean turned to look at me and smirked to himself. "Look at the excitement on your face, I know how much you love camping, Max."

I shook my head and laughed slightly. "Bite me."

"Not if a grizzly bites you first." He countered, looking impressed with his own lame response.

"You know what, Dean, I hope that whatever it is we're hunting here eats you. Slowly."

Dean laughed at that, straightening his face as the ranger walked back into to the room, holding out a piece of paper towards him. He smiled slightly and took the paper from him, turning and leading the way back outside to the car. "What, are you cruising for a hookup or something?" Sam asked him.

Dean turned and raised an eyebrow. "What d'ya mean?"

He paused as he came to the passenger door, looking over the car at Dean. "The coordinates point to Blackwater Ridge, so what are we waiting for? Let's just go find Dad. I mean, why even talk to this girl?"

Dean also stopped, a frown on his face. "I don't know, maybe we should know what we're walking into before we actually walk into it?"

There was a short pause between them before Sam raised his eyebrows. "What?"

"Since when are you all shoot first ask questions later, anyway?"

"Since now." He answered in a hard voice, climbing into the Impala and slamming the door behind himself.

"Really?" Dean muttered, he glanced over at me for a second, I just shrugged at him. I didn't know what to say to him, or Sam. I climbed into the backseat and sighed lightly, closing my eyes. All I wanted to do was sleep, I felt tired but at the same time my body was wide awake. I tried desperately to block out the bad thoughts swirling through my mind, telling me something bad had happened to dad, or that he was in some kind of trouble. I almost thought I was falling asleep, almost- until Dean reached over the backseat and hit me in the arm.

"Not the time, Maxie." He said brightly, turning off the engine of the car. I looked out of the window at the house Dean had pulled up at, climbing out of the car at the same time as Sam and following Dean up the short path to the door. He knocked a few times and waited a couple of minutes before the door was pulled open. A young, pretty girl answered the door, looking between the three of us warily. "You must be Haley Collins." Dean grinned. "I'm Dean, this is Max and Sam, we're, ah, we're rangers with the Park Service. Ranger Wilkinson sent us over, he wanted us to ask you a few questions about your brother, Tommy."

Haley hesitated for a few seconds, nodding slowly. "Lemme see some ID." Dean and I pulled out our fake IDs and held them up to the clear door separating us. She looked between them, and then to us, before pulling open the screen door. "Come on in."

"Thanks." He smiled.

Haley looked past us towards the street, catching sight of the Impala. "That yours?" She asked, looking up at Dean.

"Yeah."

"Nice car." She said as she turned to lead us into the house. Dean turned to mouth something at Sam, I didn't even want to know what, who simply rolled his eyes.

We headed into the kitchen where another guy, I assumed to be her brother, was sitting at the table on a laptop. "So if Tommy's not due back for a while, how do you know something's wrong?" Sam asked casually.

Haley walked into the room, a bowl in her hand which she placed down on the table. "He checks in everyday by cell. He emails, photos, stupid little videos- we haven't heard anything in over three days now."

"Well, maybe he can't get a cell reception?" Sam suggested.

"He's got a satellite phone too."

"Could it be that he's just having fun and forgot to check in?" Dean cut in lightly.

"He wouldn't do that." Dean eyed him for a second, until he eventually looked away from him.

"Our parents are gone," Haley continued. "-it's just my two brothers and me. We all keep pretty close tabs on each other." I smiled a little at that, it sounded familiar.

"Can I see the pictures he sent you?" Sam pressed.

"Yeah." She smiled a little and took a seat beside her brother, pulling up some pictures on the laptop. "That's Tommy." She said, pointing at one of the guys in the picture.

"Listen, we'll find your brother." Dean said to her. "We're heading out to Blackwater Ridge first thing."

"Then maybe I'll see you there." We all just looked at her. "Look, I can't sit around here anymore. So I hired a guy, I'm heading out in the morning, and I'm gonna find Tommy myself." I nodded slowly, I didn't blame her.

"I think I know how you feel." Dean said vaguely, smiling at her a little.

Dean and I stood towards the side of the room while Haley, Ben and Sam sat at the table, all looking at the video Haley had put up on the laptop. "You're pretty quiet." Dean said to me quietly, looking over me slowly.

"Yeah, well that's what you get when you start giving people mood altering drugs." I muttered, turning away from him. I could feel him watching me, his usual concerned frown on his face. I didn't have the energy to explain myself to him, I didn't have the energy to do much of anything. Since taking them all I wanted to do was go to bed, either that or just be left alone. He'd always complained that I had too much energy, that I talked too much, that I was too happy all the time- and now, I could barely even be bothered to talk. I didn't even feel like myself when I was on them.

I glanced up as Sam got to his feet, nodding towards the door. We both gave a small wave to Haley and Ben before turning to leave. I followed Dean outside, Sam behind me, and dragged my feet towards the Impala. "So, I'm thinking we should go out for a beer." Dean said brightly as he walked around the car, pausing at the door.

