AN: ...hi? Yeah. I didn't die. Which is actually amazing, honestly, considering the last two years of my life...anyway. I am back. I can't even...begin to cover all of the reasons for that, erm, extended hiatus, just, life's a bitch, ya know? It's getting back to something much more manageable, but I'll be honest, I hadn't intended to update this story until this summer, but then I realized that, A Lot of things have gone wrong since I stopped updating this story, and frankly I am absolutely superstitious enough to update just because of that, if you had any idea how many giant homework assignments I have due tomorrow, you'd understand. So here I am, appeasing the gods. Enjoy my offering.
Addendum
(n.)
A thing to be added; an addition.
Chapter Three
Wendigo
aka
Into the Trees With Empty Hands
Lost Creek/Blackwater Ridge, Colorado: November 2017
Nightmares are not uncommon in Sam Winchester's life. Knowing about the existence of monsters since he was a small child certainly hadn't helped the matter. But recently, they've become the ruling factor. Bed or car—it doesn't matter where he sleeps, the nightmares always haunt him.
More often than not, they're about her. A nuclear cocktail of guilt and terror and grief, mixing together, showing him all the things he fears.
He stops sleeping—he dozes, loses consciousness for short stretches of time, forcing himself to wake up before he can head into the menacing REM cycle. But he can only stay awake for so long before basic human need for sleep takes over.
This time, he's passed out in the front seat—a hand is reaching out of Jessica's grave to grab him—and a hand thumps him in the shoulder, he jumps up, his head colliding painfully with the impala's roof. He hears Elena's muffled apology—slipped out between guilty giggles—and the sound of the music blaring from the radio before he even opens his eyes.
"I'm so sorry," Elena apologizes again, her voice bubbling with laughter, but still sincere. "It looked like you were having a nightmare, I was just trying to wake you up," she explains.
"It's okay," he says ruefully. "Thanks," he continues awkwardly.
She nods, giving him a sympathetic, understanding smile. He's gotten used to her—but they're still not quite comfortable with each other.
Dean glances over from the driver's seat, a smile hanging from the left side of his mouth, and Sam can tell he wants to laugh but is holding it off with the best of him.
"You okay?" Dean asks, and Sam can hear the double meaning in his words yet again. It's been like that since that night—everything Dean says has another meaning, Dean is asking about the head he just smashed into the roof of his car, and about the nightmare he'd so abruptly been pulled from.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Sam lies. Deny, deny, deny—that's the name of the game.
Dean can't let it go, though.
"Another nightmare?" he asks, since Sam hadn't actually confirmed or denied it when Elena explained her reasoning for waking him up.
Sam just clears his throat, uncomfortable.
Dean considers him for a second, and then—
"You wanna drive?"
Sam starts to chuckle in disbelief, wondering if the world's gone topsy-turvy.
"You never let me drive!" Elena says in protest.
"How many car accidents have you been in?" Dean asks meaningfully.
"I was only driving during one of them," she defends and he shakes his head.
"Yeah but you've got bad luck when it comes to cars, sorry, 'Lena, I'm not risking my baby," he says with finality. Elena pouts and slumps over in the backseat, a map clutched in her hand. He looks back over at Sam. "Offers still open for you though," he tells him.
Sam stares in disbelief.
"Dean, your whole life, you never once asked me that," Sam reminds him.
"Just thought you might want to, never mind," Dean says, looking slightly uncomfortable.
Sam rolls his eyes, seeing right through him.
"Look, man, you're worried about me, I get it," Sam begins, glancing back at Elena in the rearview mirror. She's abandoned her pouting pose, instead she's looking at him, her face perfectly still, but the empathy is almost overpowering and he has to look away. "Thank you, but I'm perfectly okay," Sam insists, mentally reminding himself not to look at Elena as much—he can still feel the urge to spill his guts to her occasionally and it's disconcerting to say the least.
"Mm-hmm," Dean replies, the disbelief clear on his face.
Fed up, Sam rolls his eyes and sticks his hand over into the backseat, waving it until Elena gets the message and hands over the map. They take turns playing navigator, and it'd been Elena's turn last.
"All right, where are we?" Sam asks, ready to move on from the subject and focus on something else.
"We are just outside Grand Junction," Dean says, beating Elena to it. She crosses her eyes at him in the rearview mirror and he grins back at her.
Sam finds his attention wondering back to his nightmares—and the mystery back in California. Without meaning to, he finds himself switching back to the topic that only moments before he'd been desperate to get away from.
"You know what? Maybe we shouldn't have left Stanford so soon," he says, wavering on the decision yet again.
"Sam, we dug around there for a week, we came up with nothing," Dean says tiredly, reciting the same old arguments.
"He's right, Sam," Elena pipes up from the backseat. "There wasn't anything else we could do there."
"If you want to find the thing that killed Jessica," Dean continues, and Sam cuts him off.
"We gotta find Dad first," he finishes, knowing all the lines by heart at this point.
"Dad disappearing and this thing showing up again after twenty years?" Dean barrels on. "It's no coincidence. Dad'll have answers, he'll know what to do," Dean insists with complete faith.
Elena makes a tiny noise in her throat, not quite a disagreement but definitely not one of agreement. Her relationship with John Winchester has always been a rocky one, so Dean is used to her doubt in him at this point, and ignores it.
"It's weird, man," Sam says, frowning a little. "These coordinates he left us, this Black Water Ridge..."
"Yeah, what about it?" Dean asks.
"There's nothing there," Sam says, his face puzzled. "It's just woods."
He glances back at Elena, a quick darting glance, and then over to Dean.
"Why is he sending us to the middle of nowhere?" he asks.
Neither of them have an answer.
Sam forges on, "And the other message?" he asks, glancing back at Elena, who looks away for the first time, staring out the window. "Why was it so important that he had to write it down?" he asks, still looking at her.
Since the night of the fire, no one has brought up the second message – keep her safe – and Sam finds himself bursting with curiosity.
Dean glances back at Elena in the rearview mirror.
"How 'bout it, Elena, feel like sharing?" he invites her. She purses her lips together, and Sam can practically see their silent conversation. Clearly this is a denial because Dean shakes his head. "I can't protect you if I don't know what I'm supposed to be protecting you against, now can I?" he points out, hoping that she'll finally give him something—anything—more than what he already knows.
Which really isn't much in the first place.
"I don't know why he wrote that," she bursts out, agitated. "Look, you're both better off not knowing," she insists. "The only thing you have to do to keep me safe is keep driving," she says flatly.
Dean and Sam exchange a confused look.
"'Keep driving', that's it? That's all you're gonna give me?" Dean asks in disbelief.
Elena nods firmly.
"Yup," is her only reply.
Dean's hands clench tighter around the steering wheel, and Sam can practically hear his teeth grinding together.
"Okay," he grits out, clearly frustrated.
For a long time, they sit in silence, until finally Sam remembers an exchange between the other two earlier.
"How many car accidents have you been in?" he asks Elena.
Her response is immediate.
"Three, if you don't count the time a ghost set the car on fire with me in the front seat."
Dean and Sam exchange another look, and Dean looks mildly horrified so Sam assumes he didn't know about the ghost setting her car on fire one.
"That totally counts," Dean insists and Sam nods his head fervently.
"Yup, it counts," he agrees.
Elena shrugs.
"Four, then."
Inside the ranger station at the Lost Creek National Forest, Sam examines maps of the infamous Black Water Ridge, while Dean marvels over the size of a bear with such awe that Elena can't help but giggle in a way that makes Dean nudge her in the calf with his boot reproachfully. She sticks her tongue out at him and Sam ponders for possibly the hundredth time since they showed up on his doorstep over a week ago if they're aware of how they appear to an outsider.
"You folks aren't planning to go out near Black Water Ridge, are ya?" a grizzled old ranger questions, eyeing Elena in her jeans and stylish boots like the idea of her trooping through a forest personally offends him.
The three of them exchange a look.
"Oh no sir, we're environmental study majors from U.C. Boulder, just working on a paper" Sam lies easily.
Elena and Dean smile and nod along like they this isn't the first they've heard of it.
"Recycle man," Dean adds and Elena, having the grace and control to not crack even smile, nods very seriously.
