A Chance Meeting

Chapter 5

The Wampus Cat

Sam carried Annie and Hazel let Max help her along. She was glad to see that they had brought their dad's truck. She didn't feel like walking all the way home. Sam set Annie in the truck bed and helped Hazel up in it as well. Max didn't want his sister riding in the back but a look from her told him it wasn't open for debate.

Dean and Max rode in the cab and Sam stayed in the truck bed. Hazel tucked a strained of hair behind her ear before asking, "How did you guys know I was in trouble?"

Max set off back to the house and Sam shifted to accommodate for the bumpiness. "We can talk about it once you and Annie are taken care of." Annie was resting her head on Sam's leg letting him pet her, she looked tied and Hazel was a little worried.

The ride was short and once Sam had Annie resting comfortably on the doggie bed, he and Max had wanted to look at Hazel's injuries. She shook her head.

"No I want to know how you three knew I was in trouble?"

Max stepped up to his sister, "Can we talk and take a look at your arms? It looks like it's bleeding through your sleeves."

Hazel looked at her arms and noticed the red blooms there, "Fine but start talking."

She slipped off the hoodie, and Max started to clean the claw marks. "I knew you were in trouble because Sam woke me and told me. He asked what you did this early and I told him you go jogging with Annie. He told Dean you were in trouble so we used dad's truck to follow the path you usually take. We split up and then Sam and I heard you scream, when we got there you were standing at the embankment and Dean was getting Annie."

Hazel looked skeptically at her brother, "So how did Sam know?" She looked at Sam who had taken a seat at the dinning room table.

"Dean and I aren't just passing through. We're here looking into the killings." Hazel noticed that his jaw kept clinching, "We kind of figured the killings were happening in a pattern. All of them taken place early in the morning, usually people out by themselves. When Max told me you liked to jog this early, I got a bad feeling." She could tell there was more to this story.

Max finished bandaging her arm and then took a look at the cut on the side of her head, "It doesn't look too deep. Couple of butterflies will be fine."

"Sam you're talking about those four people found mauled? You think that thing has something to do with it? What kind of animal was that?" Hazels arms were starting to sting and the blow to her head was making her head hurt.

Dean answered, "We're not sure what that thing is but we do know it may be the thing killing people. Have you two noticed anything odd? Animals missing, stuff like that."

Max shook his head, "We're pretty far from town, and as for those other killings, the cops were saying it was a rouge wolf or mountain lion."

"Max, I may not be a major in animals," Hazel starts, "but I am pretty damn sure that was not a wolf or mountain lion." She sat beside Annie, petting her. She was trying to make sense of everything that had happened this morning. Annie licked her hand and Hazel looked down at her.

Sam and Dean spent the rest of the morning telling Max and Hazel a little about what they really did, although they left out the visions Sam would get and the parts regarding the Yellow-Eyed Demon. There was a slight pause as both Hazel and Max let it registered.

"You two are crazy." Were Max's first words, "You expect us to believe that." He looked towards Hazel thinking she would back him up and she felt guilty that she couldn't. He hadn't seen that thing. It was not normal and the explanation Sam had given for it fit. On some level she knew what he was saying was true.

"So how are we going to kill it?"

"Hazel! You can't be taking them seriously?" She could tell Max was surprised and hurt. He just stared at her.

"Max you weren't there. You didn't see that thing. It wasn't normal." She looked at her brother, hoping he wouldn't take this personally, but knew he would. "There is no way that thing was a mountain lion or some kind of rouge wolf."

"So you'll go with these guys' explanation that it was a monster?" Max's eyes darted to Sam and Dean. Neither said anything, but chose to let these two make up their own minds. "Hazel we just meet them. We don't know them from Adam and your willing to believe their cock and bull story?"

Hazel averted her brothers' gaze and looked over at Sam. He held her eyes for just a moment then looked away. There was something about him that made Hazel just naturally trust him. "Yea Max. I do."

Max stood, gave his sister a hard stare then walked out of the room. Hazel sighed, "Don't take it personally," she told them. "Max can be very stubborn at times." Especially when it comes to me, she thought to herself. "So how do we kill that thing?"

Dean stood up, "You don't, Sam and I will take care of it. First we need to find out what it is."

Hazel stood up to him, matching his gaze, "You're not getting rid of me that easily. Besides I'm helping, wither you like it or not."

Sam grinned. Dean wasn't use to having his orders question, especially when a five-foot something blonde was the one questioning. Sam would have sworn Hazel and Dean would have a shouting match, something Hazel could have easily won. Dean glared at her for a moment, then just shrugged, "Fine, whatever. But you have to follow instructions to the letter."

"With in reason, yes."

They spent the next hours trying to find out what the thing was. Max would come in every now and then, but he didn't stay long and he would keep giving Hazel dirty looks. Hazel gave Sam full net access while she and Dean scanned the newspapers covering the first four killing. Now that is had been pointed out to her Hazel could see the pattern they were talking about, how could I have missed this, she thought to herself.

"Think I've got something," Sam said from the computer. Dean and Hazel gathered round him. "Dose that look like the thing that attacked you?" On the screen was a small sketch of an animal that look incredible like the thing Hazel had seen.

"Yea that's it." She scanned the article, "What the hell is a Wampus Cat? I've never heard of it."

Sam pointed to the middle of the article, "According to this an Indian maiden was transformed into what is known as the Wampus Cat, for spying on the hunters of her tribe. The woman was doomed to be forever half woman and half mountain cat."

"But why kill, I don't get it." She leaned over Sam's shoulder, her hair brushing his face a little. "Dose it say how to break the curse?"

Sam shifted in his chair, "No it doesn't, and most of the time it's just a good idea to get out of the way of a curse." He looked up at her as she tucked her hair behind her ear. She was still reading the article and didn't notice him watching her.

"So the hunters of the tribe get pissed cause she saw them and they curse her. That's just dumb." She stood up and Sam turned in his chair to face her and Dean.

"We're still stuck at square one," Dean said. He noticed the interplay between his brother and Hazel but chose not to say anything. "How do we kill the thing?"

Max stuck his head in the room, "Why can't you just shoot the damn thing?"

Hazel started to give Max a dumb looked but Dean actually made a face and looked at Sam, "That could work."

Hazel glanced down at Sam, "Could that work, I mean would it be that simple?"

Sam shrugged and glanced up at her, "Could be," he told her quickly averting his eyes. She looked at her watch and saw that they had missed lunch. "I say we take a quick break and grab a bite to eat. And this time," she glanced at Annie, who had taken up a spot at Sam's feet. "Well go out to eat."