I looked up and smirked at him. "Dude, you're always thinking we should go out for a beer."

Dean looked over at me and grinned. "Yeah, head back to the motel, grab some grub and then head out. Might put you two in a better mood for a while, huh?"

Bar, 09:23PM.

I came back from the bar and placed three beers down on the table between us, dropping down into the chair beside Dean and taking a drink. "So, Blackwater Ridge doesn't get a lot of traffic." Sam was saying to Dean. "Local campers, mostly. But still, this past April, two hikers went missing out there. They were never found."

I raised an eyebrow at him and took another drink. "Any before that?"

Sam opened up dad's journal, I looked away from it, the whole thing still gave me chills. "Yeah," He began, pulling out an old newspaper article and placing it in front of me and Dean. "-in 1982, eight different people all vanished in the same year. Authorities said it was a grizzly attack." I looked over the article, returning my attention to Sam as he pulled out his laptop. "And again in 1959, and again before that in 1936."

"Huh," I muttered. "-so, every twenty three years there are people vanishing from these woods?"

"Uh-huh." He opened his laptop and turned it around to us. "Okay, watch this. I downloaded that guy Tommy's video, check this out." He pulled up the video and went through three frames, one at a time. I narrowed my eyes slightly as a shadow crossed the back of the tent.

"Do it again." Dean said slowly, leaning forwards to get a better look.

Sam repeated it and looked up at us. "That's three frames, that's a fraction of a second. Whatever that thing is, it can move."

Dean suddenly looked up and smacked Sam on the shoulder. "Told you something weird was going on around here." He said brightly.

"Yeah." He closed his laptop and handed us another newspaper article. "I got one more thing. In '59, one camper survived this supposed grizzly attack, just a kid. Barely crawled out of the woods alive."

We looked over the other news article. "Is there a name?" Dean asked, looking up at Sam.

"Uh, yeah.." He paused for a second before nodding. "-and he doesn't live all that far from here."

Dean and I looked between each other and sighed, finishing our beers.

Shaw house, 09:54PM.

The three of us headed towards the drive, Dean pushing me to the front. "What the hell are you doing?" I muttered.

"It's late, and this guy's old- you look the most innocent out of the three of us." I looked back at him in disbelief and shook my head, reaching out and knocking on the door.

An old man came to the door and looked between us, pulling his cigarette from his mouth and frowning slightly. "Yeah?" He pressed.

"Hi," I began lightly, holding up my fake ID badge to him. "-we're uh, rangers, with the park service. We were hoping to ask you a couple questions about the attack you were involved in as a kid?"

He narrowed his eyes at our badges for a second before nodding. "Sure, come on in." He returned his cigarette to his mouth before he turned and lead the way into his house. "I don't know why you're asking me about this, it's public record, I was a kid. My parents got mauled by a-"

"Grizzly?" Sam interrupted him. "That's what attacked them?"

He nodded slowly, avoiding looking at us. "The other people that went missing that year, those bear attacks too?" Dean pressed, looking at him expectantly when he didn't answer. "What about all the people that went missing this year? Same thing?" He narrowed his eyes, sighing when he still didn't answer him.

"Mr Shaw," I began quietly. "-if we knew what we were dealing with, we might be able to stop it."

"I seriously doubt that." He said flatly, dropping down into a chair. "Anyways, I don't see what difference it would make, you wouldn't believe me, nobody ever did."

Sam sat down across from him and looked at him carefully. "Mr Shaw, what did you see?" He pressed.

He paused for a second before answering. "Nothing." He answered blankly. "It moved too fast to see. It hid too well. I heard it, though. A roar. Like, no man or animal I ever heard."

"It came at night?" Sam continued, getting a small nod in response. "Got inside your tent?"

"It got inside our cabin. I was sleeping in front of the fireplace when it came in. It didn't smash a window or break the door. It unlocked it. Do you know of a bear that could do something like that? I didn't even wake up till I heard my parents screaming."

"It killed them?"

"Dragged them off into the night." He shook his head. "Why it left me alive, been asking myself that ever since." He paused, moving his hand towards his collar. "Did leave me with this." He pulled down his shirt, showing us three long scars over his shoulder. "There's something evil in those woods. It was some sort of demon."

"Okay," Dean said calmly. "-well, we're gonna fix it, alright? We're gonna get rid of it."

"I hope you do."

Sam nodded and got to his feet, giving him a small smile. "Thank you for your time."

I turned and followed Sam and Dean out of the room, pausing at the doorway. "Hey, Mr Shaw-" He looked up at me. "I'm sorry about your parents."

He watched me for a couple of seconds, a small smile forming on his face. "Thank you." I gave him a little smile back before turning and leaving the house, heading back to the Impala.

Motel room, 11:01PM.