"Bull," the ranger says flatly, instantly seeing through Sam's quickly thrown together story. "You're friends with that Haley girl, right?" he assumes, eyeing Elena in particular again.
Another quick exchange of glances and the three of them are nodding.
"What gave us away?" Elena asks, sounding convincingly sheepish.
Dean follows suit quickly, the two of them as in sync as ever.
"Yes," Dean agrees. "Yes we are, Ranger…" Dean looks at his shirt to find his name. "Wilkinson."
The ranger shakes his head. "Well I will tell you exactly what I told her," he says. "Her brother filled out a backcountry permit saying he wouldn't be back from Black Water until the twenty-fourth. So it's not exactly a missing persons, now is it?" the man asks, unknowingly giving them their first lead.
"No I guess not," Elena agrees. "Haley just has a tendency to worry," she says, sounding very much like she does know this Haley girl and how much she worries.
The ranger gives her an understanding smile.
"I'm sure her brother is just fine, she's worrying over nothing," he reassures her.
"I'm sure you're right," Elena agrees but Sam knows from the look on Dean's face that she's lying.
"Well that Haley girl's quite a pistol, huh?" Dean adds as the ranger walks away. Sam glances over at his brother, wondering what he's up to.
The ranger turns back with a look of complete weariness on his face.
"That is putting it mildly," he says with conviction.
"Actually, you know what would help is if I could show her a copy of that backcountry permit," Dean suggests. "You know, so she could see her brother's return date."
Elena nods from beside him like it's the perfect way to get this Haley to stop bugging the ranger.
"He's right, it would definitely help if she could see physical proof," she chimes in, smiling sweetly.
Sam can tell that their ploy has worked just from the look on Ranger Wilkinson's face.
He waits until they're outside to question why.
"What, are you cruising for a hookup or something?" Sam asks Dean, glancing warily at Elena. She doesn't look upset by the suggestion, but Dean is looking at him blankly.
"What do you mean?" he questions, sounding confused.
Sam can't help but feel indignant.
"The coordinates point to Black Water Ridge," Sam reminds him, knowing that Elena is paying attention too. "So what are we waiting for? Let's just go find Dad," Sam insists, his impatience getting the better of him.
"I mean, why even talk to this girl?" Sam bursts out, feeling frustrated.
He's running on very little sleep and the only thing fueling him along is his anger and the thought that their father might have all the answers they need to find the thing that had murdered both his mother and his girlfriend.
"I don't know, maybe we should know what we're walking into before we actually walk into it," Dean points out, for once being the sensible one of the two. Dean gives his brother a searching look, a frown on his face.
"What?" Sam asks defensively.
He feels three seconds from exploding, a feeling he's been having a lot lately, so he doesn't look over at Elena, who is, as ever, standing by his brother. He doesn't have to look at her to know there is understanding on her face. If Sam has learned anything about her in the week and a half that he's known her, it's that Elena always understands.
"Since when are you all 'shoot first, ask questions later', anyway?" Dean asks him, clearly concerned.
Sam stares back at him.
"Since now," he replies bluntly, getting in the car before he can ask any more questions.
"Oh really?" Dean asks to the empty air in front of him, exchanging a telling look with Elena before they both get in the car.
The backcountry permit gives them an address, and since Sam is still stewing in the front seat, Elena guides them to the Collins' residence.
At the front door, Dean takes point, since Sam is a reluctant participant at best.
"You must be Haley Collins," Dean begins. "I'm Dean, this is Sam and Elena," he says, indicating to the two of them.
Elena flashes the wary looking girl a reassuring smile, and Haley can't help but return it, albeit weakly.
"We're rangers with the park service, Ranger Wilkinson sent us over," Dean continues.
When Haley gives Elena a doubtful look, Elena chimes in briefly, "I'm a cadet, this is part of my training," she says cheerfully, and Haley looks slightly appeased, but not by much.
"We wanted to ask you some questions about your brother, Tommy," Dean continues.
Haley considers the three of them.
"Let me see some I.D.," she insists.
Dean plays it off well, showing her like it's the most natural thing in the world.
"Come on in," she says after a moment, opening the screen door and allowing the three of them in.
"Thank you," Elena says, ever aware of good manners.
"You're welcome," Haley replies distractedly, catching a glimpse of the impala over her shoulder. "That yours?" She directs the question to Dean, and the pride is evident on his face when he smiles.
"Yeah," Dean says with immodesty.
"Nice car," she says simply.
Elena gives Dean a look—it's nothing more than a flick of her eyebrow, but it seems to communicate legions of information because Dean's returning it with one of his own and it's all so teasing and light that Sam can almost believe that there really isn't anything going on between them—almost.
While they're following Haley in, Elena behind her, Dean next, and Sam at the rear, Dean turns back to mouth 'oh my god,' his face clearly indicating that he finds Haley attractive and it's almost like he didn't just have an entire silent conversation in a matter of seconds with the girl in front of him.
Except of course, inside, Dean and Elena are doing more of their silent communication. Sam decides to take initiative, figuring that the sooner they question Haley the sooner they can get out of there and go find his dad.
"So if Tommy's not due back for a while, how do you know something's wrong?" Sam asks, eager to get it over with.
"He checks in every day by cell," she answers, bringing out food for the teenage boy sitting at the table.
The boy had blushed and looked away when Elena entered the room and is now giving his food all of his attention. This apparently isn't an uncommon reaction to Elena because Dean good-naturedly rolls his eyes.
"He emails photos, stupid little videos, but we haven't heard anything in over three days now," Haley continues.
"Well maybe he can't get cell reception," Sam suggests sensibly. Haley shakes her head.
"He's got a satellite phone too," she informs them, dismissing the idea instantly.
"Could it be he's just having fun and forgot to check in?" Dean says, trying to get a read on the situation.
"He wouldn't do that," the teenage boy insists, speaking to them for the first time.
"Our parents are gone, it's just my two brothers and me," Haley explains.
Elena's face goes soft with empathy in a way that she can't help.
"We all keep pretty close tabs on each other."
Dean and Elena nod in understanding. Sam frowns in consideration.
"Can I see the pictures he sent you?" he asks.
Haley nods. "Yeah."
She leads them over to her laptop. On the computer screen there are pictures of a smiling brown-haired youth, she clicks over to a video and shows them the content.
"Hey Haley," the video starts, and while it seems like nothing is amiss, Sam narrows his eyes at the video.
"Well, we'll find your brother, we're heading out to Black Water Ridge tomorrow, first thing," Dean assures her, but Haley just gives him a challenging look.
"Then maybe I'll see you there," she replies, moving to stand by her brother.
"You're going to look for him," Elena states, not asking, understanding dawning.
"Look, I can't sit around here anymore, so I hired a guide. I'm heading out in the morning, and I'm gonna find Tommy myself," she tells them, and although she is addressing all three of them, her focus is on Elena.
Elena nods a little, clearly understanding her point of view.
"I think I know how you feel," Dean says, clearly on the same wavelength as Elena.
"Hey, you mind forwarding these to me?" Sam requests, still mulling over the contents of the video she'd shown them.
"Sure," Haley agrees readily enough.
"So, Black Water Ridge doesn't get a lot of traffic, local campers mostly—" Sam starts, pulling out his laptop.
The three of them are in a local dive bar, Elena attracting more than her fair share of attention, as usual, but she seems oblivious to them all. Dean, on the other hand, is not, and shoots off more than a few glares to keep interested parties away from her, and their table.
"But still, this past April, two hikers went missing out there, they were never found," Sam continues.
"Any before that?" Dean asks. A scruffy looking guy starts towards their table, a brave look on his face, and with a roll of his eyes, Dean hooks an ankle around one of the legs of Elena's chair, dragging her closer to him. The scruffy guy veers away from them quickly, Elena completely oblivious to his aborted attempt to talk to her.
When she gives Dean a bemused look, he shoots her an innocent one of his own. "You were too far away to see," he says. She shakes her head at him fondly.
"Were there any more missing campers before that?" Elena asks Sam, trying to get them back on track.
He nods. "Yeah, in 1982, eight different people all vanished within the same year. Authorities said it was a grizzly attack. And again in 1959, and again, before that in 1936—every 23 years, like clockwork."
Sam opens his laptop, the last video Tommy sent already open on the screen.
"Okay, watch this, here's the clincher. I downloaded that guy Tommy's video to the laptop, check this out," he says, clicking through part of the video frame by frame.
Elena cocks her head to the side, curious.
"Do it again," Dean requests. Sam obliges. In the background, outside of Tommy's tent, a large shadow passes across the screen.
"That's three frames, it's a fraction of a second," Sam says. "Whatever that thing is, it can move."
Dean whacks Sam on the arm, startling him.
"I told you something weird was going on," he says.
Elena flicks him in the shoulder.
"Violence isn't necessary," she scolds him; he shoots her a disbelieving look.
"You're one to talk," he retorts. Ever since he moved her chair closer to his, the other bar patrons seemed to have gotten the message, although they still look occasionally, no one else has tried to approach Elena. Dean's mood has dramatically improved as a direct result.
Sam rolls his eyes at their antics, continuing on with his impromptu presentation.
"I got one more thing," he says, handing over a piece of paper to Elena instead of Dean, to indicate his displeasure at being whacked so unceremoniously by his brother. "In '59, one camper survived the supposed grizzly attack. Just a kid, barely crawled out of the woods alive."
Peering over Elena's shoulder at the paper, Dean nods his head.
"Is there a name?" he asks.
Sam smiles.
They find their survivor in a dark, shoddy old apartment building, and at first he's eager to get rid of them—even Elena—but between the three of them, eventually Mr. Shaw reluctantly opens up about his experience that awful night. His reluctance stems from the usual source—constant disbelief. No one has ever believed him before, so he doesn't see why the three of them would.
"How can you know what we'll believe if you won't tell us what you saw?" Elena asks, gently urging him to tell them.
"Mr. Shaw, what did you see?" Sam asks, his tone as gentle as Elena's.
"Nothing," Mr. Shaw admits at last. "It moved too fast to see. It hid too well," he explains. "I heard it, though. A roar, like no man or animal I ever heard."
"It came at night?" Sam prompts, and Shaw nods fervently. "Got inside your tent?"
"It got inside our cabin," Mr. Shaw corrects. "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," he says flatly. "Do you know of a bear that could do something like that?" he demands. "I didn't even wake up until I heard my parents screaming," he continues.
Sam glances sideways at Elena, and her face is full of gut-wrenching empathy.
"It killed them?" Sam asks, focusing back on Mr. Shaw, on anyone but Elena.
"Dragged 'em off into the night," Shaw confirms. "Why it left me alive; I've been asking myself that ever since." He pauses to catch his breath and gulp down his grief. "It did leave me this, though," he says, and then he pulls down the collar of his shirt to reveal a massive claw mark scar that spanned the width of his shoulder and stopped just short of his chest.
"There's something evil in those woods. It was some sort of a demon," he says with conviction, and then goes silent. The silence stretches between the four of them.
"I'm so sorry," Elena says at last. Mr. Shaw looks at her, startled. "You were so young, and you went through something terrible, and you lost people you love, and I'm sorry," she says by way of explanation.
Mr. Shaw gives her an incredulous smile, and then looks over at Sam and Dean.
"If all your cadets are that sincere," he begins, nodding his head over at Elena, "You might actually have the makings of a good park service," he finishes.
Dean nods in agreement. "Oh she's definitely the top of her class," he says amiably.
With that, the three of them say their goodbyes and leave Mr. Shaw. In the hallway, Elena bumps her shoulder into Dean's teasingly and he grins at her good-naturedly.
"You handled that well," Dean says and she shrugs.
"It wasn't so bad," she says softly, and Sam wonders how he's out of the loop this time.
"So it didn't sound like a demon to me?" Elena forges on, switching topics back to the case before Sam discovers their previous topic. Dean nods his head.
"Spirits and demons don't have to unlock doors if they want inside, they just go through the walls," Dean says as they walk down the dark hallway.
"So it's probably something else—something corporeal," Sam concludes.
"'Corporeal'?" Dean questions. "Excuse me, Professor," he says mockingly. Elena's walking behind him and accidentally-on-purpose kicks him in the ankle, which causes him to shoot her an affronted look over his shoulder.
Sam rolls his eyes. "Shut up, so what do you think?"
Dean shrugs. "The claws, the speed that it moves—it could be a Skinwalker, maybe a Black Dog," he suggests. "Whatever we're talking about, we're talking about a creature, and it's corporeal, which means we can kill it."
Sam stops short as Dean's slight, rolling his eyes back into his head so hard that it hurts. Elena and Dean keep walking, and Sam remembers their brief exchange outside of Shaw's door.
Something about what Shaw had told them had affected Elena personally, and whatever it is, Dean knows something about it, and thought Elena handled it well. Sam recalls the gut-wrenching empathy on her face when Shaw told them that he hadn't woken up until he heard his parents' screams, and concludes that maybe it isn't something he wants to know about.
He follows them out into the dark parking lot. Elena's leaned against the side of the impala while Dean opens the trunk, propping it open with a shotgun. He starts packing a duffle full of weapons, methodically adding whatever he thinks might be useful.
Sam can't help but think about Haley and her single-minded determination to find her brother.
"We cannot let that Haley girl go out there," he says. Elena gives him a skeptical look.
"Oh yeah? What are we gonna tell her? That she can't go into the woods because of a big scary monster?" Dean asks. Sam looks at him.
"Yeah," he says simply. The more civilians out there in the woods with them, the longer it will take. Sam just wants to get this over with and be done so they can find their dad and get down to the real business: finding the thing that killed their mom and Jess.
"Her brother's missing, Sam," Elena says, her tone gentle but rebuking.
"She's not just gonna sit this out," Dean says, continuing for her. "Now we go with her, we protect her, and we keep our eyes peeled for our fuzzy predator."
Elena nods in agreement.
Having finished packing the duffle, Dean hoists it out of the trunk.
"Finding Dad's not enough?" Sam asks, impatience welling up inside of him, and he slams the hidden compartment shut, and then he slams the trunk for good measure too. "Now we gotta babysit too?"
Dean turns to look at him, disbelief evident on his face.
"What?" Sam asks defensively.
"Nothing," Dean replies, shaking his head. He throws the duffle at Sam, who catches it reflexively. Dean walks away, towards the front of the car.
"Isn't this what we do?" Elena asks quietly, "We save people, when did that become babysitting?" she asks rhetorically, and then she withdraws too, leaving Sam feeling more ashamed than Dean's non-confrontation.
After a moment he follows them into the car. In the car, Elena's hanging over the front seat, looking at Dean expectantly.
"Why do we have to go to the general store?" he asks.
"We're going out into the woods for an indeterminate amount of time, we need supplies," she says like it's the most obvious thing in the world.
Sam figures out why Elena picked the general store pretty quickly; it's the closest store around that's still open.
The brothers trail after her into the store, but Elena is all business, she picks up a basket and gets to work. Bottled water, non-perishable foods, bug spray, a first aid kid, basically anything that you might need whilst traipsing through the woods.
"Do we really need all that?" Dean asks, trailing behind her, bemused. She looks back at him.
"Yes," she says flatly.
"We need bug spray?" he questions. She nods gravely.
"If you want to be eaten alive by tiny creepy crawlies, be my guest," she says sweetly.
Sam huffs out a laugh, but nods in agreement.
"Well look at you, little miss Girl Scout," Dean says fondly. She looks back at him again.
"I've been friends with Caroline 'Be Prepared' Forbes since I was six, something was bound to rub off on me," she replies with a shrug.
Dean laughs appreciatively.
"You guys should probably pick out some food too, you know," Elena points out.
Sam nods in agreement and wanders off to look at the store's selection of energy bars. When he finds Elena again, Dean has dumped a bag of peanut M&Ms into the basket.
"Just so you know, I have no plans on helping you carry any of this, Gilbert," Dean says casually. "'Cept the M&Ms of course." He grins at her.
She rolls her eyes. "I didn't ask you to," she replies.
Sam adds his items to the basket, and then holds his hands out, offering to take the almost overflowing basket from her. She gives it to him gratefully.
"I'll help you carry it, Elena," Sam says. She smiles at him.
"Thank you, Sam," she says, sticking her tongue out at Dean, who retaliates. Smiling and shaking her head, she wanders off to see if there's anything else in the store they might need.
"God, you're such a suck-up," Dean says once she's out of earshot, shaking his head.