"I don't know what the hell we're dealing with here." Dean muttered as we headed into our motel room. "Spirits and demons don't have to unlock doors." He stated. "If they want inside, they just go through the walls."

Sam nodded. "So it's probably something else, something corporeal."

"corporeal?" Dean repeated, glancing over at me and raising an eyebrow. "Excuse me, professor."

"Shut up." He muttered. "So what do you think?"

"The claws, the speed that it moves, could be a skinwalker, maybe a black dog?" Dean suggested. "Whatever we're talking about, we're talking about a creature, and it's corporeal. Which means we can kill it."

"We cannot let that Haley girl go out there."

"Oh yeah?" Dean raised his eyebrows. "What are we gonna tell her? That she can't go into the woods because of the big scary monster?"

"Yeah."

Dean looked up at him. "Her brother's missing, Sam. She's not gonna just sit this out. Now we go with her, we protect her, and we keep our eyes peeled for our fuzzy predator friend."

"Finding dad's not enough? Now we gotta babysit too?" Dean simply stared at him, slightly taken aback by his tone. "What?" He pressed when Dean didn't answer.

"Nothing." He muttered, heading off towards the bathroom and closing the door a little more forcefully than was needed.

I sighed heavily and dropped down onto one of the beds, pulling off my boots. "You okay, Sam?" I asked, more out of routine now.

"I'm fine, just tired." He answered, his voice was soft, like he'd calmed down again. "Don't worry about it."

"Right," I said lightly, getting to my feet again and pulling off my jacket, tossing it over one of the chairs. I paused beside him for a second and rested a hand on his arm, looking up at him. He gave a small smile, getting what I meant without me having to say it. "I'm gonna crash." I mumbled, heading over to one of the beds and lying down, praying to god that I'd manage to get some sleep.

The next morning, 08:45AM.

Dean pulled up the Impala towards the edge of the woods, Haley, Ben and another guy staring at us as we climbed out. Sam walked around to the trunk and pulled out a duffel bag, throwing it over his shoulder. "You guys got room for three more?" Dean asked brightly.

Haley raised an eyebrow at us. "Wait, you wanna come with us?"

The man standing behind her took a step forwards, narrowing his eyes at us. "Who are they?"

"Apparently this is all the park service could muster up for the search and rescue." She said flatly.

Sam walked past him, the guy raising an eyebrow at me and Dean. "You're rangers?" He asked skeptically.

"That's right." Dean said lightly.

"And you're hiking out in biker boots and jeans?" Haley added, looking from Dean's boots to mine.

Dean also looked down, a small smile on his face. "Well, sweetheart, I don't do shorts."

I laughed to myself as we headed past her, earning us a glare from the guy behind her. "What, you think this is funny?" He asked, his tone serious. "It's dangerous back country out there. Her brother might be hurt."

Sam turned back, like he was anticipating a fight to break out. "Believe me, I know how dangerous it can be." Dean answered calmly. "We just wanna help them find their brother, that's all." He smiled a little and carried on, walking past me and Sam.

We hiked through the forest, Roy and Dean up ahead, then Haley and Ben, Sam and I at the back. "Roy, you said you did a little hunting." I heard Dean say, a little thankful that someone finally broke the awkward silence.

"Yeah, more than a little."

"Uh-huh. What kind of furry critters do you hunt?"

"Mostly buck, sometimes bear."

Dean headed past him, nodding slowly. "Tell me, uh, Bambi or Yogi ever hunt you back?" Roy suddenly grabbed the back of his jacket, the rest of us going tense for a second. "Whatcha doing, Roy?" Dean said, eyeing him curiously.

He picked up a stick, slamming it down into a bear trap right before Dean's boot. "You should watch where you're stepping. Ranger." He said, a smug smile on his face as he carried on.

Dean looked down at it and raised his eyebrows. "It's a bear trap." He stated.

I rolled my eyes and smiled a little, carrying on walking with them. I walked beside Dean, neither of us talking much until Haley caught up with us, a small frown on her face. "You didn't pack any provisions. You guys are carrying a duffel bag. You're not rangers." She grabbed Dean around the arm and pulled him around to stop us. "So who the hell are you?"

Dean paused and looked between me and Sam, both of us getting the same idea, nodding at him before we continued walking. I briefly heard him begin to explain to Haley who we were, the sinking feeling coming back to me, I didn't think dad was here. In fact, if I didn't know better, I'd have said he was doing all he could to avoid us finding him. I think Dean knew that too, he just didn't want to believe it.

Roy slowed down a little as we came to a clearing. "This is it," He said. "-Blackwater Ridge."

Sam walked past him, looking around slowly. "What coordinates are we at?"

Roy pulled out his GPS and looked down at it. "Thirty five, minus one eleven." He said simply.

I glanced up at Dean who seemed to be thinking the same thing as me. "You hear that?" He said, his voice low enough that only Sam and I heard him.