"Shut up, she's like half my size, I'd feel bad if I let her carry everything," Sam says, shrugging his shoulders.
"We're not going to be out there that long, Sammy, she's just over-preparing," Dean says, his tone fond and exasperated.
"Maybe she's right to over-prepare," Sam replies.
"Whatever, just don't expect me to help you guys lug this around all day," Dean says dismissively.
"I wouldn't dream of it," Sam says.
Haley is arguing with their guide about whether or not Ben should go with them when the impala pulls up. Dean, Sam, and Elena emerge one by one, and she regards them warily.
Dean smiles charmingly. "You guys got room for three more?"
Haley blinks. "Wait, you want to come with us?"
"Wait, who are these guys?" Roy asks from behind her.
Haley turns back to answer him.
"Apparently this is all the park service could muster up for the search and rescue," she replies. "No offense, Elena," she adds. "But you are just a cadet."
Elena shrugs good-naturedly. "None taken," she says.
"You're rangers?" Roy asks, surveying Elena speculatively.
Her hair in twin braids, dressed in jean shorts, old chuck taylors and a flannel shirt she "borrowed" from Dean, she's by far the most appropriately dressed for a hike of the three latecomers.
"That's right," Dean says.
Sam hands Elena her backpack and she smiles her thanks at him as she slips on the straps, absentmindedly swatting her braids out of the way. Sam nods back and continues on towards where the trail starts, eager to get this over and done with.
Haley, on the other hand, is more speculative of Dean's apparel than Elena's.
"And you're hiking out in biker boos and jeans?" She raises an eyebrow at him.
He looks at her shorts pointedly.
"Oh sweetheart, I don't do shorts."
Elena moves forward to stand next him.
"She looks better in them than I do," he adds, tugging at one of her braids affectionately.
Elena rolls her eyes at him in amusement.
Haley's eyebrow raises a little higher, they didn't act like he was training her for anything.
Roy, decidedly not charmed by Dean's snark, decides to put his two cents in again.
"Oh, you think this is funny? It's dangerous backcountry out there, her brother might be hurt," he says, canting his head towards Haley.
Cutting in smoothly, Elena heads off whatever alpha male pissing contest was about to start.
"We know that, we're just here to help," she assures him. "We all want to make sure that Haley's brother comes home safely."
Roy looks her up and down speculatively again.
"I'm not sure you do, little girl," he says.
Elena's face does not change, but Dean's does, and for a second, Haley wonders if it was a bad idea to hire Roy. The ranger clearly doesn't like his cadet being talked down to like that.
"She's not a little girl," Dean says, one octave away from calm. "And believe me, we know how dangerous it can be. We just want to help them find their brother, that's all, so I'd appreciate if you didn't talk to my cadet like that."
The smile he gives the other man is a mocking imitation of the action.
It's enough for Roy to back off for now, and he doesn't reply.
Walking through the woods isn't something Elena's enjoyed much since her eventful junior year of high school, but it's definitely preferable to follow a path in broad daylight as opposed to running (and stumbling) through the underbrush in the pitch-black night. She follows after Dean, who's just behind Roy, with the Collins siblings behind her and Sam bringing up the rear.
As expected, they don't make it very far before Dean decides to strike up a conversation with Roy for his own amusement.
"So, Roy, you said you did a little hunting?" he asks.
"Yeah, more than a little," Roy answers arrogantly.
Dean tosses Elena a sardonic grin over his shoulder and she rolls her eyes at him.
"Uh-huh," Dean says, not even trying to keep the derision out of his voice. "What kind of furry critters do you hunt?"
"Mostly buck, sometimes bear," Roy answers, but this time he's not paying much attention to Dean, focusing instead on their surroundings.
Elena's keeping her eyes on feet because Converse really aren't the most appropriate hiking shoes—but they were best she could do on such short notice—and if she steps into a puddle she's screwed. She notices the glint of metal before it fully registers in her mind. Dean takes another step closer to it.
"Tell me, uh, Bambi or Yogi ever hunt you back?"
Roy doesn't notice it until a couple of seconds after she does, so by the time he does she's already grabbed a fistful of Dean's jacket and hauled him back towards her, throwing her other arm around him to steady them so his superior weight and height doesn't knock them both over.
Dean looks back at her with a question in his eyes but she's doesn't reply, just nods towards where he was about to put his foot down. Roy grabs a stick and slams it down in the area and a bear trap instantly snaps up, breaking it.
"Good eyes, Cadet," Roy says gruffly. "You should watch where you're stepping, Ranger," he adds, addressing Dean.
Dean rolls his eyes in response.
Elena releases Dean, and he looks down at her, giving her a smile and a nod that she returns, once again communicating in their silent, easy way.
It occurs to Sam, that as often as Dean touches Elena, she hardly ever touches him, pulling him out of the way of a bear trap might be the first time he's noticed her initiating contact in the week and a half since he's been with them. He can't imagine the significance of that fact, so instead of pondering it over, he simply files it away with the rest of their weirdness and keeps following the group.
Elena falls back until she's next to Sam and offers him a water bottle. He takes it gratefully.
"Thanks," he says. She nods at him but doesn't speak, content to walk in silence.
Meanwhile, Haley walks faster until she's right behind Dean, agitation clear in her every move.
"You didn't pack any provisions," she starts in on him. "You guys are carrying a duffle bag."
"And a backpack," Dean says defensively. "Elena's pack isn't full of hair care products," he points out. "Her hair actually just naturally looks like that, it's kind of annoying truthfully, you'd think there would be a single second in the day where she doesn't look perfect, but nope."
He stops abruptly, realizing he's ranting a bit.
"You let her carry all of your provisions?" she questions, refusing to let him get her off topic and trying not to think about the gallon of anti-frizz spray and hairspray she used just this morning.
"She likes carrying them," Dean says casually.
Haley doesn't let that deter her. "You're not rangers, so who the hell are you?" she demands, pulling him back to face her.
Dean looks questioningly over her head at Sam and Elena, who are passing behind her, and they both nod their agreement.
"Sam and I are brothers," Dean starts. "And we're looking for our father, he might be here, we don't know. I just figured that you and me, we're in the same boat."
Haley inhales, focuses on the information he left out.
"Elena's your girlfriend?" she asks, trying to determine where she fits into the narrative.
Dean laughs.
"Sorry, she usually does that when people ask us that, I wanted to try it at least once," he explains when Haley gives him a sharp look. "She's a family friend, my dad took her in when her dad died," he says, giving her the abridged version.
Haley nods.
"Why didn't you just tell me that you're looking for your father from the start?" she asks.
"I'm telling you now," Dean says. "Besides," he adds, "it's probably the most honest I've ever been with a woman…ever."
She rolls her eyes and gestures behind him to where the rest of the group had gone.
"What about Elena?" she asks.
"That's different," he says dismissively.
"Why?" she asks, folding her arms expectantly.
Dean sighs. "Because more often than not, my life depends on being honest with her, we depend on each other, you can't lie to the people you depend on."
Haley wonders briefly what exactly he means by his life depending on his honesty with the other girl, but seeing that this is the most she's currently going to get out of him, she lets it slide.
"So, we okay?" Dean asks.
"Yeah, okay," Haley says after a moment.
She gives him a look. "Elena was definitely the most believable ranger out of the three of you," she tells him.
Dean laughs appreciatively but nods in agreement.
"Yeah, well, she's very competent," he admits easily.
Haley arches an eyebrow at him.
"Yeah, very dependable," she replies, stressing the last word, and he laughs again.
"Those provisions are hers, aren't they," she infers easily. "You didn't actually pack any of your own."
He gives her a look of his own. "What do you mean, I didn't pack any of my own?" and with that he pulls a pack of peanut m&ms out of his pocket before he starts to walk away.
She snorts. "I bet she made you pick something out to bring with you," she says knowingly.
He looks back at her, giving her a shameless grin in reply.
She shakes her head and follows after him.
Once they catch up to the group Elena tosses Dean a water bottle with no comment, and Haley almost wants to laugh again, there's something so refreshingly competent—like Dean said—about the other woman, that Haley can't help but like her, and she suspects that most people feel that way about her for one reason or another.
Even Roy seems to have warmed up to her alone out of the three tagalongs, his respect for her stemming from her attention to detail and her quick actions in saving her companion from stepping on the bear trap.
They hike for a few hours more before Roy slows down, calling back to them, "this is it, Black Water Ridge." He comes to a stop, allowing the others to catch up.
"What coordinates are we at," Sam asks as he passes him.
Roy pulls out his GPS, peering down at the screen before answering, "thirty-five and minus one-eleven."
Everyone else comes to rest near Roy, but Dean and Elena follow Sam until they're just past the group, on the verge of an expanse of woods that is deadly silent.
"You hear that?" Dean asks.
"Yeah," Sam replies, and Elena nods in tandem.
"Not even crickets."
Dean gazes around with a critical eye.
Roy puts his GPS away.
"I'm gonna go take a look around," he says to the group at large.
Dean turns back towards him and the rest of the group, while Elena keeps her eyes on the woods ahead.
Sam glances back at him. "You shouldn't go off by yourself," he says flatly, turning his attention back to the woods, wondering how someone who prides himself on being such a wonderful guide fails to notice the dead silence that envelopes them.
Roy chuckles. "That's sweet," he says mockingly. "Don't worry about me." He raises his shotgun subtly.
"You should listen to him," Elena says softly, but Roy, already walking away, doesn't hear her.
Dean and Sam exchange a look over her head, and then turn back to the Collins'.
"All right, everybody stays together," Dean says, taking charge without hesitation. "Let's go."
He heads in the direction Roy went, intent on keeping him in his sightline.
Despite his pace, Roy quickly disappears from view, and Dean is reluctant to leave the group behind, so he doesn't speed off in attempt to find him, trusting that Roy can indeed take care of himself—as long as the sun is still in the sky.
The group lingers at a fallen tree, taking in the sights around them.
"Haley, over here," Roy calls from out of view. There is an undercurrent of urgency in his voice that sets her at a running pace and the rest of them follow her.
They come into a clearing where the ravaged remains of a campsite stand.
"Oh my god," she says, unable to hide the anxiety in her voice.
They take in the camp, the bloodstains on the tattered tent.
"Looks like a grizzly," Roy says, having arrived at that conclusion in the time it had taken the group to catch up to him.
The group fans out, taking in the wreckage individually, Dean, Sam, and Elena all looking for signs that the damage was caused by something of the supernatural persuasion.
"Tommy?" Haley says, unable to believe what the evidence – the blood – suggested. Unbuckling her pack, she drops it to the ground, saying his name again, louder this time, as she moves forward, her movements frantic now that she's released from the burden of her pack.
"Tommy!"
Sam moves through the group, having dropped the duffle bag in order to follow after her quickly.
"Shhh! Shhh!" he attempts to quiet her, in case she attracts the wrong kind of attention.
"Why?" she asks, looking over at him standing by her side.
Sam keeps his eyes on the forest in front of them.
"Something might still be out there," he says.
"Sam," Dean's voice rings out, calling him away from the group.
He sees the red and gray fabric of Elena's backpack and climbs over a tree to where she stands behind a crouching Dean.
"The bodies were dragged from the campsite," Dean says in an undertone. "But here, the tracks just vanish. It's weird"
Dean rises, Sammy following his movements, his eyes still on the track marks that vanish, just like he said.
"I tell you what," Dean says, looking at Sam. "It's no Skinwalker or Black Dog."
He turns completely to leave, Elena having stood silently all this time, she looks at Sam, who looks back down at the tracks. When Elena turns to follow Dean, Sam follows after her.
Elena finds Haley holding her brother's mangled phone, blood on its cracked screen. She sniffles, trying very hard not to cry. Elena crouches down beside her.
"He could still be alive," Elena says softly, and Haley looks over at her. "Don't give up hope," she adds.
Haley looks at Elena, the fake cadet almost ethereally pretty despite waking up at the crack of dawn and hiking for most of the day, and is torn between absolutely gut-wrenching panic and grief, and the tentative hope that Elena offers her.
Before she can reply, or decide one way or the other, they hear a man cry for help in the distance.
In an instance, Roy takes off, shotgun at the ready, Dean pulls out his handgun and follows after him as Elena rises and pivots, chasing after Dean with remarkable speed despite the fact that she's still wearing her backpack, leaving Sam, Haley, and Ben to follow after them. Sam quickly catches up to Roy, but Elena, Haley and Dean aren't much further behind, Haley skidding into the clearing only seconds after Sam and Roy.
The clearing is empty, and the cries for help have ceased, leaving only the ominous silence that has resonated throughout this stretch of woods.
"It seemed like it was coming from around here, didn't it?" Haley says, looking around frantically, searching for a clue as to where the pleading man might be.
The silence stretches on.
"Everybody back to camp," Sam says, an ominous feeling brewing in his gut.
Sam sets his pace at a jog, hurrying back towards the empty camp.
"Our packs!" Haley cries, the aforementioned packs nowhere in sight.
"So much for my GPS and my satellite phone," Roy says wryly.
He turns back to Elena, the only one still carrying a pack.
"I don't suppose you have either of those in your pack?" he asks.
"Those were in the duffle," she says, lying easily.
"Of course," he replies dryly.
"What the hell is going on?" Haley asks, wondering why anyone would lure them away to steal their supplies.
"It's smart, it wants to cut us off so we can't call for help," Sam says, looking over at Dean.
"You mean someone," Roy corrects, "Some nut job out there just stole our gear."
Sam ignores his correction, moving over to where Dean and Elena are, glancing back at the bewildered group.
"I need to speak with you both, in private" he says.
Without a word, they both follow him away from the group to a small clearing out of sight and earshot of the rest of the group.
"Okay, let me see Dad's journal," Sam says, turning to Dean.
Dean pulls it out of his coat pocket, handing it over.
Sam opens it, immediately scanning through the pages for the one he's looking for, finding it quickly.
"All right, check that out," he says, handing over the journal to Dean, Elena looking at it from Dean's elbow.
Dean immediately shakes his head.
"Oh, come on, wendigos are in the Minnesota woods, or Northern Michigan," Dean reminds him. "I've never even heard of one this far west," he adds for good measure.
Elena is silent, remembering when John had gone over wendigos in the course of training her.
Sam looks down.
"Think about it Dean, the claws, the way it can mimic a human voice," he points out evenly.
Dean looks away, unable to deny to the evidence. "Great," he says flatly. "Well, then this is useless," he adds, raising his gun up.
Sam doesn't reply, simply presses the journal into Dean's chest until he grabs it, already heading back to camp. He turns back abruptly.
"We gotta get these people to safety," he says seriously. He marches back to camp, a plan forming in his mind.
Elena and Dean trail after him.
"You remember what those are?" Dean asks.
His dad had covered most of the monster stuff with her, Dean had taken on the more physical aspect of training Elena when it was clear that John had little patience for the smart-mouthed then teen. John could recite the history and identification process of all the monsters in his notebook to Elena while she rode shotgun with him, and for the most part she'd keep her mouth shut and absorb information at a rate that was almost faster than Sam's, but when it came to weaponry and combat Elena couldn't keep her mouth shut and John couldn't be patient with her.
The combination of the two of them together only served to egg the other on, and needless to say, Dean had handled that part of her training, much less averse to her smart mouth than his father.
Elena nods. "Yeah, the cannibals, right?" she says.
Dean nods somewhat grimly.
"The cannibals," he agrees.
Sam marches back into camp.
"All right, listen up, it's time to go," he announces briskly. "Things have gotten…" he trails off, "more complicated," he settles on. Elena and Dean follow up behind him.
"What?" Haley asks, looking between the three of them.
"Kid, don't worry about it, whatever's out there, I think I can handle it," Roy says assuredly.
"It's not me I'm worried about," Sam says dismissively. "If you shoot this thing you're just gonna make it mad," he says, he looks back at Dean and Elena. "We have to leave, now."
Roy, disliking Sam's dismissive tone, argues back.
"One, you're talking nonsense," he starts, "two, you're in no position to give anybody orders," he says, riled at Sam's presumptions.
"Relax," Dean says, cutting him off before he can continue, allowing Sam to jump in.
"We never should've let you come out here in the first place, I'm trying to protect you," Sam says.
Roy takes great offense to that. "You protect me?" he asks incredulously. "I was hunting these woods when your mommy was still kissing you goodnight," he says, getting up into Sam's face, hackled by the fact that a younger man would dare to presume to protect him.