"Yeah," Sam said slowly. "-not even crickets."

"I'm gonna go take a look around." Roy said as he turned and began to walk away from us.

"You shouldn't go off by yourself." Sam called after him.

"That's sweet." Roy muttered sarcastically. "Don't worry about me." He waved his gun and pushed between us, going on ahead of us. Dean shook his head at him and sighed, turning to Ben and Haley. "Alright, everybody stay together, let's go."

We walked on further, the sound of Roy's voice breaking the long silence between us. "Haley!" He yelled. "Over here!" We all followed her, coming to a halt at the sight before us. There were two tents, both torn open and bloody, camping supplies scattered on the floor around them. "Looks like a grizzly." He stated.

"Tommy?" She yelled, throwing her backpack to the floor and walking further into the campsite. "Tommy?!"

"Sh." Sam whispered, looking around slowly.

Haley turned to him, a worried frown on her face. "Why?"

"Something might still be out here." I watched her, I could see the fear in her eyes. I couldn't even imagine it, the thought that her brother could be dead, I felt awful for her.

"Guys!" Dean's voice called from somewhere behind us. I looked over at Sam before the two of us turned and followed his voice, finding him crouched down looking at something on the floor. Sam crouched down to his level, me leaning over to see. "The bodies were dragged from the campsite." He said, his voice low. "But here, the tracks just vanish."

"That's weird." I muttered, straightening up and looking upwards at the trees.

"I'll tell you what," Dean said as he and Sam rose to their feet. "-that's no skinwalker or black dog."

I jumped at the sound of shouting, the three of us heading back to camp quickly. "Help! Help!" A voice yelled from the trees. Roy walked on further, the rest of us following him closely. "Help! Somebody!"

We came to a stop, looking around slowly. "It seemed like it was coming from around here, didn't it?" Haley said, her voice concerned. It was quiet, way too quiet.

"Everybody back to camp." Sam said, turning and heading back first. We came back to find all of our stuff gone.

"Our packs." Haley stated, looking around in disbelief.

"So much for my GPS and my satellite phone."

"What the hell is going on?"

"It's smart. It wants to cut us off so we can't call for help."

"You mean someone, some nut job out there just stole all our gear." Roy muttered, clearly annoyed.

Sam came over to me and Dean, looking between us seriously. "I need to speak with you." He muttered. "In private." He added, walking away from the group until we were far enough away that they wouldn't be able to hear us. "Let me see Dad's journal." Dean pulled it from his jacket and handed it to him, both of us watching as Sam flipped through it, seemingly knowing what he was looking for. He stopped and held it out to show us. "Alright, check it out."

I looked down and raised an eyebrow. "Wendigo?" I said, looking up and raising an eyebrow at him.

"Come on, Sam." Dean said. "Wendigos are in the Minnesota woods or, or northern Michigan. I've never even heard of one this far west."

Sam remained persistent. "Think about it, guys, the claws, the way it can mimic a human voice."

"Great." Dean muttered, pulling out his gun. "Well then this is useless."

Sam handed Dean back the journal and began walking away, pausing and looking back. "We gotta get these people to safety." He said, walking away from us and back to the others. "Alright, listen up-" He began, getting everyone's attention. "It's time to go. Things have gotten.. more complicated."

"Kid, don't worry." Roy muttered, this was ending in a fight, I could see it coming. "Whatever's out there, I think I can handle it."

"It's not me I'm worried about. If you shoot this thing, you're just gonna make it mad. We have to leave. Now."

"One, you're talking nonsense. Two, you're in no position to give anybody orders."

"Sammy," I pressed. "-calm down."

"We never should have let you come out here in the first place, all right? I'm trying to protect you."

Roy stepped forwards, sizing Sam up. "You protect me? I was hunting these woods when your mommy was still kissing you good night."

"Yeah? It's a damn near perfect hunter. It's smarter than you, and it's gonna hunt you down and eat you alive unless we get your stupid sorry ass out of here."

Roy scoffed. "You know you're crazy, right?"

"Yeah? You ever hunt a wen-" He didn't get a chance to finish his sentence before Dean stepped in, pushing Sam away from him.

"Chill out." Dean warned him, a hand still gripped at the front of his jacket. I'd never seen him like that before. I'd never seen him so tense and wound up, the way he was snapping at almost anything. It was no secret that he wasn't sleeping properly, I didn't even think he was eating all that much.

"Stop. Stop it. Everybody just stop." Haley said, clearly frustrated. "Look. Tommy might still be alive. And I'm not leaving here without him."

No one said anything for a couple of minutes. "It's getting late." Dean said calmly. "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."

I looked over towards Ben while Dean went into his little speech about Anasazi symbols, he was sitting on a rock, his forehead rested against his palms. "You alright?" I asked, sitting down beside him. "You've been pretty quiet."