"Yeah?" Sam asks. "It's a damn near perfect hunter." He pauses. "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 starts to laugh, incredulous and dismissive.
"You know you're crazy, right?" he asks rhetorically.
Sam shakes his head
"Yeah? You ever hunt a we-" Elena moves towards them quickly, cutting Sam off.
"This isn't helping anyone, calm down," she says, looking at Sam warningly, knowing that Roy won't take him seriously no matter what he says.
Dean pushes Sam away from the other man. "Chill out," he says in an undertone.
"Stop it, everyone just stop," Haley demands. They all look at her.
"Look, Tommy might still be alive, and I'm not leaving without him," she says with determination.
Dean looks at her, and then over at his brother and Elena.
"It's getting late," Dean says by way of reply. "This thing is a good hunter in the day, but an unbelievable hunter at night. We'll never beat it – not in the dark," he says, taking Elena's backpack from her without a word, "We need to settle in and protect ourselves." He heads back towards the campsite.
"How?" Haley questions.
After Dean carves the Anasazi symbols into the loose dirt, explaining what they were for to Haley and the rest of them, he sits down next to Elena and accepts the cold can of cheese ravioli from her. They'd both discovered that they prefer it cold one night when they couldn't find anything to put them in that was microwavable. He gives her a knowing grin, thinking about all nights they'd sat on the floors of motel rooms eating like champions and talking about nothing.
He groans in appreciation at his first bite. Elena giggles and raises her plastic fork to him.
"To being prepared," she says.
"To none microwavable plastic," he adds, clinking his plastic fork against hers.
"God bless Caroline Forbes," he says. She nods in agreement.
They sit in compatible silence, completely unware of the fact that most of their exchange had been incomprehensible to the rest of the group. They're so used to operating in their own little world, barely extending beyond the two of them to John on occasion and now Sam, that it doesn't occur to them that they might as well be speaking another language with all of their unfinished sentences and inside jokes.
Dean finishes his can off, taking the water bottle that Elena offers him, absentmindedly brushing his fingers against one of her braids appreciatively as he stands to go over to where his brother sits, brooding away from the fire.
He sits down beside him, starting without preamble. "You wanna tell me what's going on in that freaky head of yours?"
Sam waves his hand, his wrist still resting on his knee. "Dean," he starts, but he cuts him off quickly.
"No, you're not fine," Dean says. "You're like a powder keg, man. That's not like you." He hesitates, throws in a joke to ease the tension. "I'm supposed to be the belligerent one, remember?"
Sam doesn't look at him, just stares at the same patch of moss on the ground that he's been staring at since he sat down. Knowing that Dean won't leave him alone until he gives him an answer, Sam gives in.
"Dad's not here," he says, voicing what they—Elena included—have known all day now. "I mean, that much we know for sure, right? He would've left us a message, a sign, right?" Sam speaks, barely suppressing the resentment in his voice.
"Yeah, you're probably right," Dean says. "To tell you the truth, I don't think Dad's ever been to Lost Creek," he admits, turning to look at Dean.
Sam looks back over his shoulder at his brother, he turns away abruptly, his impatience getting better of him.
"Then let's get these people back to town, and let's hit the road, go find Dad," he says, frustration leaking further into his tone.
Dean looks back at the group, Haley and Elena quietly conversing, Elena smiling in that slight, calm way she did when she enjoyed the conversation, her eyes searching past Haley to Dean and Sam, and everything surrounding them past the glow of the campfire.
She'd been wary when she left home, always looking over her shoulder, and she's only grown warier since, but time, and training, had made her subtler about it. Eyes always seeking out the next threat, while still being perfectly engaged with whatever is right in front of her.
Sometimes Dean can't tell if he's made her better, with all of his training, passed down from his father, or if she's worse, ruining whatever of the child was left in her when they met at her uncle-father and aunt's funeral.
He remembers this, by the time they came back for her, the child in her was already gone. Like his father did to him and his brother, they honed her, refined her edges, life had already broken her into sharp thing.
"I mean, why are we still even here?" Sammy asks him, so Dean turns away from Elena's ever-seeking gaze.
Dean sighs, gets up, pulling their dad's journal out of his pocket as he sits in front of his brother. He puts his hand on top of the journal, presenting it to Sam.
"This is why, this book," Dean says simply. "This is Dad's single most valuable possession. Everything he knows about every evil thing is in here," Dean reminds him. "And he's passed it onto us. I think he wants us to pick up where he left off—you know, saving people, hunting things, the family business."
Sam shakes his head, not liking where Dean's going with this. He works his jaw for a second, then shakes his head again.
"That makes no sense," Sam says. "Why, why doesn't he just call us? Why doesn't he tell us what he wants, tell us where he is?" Sam asks, trying to make sense of their father's disappearing act and radio silence.
"He did tell us one thing," Dean reminds him, looking over to the campfire.
Sam follows his line of sight to the girl who has remained half a mystery since his brother showed up with her in tow over a week ago.
"We still don't know what we're protecting her from," Sam says, all of the unanswered questions setting his teeth on edge.
Dean doesn't take his eyes off of Elena and Sam wonders if he knows how he looks at her, even know when he knows she's keeping secrets, it's—too close to soft for Sam to feel comfortable with, and he has to look away, back to her, so he can stop feeling like he's invading his brother's privacy just by watching him watch her.
"If Elena says that keeping her safe means that we keep moving, then, for now, we have to believe her," Dean says, after a moment of contemplation. It's a role reversal, Dean with his thoughtful answers, and Sam with his belligerence.
"Do you really think that?" Sam asks, wondering why his brother so easily stepped back from questioning Elena on this topic.
Dean sighs heavily. "I don't know, but we've got nothing else to work with, we just have to hope that she clues us in to what's going on, sooner rather than later."
Dean finally tears his eyes away from Elena to look back at his brother.
"It's not like she's bad company, or a nuisance," he reasons, and it only takes Sam a second to realize that his brother is sousing him out, trying to figure out if he resents being stuck with Elena like he resents being out in the woods with two civilians and an idiot with a gun.
It's clear that Dean cares about Elena a lot, maybe more than he's even willing to admit to himself, and Sam feels almost guilty for ever letting him think that he might not want her around.
"Elena's great, Dean, it's impossible not to like her," Sam says, almost reassuring him. "I just want to know what's going on here."
Dean nods in agreement. "I understand, I've wanted that too for the past two years, Dad never seemed all that intent on telling me though," he admits. "Elena doesn't talk about it at all."
They lapse into silence.
"I don't know what's going on here, Sammy, with Dad or with Elena," Dean admits after a moment. "But the way I see it, Dad's given us a job to do, and I intend to do it."
It's there in his tone, that bullheaded loyalty that Dean has, has always had, to their father, and it's too much for Sam in his conflict, he can't follow on blindly, no answers in sight.
Sam shakes his head. "Dean, no," he says firmly. "I gotta find Dad, I gotta find Jessica's killer," he pauses, fighting for control of the onslaught of emotions that phrase brings up. "It's the only thing I can think about."
Dean nods a little, understanding of the overwhelming grief his brother is feeling. "Okay, all right," he agrees, acknowledging the genuine need behind his statement. "Sam, we'll find them, I promise."
Sam looks at him, unable to shake the comfort that comes from being reassured by someone who has looked after him his whole life.
"Listen to me," Dean starts, winding up for some hard truths. "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," Dean says, trying to make Sam understand the gravity of his insistence on stewing in his rage. "You gotta have patience, man."
Sam shakes his head. "How do you do it?" he questions, wondering how Dean, his volatile brother, seems to be handling their Dad's disappearance and radio silence, as well as Elena's refusal to explain anything about her situation to Dean, her partner.
"How does Dad do it?" Sam asks after a moment, wondering how their father had lived with this feeling for twenty-two years when Sam felt like he couldn't live with it for another two seconds.
Dean pauses before answering.
"Well for one, them. I mean, I figure our family's so screwed to hell, maybe we can help some others, it makes things a little more bearable."
Sam watches the two Collins siblings, huddling together, close to the fire, for warmth and for comfort.
Sam wants to ask Dean how bearable Elena makes his life, thinking that even if he could only bring himself to admit that she's his friend, at least he has that, a friend to keep him company, but he doesn't think he'll get a good answer. So instead, he waits for whatever other wisdom his brother has hidden up his sleeve.
"And I'll tell you what else helps," Dean says, pulling Sam's attention back over to him. "Killing as many evil sons of bitches as I possibly can." He adds a little smile at the end and it's by far the most Dean thing he's said since he sat down, and that more than anything is comforting to Sam, enough to make him smile, however briefly.
"Help me," a voice calls from far off into the dark.
Everyone stands to attention immediately, Dean pulling his gun despite knowing it's of no use against a wendigo.
The pleading continues on.
"It's trying to draw us out, stay cool, stay put," Dean reminds everyone.
"Inside the magic circle," Roy says derisively.
"Yes, inside the magic motherfucking circle," Elena says, startling everyone except Dean, who simply grins at her foul-mouthed reply.
Roy looks taken aback, but Elena simply gives him a look of pure steel and Sam finds even less of a reason to doubt her aptitude as a hunter.
The pleading continues, accompanied by a low, menacing growl.
"Okay, that's no grizzly," Roy finally admits.
Haley leads her brother back to the fire, sitting him down beside her. "It's okay, you'll be okay, I promise," she reassures him.
Leaves rustle, circling them.
"It's here," Roy says, and no one misses the anticipation in his voice. He takes a shot at an approximation of where the rustling is coming from, but it's moving too fast to be caught that easily. Undeterred, his fires again and again, and eventually the wendigo emits an agitated noise that suggests contact. "I hit it," he says, already heading outside of the circle.
"Roy, no!" Dean yells after him, trying to stop him from making a fatal mistake. Roy!" Dean yells again, but he doesn't stop. Dean turns back, "Don't move!" he says, pointing back at the terrified siblings, and then he takes off after Roy, Elena and Sam at his heels.
Roy is dead before they can catch up to him.
Sam sits against a tree stump holding his dad's journal, having eaten a couple of granola bars for breakfast under Elena's careful eye. Absentmindedly he plays with the rosary his Dad used as a bookmark, thinking over what his brother had said the night before.
In camp, Haley tries to make sense of what they had seen and heard the night before. Elena sits cross-legged nearby, re-braiding her hair, despite the rather annoying fact that the slightly mussed looked she'd woken up with had looked perfectly charming on her.
"I don't…" Haley starts, trailing off, trying to find words to express her racing thoughts. "I mean, these types of things—" she tries again, "they aren't supposed to be real." She looks back at Dean.
"I wish I could tell you different," he says, only half of his attention on her.
"How do we know it's not out there watching us?" she asks, appropriately paranoid after the night they'd had.
"The birds," Elena answers. "The birds, the crickets, all that life out there in the woods, when it's near, it stops, it's silent."
Haley considers this. "It was quiet, yesterday?" she says, half questioningly.
Elena nods.
"Dead quiet," Dean says.
Haley shakes her head. "I didn't even think…" she trails off, horrified at her own ignorance.
"You had no reason to," Elena says gently. "You didn't know."
Haley nods faintly. "I didn't know anything." The horror in her statement lost on no one.
Recognizing that Haley could easily start panicking, Dean speaks up.
"We're safe for now, the circle still stands," he says.
Haley looks at him curiously. "How do you know about this stuff?" she asks.
"It kind of runs in the family," Dean says.
Haley looks over at Elena expectantly.
Elena shrugs. "It runs in my family too."
Dean snorts. "Yeah, for a hell of a lot longer."
Haley looks taken aback. "How long?" she asks, genuinely curious about this subculture that she never could've imagined actually existed.
"Uh, since the Civil War, about," Elena says, tying off her second braid, once again perfect looking despite sleeping sitting up, propped back to back with Dean when it was Sam's turn to be on watch.
Sam walks back into camp, greeting everyone with a hurried, "hey," before launching into his plan and cutting off any more questions that Haley might've asked Dean or Elena. "So, we've got half a chance in the daylight, and I, for one, want to kill this evil son of a bitch," he says, echoing his brother's words from the night before.
"Well, hell, you know I'm in," Dean says.
Elena simply points at Dean, her sentiment about them being a package deal left unvoiced, but clearly heard by everyone. When it comes to hunting, Dean and Elena are perfectly synchronized.
Haley and Ben exchange a glance, outnumbered and out of their depth, but desperate to get their brother back – or avenge him if necessary.
Sam opens the journal to the page about wendigos, explaining what exactly they are and how they are created to the ignorant Collins siblings, secure that his dad would've taken Elena through the index backwards and forwards before he ever let her anywhere near a hunt.
Dean and Sam explain how wendigos are born through cannibalism and Elena makes vague disgusted faces to attempt some sort of levity on behalf of both Ben and Haley. All attempts at levity cease when Dean gets to the part where he explains why Tommy could possibly still be alive, wendigos being known to kidnap hikers and hunters and keep them for periods of hibernation.
Having picked through the leftover supplies, Dean had found just what was needed to kill the wendigo.
"Basically, we gotta torch the sucker."
They walk through the woods, following the claw marks on trees until they realize that once again, the wendigo is playing with them, filling an entire clearing with claw marked trees.
"They were almost too easy to follow," Sam concludes grimly, and then the growling and the hissing and the intimidation starts. From every corner of the forest, all around, surrounding them completely.
Roy's body falls from a tree, Elena dragging Haley out of the way to prevent her from being hit by it, and then they all run again.
Ben trips and falls and Sam and Elena both pause to haul him to his feet and urge him on.
Up ahead, Haley screams.
By the time they reach the place where Haley had screamed, she and Dean are gone, Dean's makeshift Molotov cocktail smashed to bits on the ground.
"If it keeps its victims alive, why would it kill Roy?" Ben asks Sam, the usually reticent boy finding his voice in the terror of the thought of losing not just his brother but his sister too.
Ben had always been naturally quiet, inheriting none of Tommy's easy charisma and all of Haley's serious quiet. He doesn't mind, not talking, and admittedly, Elena's presence makes it harder to articulate when she just effortlessly looks like she does and seems to know what to do and how everyone feels all the time. But if ever there is a time to remember his words in the presence of a pretty girl, it would be when she's one of the people who has the answers to how to save his brother and now sister.
"Honestly? I think because Roy shot at it, he pissed it off," Sam answers.
Ben's attention turns quickly to Elena when she kneels down, something on the forest floor catching her attention. She holds up a blue m&m for Ben to see, a trail of them leading off into the forest.
"They went this way," Ben says excitedly, moving to follow the trail.
Sam and Elena exchange amused, fond smiles at Dean's ingenuity.
"It's better than breadcrumbs," Sam says and Elena laughs and nods in agreement.
True to his word, Sam had shouldered Elena's backpack that morning, leaving her free to move much quicker than previously, so she easily overtakes Ben and goes back to leading the way, Sam holding up the rear.
Eventually Dean's improved breadcrumb trail leads them to an abandoned mine.
"I feel like we should make a drinking game out of this," Elena muses out loud. "Every time we run into a horror movie cliché on a hunt, we take a shot."
Sam laughs out loud.
"Dean'll love that, but we don't exactly have anything to take a shot of," he points out.
Elena raises an eyebrow at him. "You think there's no alcohol in that backpack?" she nods at the aforementioned pack. "What kind of hunter do you take me for?"
Sam looks at her. "You brought booze on a hunt," he says incredulously.
"I've lived with your brother for two years, what do you think?" she asks rhetorically. "There's a flask in the second pouch," she adds. Without further ado, she slips into the large hole between the rotting planks of wood that once made up the door.
Sam looks at Ben in disbelief. "She brought booze on a hunt."
Ben just smiles at him, even less sure of what to make of Elena than Sam is.
Sam shakes his head, wondering if Dean knows it's in there, or even suspects. He follows Elena into the mine, Ben trailing after him.
Elena stops him to pull out two flashlights from her backpack, handing one to Sam and keeping the other for herself. They descend further into darkness. A dozen or so yards in the wendigo's growl echoes out and Elena and Sam both instantly hit the lights and usher Ben over to the solid walls of the enclosure, peering around anxiously.