"I thought he'd be alive, you know." He said, sounding distant. "And now you're all saying there's this- thing."

"Hey, your brother's only missing, nobody's said that he's dead." He looked up at me, he looked so worried, I couldn't help but feel sorry for him. For both of them. They didn't deserve this evil in their lives. "Don't give up hope." I said, I thought more to myself than to him.

10:45pm.

I leaned against one of the trees, my eyes stinging slightly from where they were fixed on the campfire ahead of me, it was now almost pitch black out, the dark woods around us almost impossible to see through. "One more time, that's-" Haley began, looking over at Dean.

Dean looked up from where he was drawing symbols in the dirt around us. "Anasazi symbols." He said simply. "It's for protection. The wendigo can't cross over them." Roy laughed, shaking his head at him. "Nobody likes a skeptic, Roy." He muttered, straightening up and heading over towards me. "What's the matter with you?" He asked quietly.

"You know what's the matter with me." I muttered.

He sighed. "Maxie, I know you don't like them, but if they're gonna help you-"

"But they don't help me, Dean. They make everything seem a million times worse."

He sighed, apparently not having an answer. "You know you can't keep hiding this from Sam, he's not an idiot."

"Look, I'll take the stupid pills, Dean, but we're not telling him, he doesn't need this right now. Besides, I'm not the one I'm worried about right now." Dean's eyes flickered from my face to Sam for a second. "He isn't okay, Dean. I hate seeing him like that. I don't need to be something else for him to worry about."

"Maxie, he's not gonna be happy if he finds out about it and it isn't from you."

"Dean, he's going through enough right now without my stupid little problems on top of it. I'll be fine." I looked over at where he sat towards the edge of the campsite, Dad's journal in his hands as he stared off at nothing. "C'mon." I muttered to Dean.

We walked over and took a seat at either side of Sam. "You wanna tell us what's going on in that freaky head of yours?" Dean pressed.

"Dean-" Sam began.

"No, you are not fine. You're like a powder keg, man, it's not like you. I'm supposed to be the belligerent one, remember?"

Sam paused, still not looking up. "Dad's not here." He said glumly. "I mean, that much we know for sure, right? He would have left us a message, a sign, right?"

"Yeah, you're probably right. Tell you the truth, I don't think Dad's ever been to Lost Creek."

"Then let's get these people back to town and let's hit the road. Go find Dad. I mean, why are we still even here?"

Dean looked up at me for a second, I shook my head, I didn't have an answer. His eyes fell to the journal in Sam's hands. "This is why." He said, moving around to crouch in front of Sam, taking dad's journal and holding it up to him. "This book, this is dad's single, most valuable possession- everything he knows about every evil thing is in here. And he's passed it on to us. I think he wants us to pick up where he left off. You know, saving people, hunting things.. The family business."

Sam shook his head. "That makes no sense. Why doesn't he just- call us? Why doesn't he tell us what he wants, tell us where he is?"

"I dunno, but the way I see it, Dad's giving us a job to do, and I intend to do it."

"Dean.. no. I gotta find Dad. I gotta find Jessica's killer. It's the only thing I can think about."

"Okay, alright, Sam, we'll find them, I promise. Listen to me. You've gotta prepare yourself. I mean, this search could take a while, and all that anger, you can't keep it burning over the long haul. It's gonna kill you. You gotta have patience, man."

Sam looked down at him, and then to me, a small frown on his face. "How do you two do this? How does Dad do it?"

He paused for a second and glanced over towards Haley and Ben. "Well, for one, them." Sam followed his eyes towards them. "I mean, I figure our family's so screwed to hell, maybe we can help some others. Makes things a little bit more bearable." He paused, Sam clearly not looking satisfied with that answer. "I'll tell you what else helps. Killing as many evil sons of bitches as I possibly can."

I smirked at that, even Sam cracking a smile of his own. "Help me! Please!" The same voice rang through the trees. We got to our feet, guns in our hands. "Help!"

"He's trying to draw us out." Sam said, shining his flashlight around. "Just stay cool, stay put."

"Inside the magic circle?" Roy muttered. The shouting halted for a second, replaced with the sound of growling. "Okay, that's no grizzly." He narrowed his eyes through the trees, pulling up his gun. Haley jumped at the sound of the trees rustling behind her, Roy firing his gun at it. "I hit it."

"Roy, no!" Sam yelled after him as he went after whatever it was he thought he'd hit. "Roy!"

"Dammit." Dean muttered, turning and pointing at Haley and Ben. "Don't move." He yelled before the three of us took off running. We slowed down a little, coming to a stop and looking around slowly, seeing nothing.

"C'mon." Sam muttered. "We gotta get back."

I walked back into the campsite first, the guy was obviously dead, just another person we didn't manage to save. I dropped down to sit on the ground, leaning against one of the trees and releasing a long sigh. I leaned my head back and closed my eyes, hearing someone walking towards me and taking a seat beside me. "How you doing?" Sam's voice asked.

"Well, sitting in the middle of a forest all night wasn't really how I planned spending my weekend but," I opened my eyes and shrugged, smiling slightly at him. "I'm fine." Sam nodded, managing a small smile himself, but eventually looking down at the ground ahead of us. "Are you alright, Sam?" I asked him seriously.

Sam paused for a few seconds and shook his head. "No, I mean- I thought it'd get easier but.." He trailed off and shook his head.

"Sammy, it's only been a week, these things take time, I guess."

"Right." He said glumly, neither of us saying anything for a few minutes. "Are you okay, Max?"

I frowned slightly and looked up at him. "Yeah, course I am, why wouldn't I be?"

"I dunno, you just seem a little down lately." He knew something, I could tell by the tone of his voice.

"Sammy, I'm fine, I'm just a little tired, ya know?"

"Right, you see- I don't believe you, Max. I know how you act when you're tired, and I know how you act when something's wrong. Something's wrong."

"Sam-"

He reached into his pocket and pulled out the bottle of pills. "You left this in the bathroom this morning." He said, handing them to me. "What are you taking?"

I looked down at them for a second, I'd picked off the label the other day in the car, it was just a clear bottle. "They're just some painkillers, I get these headaches and-"

"Max, these aren't painkillers." He cut me off, the accusation now clear in his voice. "What are they?"

"It's nothing."

"Max, it's been a week. I've been trying to ignore it, pretend like I don't know you've got some big secret between you, but this-" He pointed down at the bottle. "-you have to tell me."

I paused for a couple of minutes, a deep sigh leaving me before I looked back down at them. "It's called Lexapro." I muttered, my eyes fixed on the ground. "It's an antidepressant."

"It's a what?" I could hear the shock clear in his voice, the concern and the worry, exactly what I hadn't wanted from him.

"An SSRI, or whatever.." To be honest, I hadn't really been listening to the doctor at the time. "Treats depression and anxiety, that kinda thing." I shrugged it off, like it wasn't a big deal. To me, it wasn't.

"Okay," Sam began calmly. "-and why are you on it?"

"Because some stupid doctor put some stupid ideas into Dean's stupid head." I muttered. "You know what Dean's like, he heard the word depression and his listening skills went out the window."

"And, you don't take them?"

I shook my head slowly. "I don't need them, Sam."

"Max, if they've said you need them, maybe you should be taking them."

"Oh, don't you start too, Sammy, I'm perfectly fine. I'm not depressed. This job just gets to you some times, you know that as well as I do."

He waited a few seconds, I could feel him watching me. "Are you sure that's all it is?"

I paused before nodding. "I'm sure."

"You should've told me, Max." He said quietly, placing an arm around my shoulders. I sighed and leaned my head against his shoulder, for the first time in a few days, I actually felt like I could fall asleep. And despite where we were, what was going on around us, with him, I felt safe.

The next morning, 07:06AM.

When I woke up, I was still in the same place I had been when I'd fallen asleep, my head rested against Sam's shoulder. I sat up straighter and nudged Sam in the arm, waking him up. "Mornin' sunshine." I muttered, my voice still thick with sleep.

He smiled a little and got to his feet, pulling me up with him. We headed over to where Dean was talking to Haley and Ben, giving us a smile as he saw us, he looked a little grateful that we'd gotten some sleep. "I don't...I mean, these types of things, they aren't supposed to be real." Haley was saying.

"I wish I could tell you different." Dean muttered.

"How do we know it's not out there watching us?"

"We don't. But we're safe for now."

She watched him curiously. "How do you know about this stuff?"

Dean paused while he considered an answer, looking from her to me and Sam. "Kind of runs in the family."

"So, we've got half a chance in the daylight. And I for one want to kill this evil son of a bitch." Sam said, his tone light.

Dean grinned at him. "Well, hell, you know I'm in. Maxie?"

I nodded, a smile spreading over my face. "Hell yeah."

"Alright," Sam began, taking Dad's journal and opening it up to the right page. "-Wendigo is a Cree Indian word. It means 'evil that devours'."

"They're hundreds of years old." Dean continued. "Each one was once a man. Sometimes an Indian, or other times a frontiersman or a miner or hunter."

Haley frowned. "How's a man turn into one of those things?"

Dean bent down to pick a couple of things up from the ground. "It's always the same." I went on. "During some harsh winter a guy finds himself starving, cut off from supplies or help. Becomes a cannibal to survive, eating other members of his tribe or camp."

"Like the Donner Party." Ben added.

Sam nodded. "Cultures all over the world believe that eating human flesh gives a person certain abilities. Speed, strength, immortality. If you eat enough of it, over years, you become this less than human thing. You're always hungry."

"So if that's true, how can Tommy still be alive?"

Dean paused for a second. "You're not gonna like it."