For the first time, they see the monster, heading back towards the entrance, and when Ben opens his mouth to exclaim in horror, Elena slaps her hand over his mouth and shushes him, Sam never taking his eye off the retreating monster, waiting to see if it will turn back at the sound.
Once it's out of sight Sam leads them down the tunnel that the wendigo had come out of, theorizing that it most likely leads to where it's keeping its victims, including Dean, and Haley and Tommy.
Instead of a graceful entrance, Sam and Ben fall rather abruptly through some rotting wood into a boneyard, Elena having instinctively leapt back when they began to descend.
She leans down over the hole, careful not to put any weight on the wood.
"Sam? Ben? Are you guys okay?" she calls down in hushed tones.
Ben lurches away from the bones.
"Yeah, we're fine," Sam calls back up, trying to keep his voice down. "I think you'd better come down here though," he adds, catching sight of something to his right.
Elena nods in agreement, and carefully begins to maneuver herself through the hole, Sam standing underneath to grab her by the waist and support most of her weight on her way down in order to prevent any injury. When her feet are on the ground, he points at what had that caught his attention and she follows his line of sight.
Dean and Haley hang from their bound wrists, both unconscious. Now that Elena is safe on the ground, Sam rushes to his brother, Elena following him and Ben making a beeline for Haley.
"Dean," Sam says, lightly shaking him in order to rouse him.
"Wake up," Ben says to Haley.
Elena rushes back to her abandoned backpack, grabbing a pocket knife from one of the pockets and bringing back to Sam, who's mammoth height allows him to cut down both Dean and Haley quite easily.
Sam hands Dean off to Elena so he can help Ben who struggles with Haley. Elena, not bothering with pretenses, lowers both herself and Dean to the ground, looking him over for serious injury as he takes stock of his surroundings and tries not to notice that she still smells amazing even after spending the night on a forest floor.
When Haley starts to cough, Elena points to her backpack, and while Sam can't practically read her mind like Dean seems to, he does know what that means. Inside the largest pocket there are three water bottles left. He hands one off to Ben for Haley and brings the other over to Dean himself.
"You sure you're all right?" Sam asks Dean.
"Yeah, yeah," Dean insists painfully. "Where is it?" he asks.
"It's gone for now," Elena says. Elena shows Ben how to rub feeling back into Haley's hands while she does the same for Dean, but Haley and Ben are quickly distracted by the sight of their brother hanging unconscious just across from them.
Ben helps Haley limp over to Tommy, and Sam follows after them, Elena's pocketknife ready in his hand.
"Tommy," Haley says, half convinced he's already gone, but still, she says his name again and puts her hand on his face, causing him to gasp awake and spook her. Her fear quickly turns to joy and she turns back to Sam.
"Cut him down," she says and Sam quickly complies, helping him gently to the ground where he can reunite with his siblings.
Leaning over Elena's legs, Dean reaches for the nearest abandoned pack behind her, having just noticing the verifiable graveyard of them behind her.
He pulls something out of one, looking up at her with a grin that she returns, and wordlessly she helps him stand.
"Check it out," he says, holding up flare gun in each for everyone to see.
"Flare guns," Sam says. "Those will work." He grins.
Dean spins them in his hands, wordlessly cocky in his usual way, reassuring both Elena and Sam further that he truly is okay.
Dean leads the way out, Elena one step behind him with Sam and the three Collins siblings following behind, Haley and Sam supporting Tommy between them.
The growling of the wendigo alerts them to its return, and Dean, Sam, and Elena position themselves at the ready.
"Looks like someone's home for supper," Dean says grimly.
"We'll never outrun it," Haley points out needlessly.
Dean looks over at her, unable to refute her statement. He then glances back at Elena and in a second they are on the same page, so Dean turns to Sam.
"You thinking what I'm thinking?" he asks him.
"Yeah, I think so," Sam replies grimly.
The wendigo growls menacingly.
"All right, listen to me," Dean starts, turning to the Collins'. "Stay with Sam, he's gonna get you out of here."
"What are you gonna do?" Haley asks him.
Dean winks quick as a blink and then takes off in another direction, not a word exchanged as Elena follows behind him.
"It's chow time, you freakin' bastard!" Dean's battle cry echoes throughout the cave, drawing more than enough attention to he and Elena, making it unnecessary for her to say a word. Dean's trash talk continues. "Yeah that's right, bring it on, baby! I taste good!"
A faint noise echoes throughout the cavern.
"Did she just, giggle?" Tommy asks, bewildered by his rescuers.
"Probably," Sam answers. "I'm starting to think she's lived with my brother for too long," he says, not entirely focused on the conversation. He leads them down a tunnel leading away from the direction that Elena and Dean had taken.
"Hey, you want some white meat, bitch?" Dean yells, both he and Elena keeping their eyes everywhere despite the ridiculous words coming out of his mouth. "I'm right here!"
Dean being loud enough for both of them leaves Elena to have her full attention on their surroundings, and as usual she doesn't disappoint. She nods her head forward, and Dean follows her, still yelling ridiculous taunting things for the wendigo to hear.
Sam attempts to lead the three siblings back towards the direction he and Ben and Elena had come in from, despite the change of levels. The growling grows louder and louder, and Sam indicates towards the direction they'd come in from.
"Get him out of here," Sam says, intent on luring the wendigo away and hopefully finding Dean and Elena.
"Sam no," Haley protests.
"Go!" Sam barks. "Go."
Ben tugs on Haley's arm, knowing that Sam's idea is their best bet.
"C'mon Haley," he says, and she reluctantly allows him to steer the three of them towards the entrance and away from Sam.
Sam turns back towards where the growling seems to be coming from, if he's closer to the wendigo than Dean and Elena then he'll do his best to kill it and clear the way for them.
It shows up behind him in another classic horror movie cliché – Sam takes a moment to regret that Elena has her backpack and therefore the flask, now would be an excellent time for a drink – he spins away from it, shooting off his flare preemptively, merely stunning it.
Without a weapon, Sam takes advantage of its distraction to sprint after the Collins' hurrying them to the exit. When they get there it is blocked off, unlike the one they came in through, Sam stands in front of them.
"Get behind me," he says, with nothing else to do and nowhere else to run.
The wendigo takes its time on its approach, moving leisurely, giving Dean enough time to arrive, flare gun at the ready.
"Hey!" he shouts, firing as soon as the wendigo turns to him. The wendigo bats its away with lightning quick reflexes, turning its head from the bright light, and right into the flames that Elena, who had fumblingly reached into her bag for their last line of defense – unbeknownst to anyone else but her – has directed at it.
They all watch it burn to death in stunned silence.
Finally, Sam speaks.
"Did you just make a flamethrower out of bug spray and a lighter?" his incredulity is only outweighed by his awe.
Elena sits down heavily.
"Yes, yes, I did," she says matter-of-factly.
Dean, slumped against the wall, smirks over at her.
"Dude, that is so hot," he deadpans.
They put together a plausible story on the hike back, and once the story has been told, Tommy is safely on his way to a hospital, and Dean gets his unsolicited kiss from the pretty girl – which Elena teases him about mercilessly, much to Sam's surprise – the three of them watch the siblings leave, and Dean, unable to resist levity even at his worse, deadpans again.
"Man, I hate camping."
"Me too," Sam says.
Elena says nothing, simply opens the back door of the impala and flops down across the backseat with a delighted groan like it's a king-sized bed with nine hundred thread count sheets and a mountain of pillows.
Dean nods in agreement with the sentiment before turning to Sam.
"Sam, you know we're gonna find Dad, right?" Dean says.
Sam nods. "Yeah, I know. But in the meantime," he turns to look at his brother, "I'm driving." He smirks.
Dean pulls the keys out of his pocket and tosses them over. Instead of heading for the front seat like Sam expects he goes around to the other back door.
"Move over, Gilbert," he says, and Sam isn't at all surprised when he slides into the driver's seat and looks into the rearview mirror to see Elena passed out against Dean's shoulder, his head propped on top of hers, already halfway to joining her in slumber.
He shakes his head, wondering how long the two of them are gonna torture him with whatever game they're playing.
tbc.
AN: chapter title from In The Woods Somewhere by Hozier. I once told my best friend that if someone told me Hozier was God I'd believe them. I stand by that statement.
I guess I'll see you all on Sunday? Once a superstitious bitch, always one, ya know?
xoxo
-Pixie