"Tell me." She pressed.

"More than anything, a wendigo knows how to last long winters without food. It hibernates for years at a time, but when it's awake it keeps its victims alive. It, uh, it stores them, so it can feed whenever it wants. If your brother's alive, it's keeping him somewhere dark, hidden, and safe. We gotta track it back there."

"And then how do we stop it?"

"Well, guns are useless, so are knives. Basically-" He held up a can of lighter fluid and a beer bottle. "-we gotta torch the sucker."

One hour later.

Dean and I walked at the front, Haley and Ben behind us, then Sam at the back. We followed a path of trees, red claw marks on them, like a way too easy trail. Sam caught up to us, apparently having the same thought. "You know, I was thinking, those claw prints, so clear and distinct. They were almost too easy to follow."

I looked around, almost all the trees now had some kind of claw mark on them, broken branches and twigs everywhere. We whipped around at the sound of a deep growl, Haley suddenly jumping back, just in time for Roy's falling body to miss her. "Jeez." Dean muttered, taking a step towards his body, looking over him slowly. "Neck's broken."

I stopped beside Haley, holding out a hand and pulling her up. "You alright?"

She nodded slowly. "I'm fine."

There was more growling, this time louder. "Alright, we gotta go." Dean said urgently, grabbing my arm before I had a chance to react and pulling me along the same way as him. We ran for a couple of minutes, stopping short as the wendigo appeared in front of us. I heard Haley scream from beside me, turning around quickly and feeling a hard blow to the side of my head, then everything went black.

06:53PM.

"Max? Max?!" I heard Sam's voice calling my name from somewhere. "Max, open your eyes. Max!" I slowly blinked open my eyes, seeing his blurred face in front of me. "Are you alright?" He asked, his voice panicked.

"I'm good." I muttered, my voice quieter than I intended. I looked around slowly as Sam reached up to cut the ropes holding my wrists above me, Haley was sitting on the floor, both her brothers beside her. I smiled a little at them, looking over at where Dean was sitting, looking like he was in pain. I felt myself drop to the ground as Sam cut through the ropes, catching me and moving me over to Dean.

"You sure you're alright?" Sam said, looking between Dean and me, a concerned frown on his face.

Dean grimaced, nodding slowly. "Where is he?" I asked.

"He's gone for now." Sam assured.

I ran a hand over my face, my eyes falling to where all the stolen supplies lay towards the dark corner of the cave. "Hey." I nudged Dean's knee with mine, pointing over at them. Dean stumbled to his feet and grabbed one of the bags, opening it up and grinning as he pulled out a couple of flare guns.

"Flare guns." Sam stated, a smile on his face. "Those'll work."

Dean smirked and twirled them around, a short laugh escaping him. Haley and Ben grabbed their brother, each supporting him as we headed out of the cave. I turned at the sound of growling near the entrance. "Looks like someone's home for supper." Dean muttered, looking back at us.

"We'll never out run it." Haley said, her voice quiet.

"You thinking what I'm thinking?" Dean asked, looking between me and Sam.

Sam nodded. "Yeah, I think so."

"Alright," Dean said, turning to look at Haley and her brothers. "-listen to me, Sam and Max are gonna get you out of here-"

"I'm coming with you." I cut him off, looking him dead in the face.

"Maxie, no. I'm not getting you killed."

"And I'm not letting you go after a friggin' wendigo alone." I countered.

He sighed and nodded at Sam, the two of us turning and heading off in a different direction. "Chow time, you freaky bastard!" Dean yelled. "Yeah, that's right, bring it on, baby, we taste good." We paused for a second, hearing nothing. "Come on, you want some white meat, bitch?!" I couldn't help but smirk at his choice of words. "We're right here!"

We both whipped around at the sound of a gunshot. "Sam." I said, both of us breaking into a run towards the sound. We saw the four of them backing away slowly, the wendigo right in front of them.

"Hey!" Dean yelled, the wendigo turning to face us as we shot it at the same time. The flares went off, the wendigo burning up into flames. "Not bad, huh?" Dean grinned. I laughed, looking up at him and bumping the fist he held out to me. Sam looked over at us and smiled.

07:31PM.

I sat in the back of an ambulance, staring off at nothing while one of the paramedics patched up the cut on my forehead. I was exhausted, both physically and mentally, all I wanted to do was sleep. I was becoming more and more worried about dad with every day that passed we didn't hear from him, I was starting to think the worst about it, and that terrified me. I was worried like hell about Sam, all he ever said that was he was fine, but I could see right through it, he was a wreck. I looked over at him, talking to one of the police officers with Ben, and sighed sadly. I wished I could make it easier on him, I wished I knew how to make it better, but I couldn't. "You're all set." The guy said to me, a smile on his face.

I snapped back into reality and looked up at him, getting to my feet. "Thanks." I muttered, hopping out of the ambulance and heading over to where Dean was talking to Haley. She kissed his cheek and turned, her and Ben walking towards the ambulance her brother was in, stopping ahead of me.

"Thank you, Max." Haley said, reaching out and pulling me into a hug.

"Yeah, don't mention it." I pulled back and smiled at them, giving a small wave before heading back towards where Sam and Dean were leaning against the Impala.

"Man, I hate camping." Sam muttered as I sat beside him, his eyes fixed on the ground ahead.

"Me too." Dean agreed.

I nodded slowly. "Me three."

We watched the ambulance drive away, remaining where we sat on the hood. "Sam, you know we're gonna find dad, right?" Dean said, looking over at him.

"Yeah, I know." He sighed lightly and looked up at him. "But in the meantime, I'm driving." Dean sighed and tossed him the keys, ruffling my hair as he passed on the way to the car door, a small grin on his face.

The next day, motel room, 08:23AM.

I woke up the next morning to the sound of Sam and Dean arguing, not something that I could say I'd missed when Sam had left. I groaned to myself and turned over, my back to them, letting out a deep sigh and wishing that I could just stay there for the rest of my life. "Dean, look, maybe if you'd just listen to her-" Sam went on, his tone remaining aggravated. Apparently neither of them had noticed I was awake.

"She's told you she doesn't need them, right?" Dean argued back, his tone sounding slightly amused for a second before it turned completely serious. "Sam, you weren't here, and dad wasn't here. I was. I was the one who saw how bad it was, how bad she got, not you."

Sam paused for a few seconds. "What are you talking about?" He pressed curiously, I wasn't sure I wanted to hear this.

"She was having nightmares, every night. And I don't just mean bad dreams here, Sam, I mean she was waking up in tears. She was reckless, she almost got herself killed I don't know how many times. And you know what, that's not even the part that scared me. Because she was fine on hunts. I mean, she was smart, and quick, and she knew what she was doing- if I'm being honest, the way she hunts, it reminded me of dad. But it was what came afterwards, she brought it home with her. And I honestly think that she was scared. Scared about dad, I don't know- But the nightmares were getting worse, she didn't want to sleep, she didn't want to eat- if it'd carried on like that, I think she would've gone nuts. So I took her to see a doctor, because I didn't know what else to do. Dad wouldn't answer the phone- So, she went, and she swore to me that she'd take it seriously, and that she'd be honest with him.. in moderation."

"So?" Sam asked. "What happened then?"

"You know what he told me, Sammy?" Dean's voice was quiet now, he sounded upset. "He told me that she was depressed. And that she had some kind of anxiety disorder, I don't know. I'm not sure if it was that, or whether she was just scared over hunting but-"

"Well, if you don't know, why are you forcing her to take these pills? You have no idea what they're doing to her."

"Because, Sam- I figure it's better to be safe than sorry here. If it doesn't work out, she can always come off them. All I'm asking her is to try them. Because if something happens to her, and I could've stopped it, that's on me." He stopped and lowered his voice. "I'm not gonna lose her, Sam."

Sam sighed deeply. "Alright, I just think maybe you should actually talk to her about it, instead of pressuring her to take them." I heard one of them move across the room. "I'm gonna go pick up some breakfast." Sam said, followed by the sound of the door opening and closing.

I heard Dean sigh heavily, standing there for a couple of minutes before I heard him move towards the bathroom. "Maxie!" He yelled over his shoulder. "Wake up!" I turned over and looked over at the bathroom, waiting a minute before he appeared in the doorway again. "Mornin' sleepy." He said brightly, a smile on his face. "You gonna lie there all day or what?"

I climbed out of bed and ran a hand over my face, wiping the sleep from my eyes. Dean watched me for a couple of minutes, like he was unsure if I'd just heard their conversation or not. "I thought you weren't going to tell Sam about it." He pressed, seemingly going with what he already knew.

"I wasn't." I answered simply. "He found the pills, and he asked me about them. I might've been willing not to tell him, but I can't stand there and lie straight to his face, Dean."

"Yeah.."

I cleared my throat and looked up at him. "Hey, I'm sorry. I never knew that you'd been so worried, or that I'd scared you like that.. I wouldn't have been such a bitch with you about them if I had."

Dean sighed and shook his head. "You're not being a bitch, Max, you're just stubborn. I just- I can't have you back like that, I'm not gonna let you get yourself killed."

I looked away from him, I could see the pleading look in his eyes. I didn't have the heart to have another fight with him about it. "Okay." I said quietly, smiling at him before I headed towards the bathroom to take a shower.

I didn't know what I was going to do.

So I hope that explained what you wanted to know. That's not the end of it, the whole storyline will progress into something as we go through season one. Hope you're still enjoying it and thank you so, so, so much for the support! Every review/favorite/follow means the world! Thank you for reading, not only this story but my other one too! Love you all! THANKYOU! :-)