Youngest Winchester

Not much happening in this chapter, mainly just moving the plot along.


OO


After identifying Hailey Collins’s address on the backcountry permit, they had pulled up there an hour later, and Dean had walked up to the door to knock, Sam behind him. As they were posing as park rangers, Adam had stayed behind in the car, ducking down in case Hailey Collins looked at it.


Dean knocked on the door, and spoke in an assertive tone when a young woman with dark hair answered. “You must be Hailey Collins. I’m Dean, This is Sam, We’re rangers with the park service. Ranger Wilkerson sent us over. We wanted to ask you some questions about your brother Tommy?”


Hailey Collin’s looked him over critically, eyes lingering on his leather jacket. “Let me see some I.D.”


“Oh.” Dean smiled, pulling out his wallet, picking out his fake ID, and holding it up for Hailey Collin’s to see. “There you go.”


Hailey Collins stared at it for a long moment, before glancing up at him as if to say: ‘Really?’


Dean held his smile, and lowered his id a moment later to put it back in his wallet.


“Come on in...” Hailey Collins opened the screen door.


“Thanks,” Dean replied as he and Sam backed away from the door so she could open it.


“That yours?” Hailey asked a moment later, eyeing the Impala.


“Yeah,” Dean said with a winning smile.


“Nice car.” Hailey replied with a smile of her own as she turned to walk back farther into the house.


Dean shrugged, before making to step into the house. A moment later he glanced back at Sam with a frown and mouthed “Oh, Man...”


Sam rolled his eyes as he made to follow Dean.


After some idle small talk in the dining room (Hailey was preparing dinner for herself and a younger brother of hers), Sam had decided to get into the real reason why they were here. “So if Tommy’s not due back for a while, how do you know something’s wrong?”


“He checks in every day by cell,” Hailey replied as she loaded food on the table. “He E-mail’s photos, stupid little videos, but we haven’t heard anything in over three days now.”


“Well, maybe he can’t get cell reception,” Sam pointed out.


“He’s got a satellite phone too,” Hailey shook her head, before returning back to the kitchen.


“Could it be that he’s just having fun and forgot to check in?” Dean asked curiously.


“He wouldn’t do that,” said Hailey’s little brother sternly, before he turned back to his food.


“Our parents are gone,” Hailey stated as she came back to unload more food on the table. “It’s just my two brothers and me. We all keep pretty close tabs on each other.”


“Can I see the pictures he sent you?” Sam asked a moment later.


“Sure,” Hailey replied, turning to walk into the living room, Sam and Dean following her. A moment later they were looking at photos on the computer.


“That’s Tommy,” said Hailey, pointing at a photo of a boyishly handsome man that was sitting in front of a tent, a grin on his face. She clicked through a few of the photos, before landing on a video. “This is his last message.”


She clicked play and they watched the video. It was a bog standard video message, but a few moments into the video, a shadow flickered in the background. It was there for less than a second, then gone the next. Sam frowned, unable to make heads or tails of it.


“Well, we’ll find your brother,” said Dean when the video ended. “We’re heading out to Blackwater Ridge first thing.”


“Then maybe I’ll see you there,” said Hailey in a confrontational tone, walking back to the dinner table, before turning to regard them. “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.”


“I think I know how you feel,” said Dean a moment later, misty eyed.


Sam rolled his eyes again, before look at Hailey. “Hey, you mind forwarding these to me?”


“Sure,” Hailey replied.


OO)\SCENE-BREAK/(OO


After speaking to Hailey Collins, Sam had gone to the library to do some research, while Adam and Dean had gone to a local motel to get a room for them to spend the night in. They met up an hour later at a bar so that Sam could share what he had found.


“So, Blackwater Ridge doesn’t get a lot of traffic-” said Sam as the three of them sat down at one of the tables. “-local campers mostly- but still, this past April, two hikers went missing out there, they were never found.”


“Any before that?” asked Dean.


“Yeah,” Sam replied. “In 1982, eight different people all vanished in the same year. Authorities said it was a grizzly attack. And again, in 1959, and again, before that, in 1936. Every 23 years, just like clockwork.”


While speaking, he had pulled out his computer. “Ok, watch this, here’s the clincher.”


Adam and Dean leaned in for a closer look.


“I downloaded that guy, Tommy’s video to the laptop. Here, check this out.”


He then forwarded the video to the part he was talking about, then clicked a button on the laptop three times. The flickering shadow of earlier had crystallized into into the shadow of… something, moving across the back of Tommy’s tent. It had a vaguely humanoid shape.


“Whoa,” Adam whispered a moment later. “Whatever that is, it can move!”


“Show it again?” Dean asked.


Sam obliged, rewinding the video, then clicking forward three times. “That’s three frames, a fraction of a second.”


“Like, I said, it can move.” Adam added.


Dean smiled and flicked Sam’s shoulder with the back of his hand. “Told you something weird was going on out there.”


“Yeah, I got one more thing,” Sam replied, flicking a folder in front of Dean. “In ‘59, one camper survived the supposed grizzly attack. Just a kid, barely crawled out of the woods alive.”


“Is there a name?” Dean asked a moment later, looking at one of the files.


The two of them looked at each other, and Sam smiled.


OO)\SCENE-BREAK/(OO


Half and hour later, Sam and Dean arrived at the apartment of the survivor of this so-called grizzly attack, while Adam remained back at the motel. The survivor was now an old man, living in a one bedroom apartment, which smelled strongly of tobacco. He had been wearing a bathrobe when they had turned up, no doubt having just gotten out of bed, and had been rather annoyed to be woken up in the middle of the night.


“Look, ranger, I don’t know why you’re asking me about this...” the man said irritably after a couple rounds of softer questioning. He turned and walked back into his apartment. “It’s public record, I was a kid. My parents got mauled by a-”


“Grizzly?” Sam interrupted knowingly. “That’s what attacked them?”


The man paused, looking away from them, before removing his cigarette from his mouth and turning to nod at them.


“The other people that went missing that year, those bear attacks too?” asked Dean in a confrontational tone.


The old man looked away from them, down at the ground.


“What about all the people that went missing this year?” Dean held his arms wide. “Same thing?”


The old man refused to meet Dean’s eyes.


“If we knew what we were dealing with, we might be able to stop it.”


The old man looked up sharply. “I seriously doubt that. Anyways, I don’t see the difference it would make.”


He sat down, looking up at them. “You wouldn’t believe me. Nobody ever did.”


Sam walked forward and sat on the bed. “Mr. Shaw, what did you see?”


Mr. Shaw stared at him for a long moment, fear in his eyes, as if speaking of the horror would bring it back. “Nothing. It moved too fast to see. It hid too well. I heard it, though. A roar… like no man or animal I’d ever heard.”


“It came at night?” Sam asked.


Mr. Shaw nodded vigorously.


“It got inside your tent?”


Mr. Shaw furrowed his brow. “It got inside our cabin! I was sleeping in front of the fireplace when it came in. It didn’t smash the window or break the door. It unlocked it. Do you know of a bear that could do something like that?”


Sam and Dean looked at each other meaningfully, before Sam returned his attention to Mr. Shaw.


“I didn’t even wake up until I heard my parents screaming,” Mr. Shaw continued, eyes still full of fear.


“It killed them?” Sam asked.


“Dragged them off into the night,” Mr. Shaw corrected. “Why it left me alive, I’ve been asking myself that ever since.”


After a pause, Mr. Shaw spoke up again. “It did leave me this, thought.”


He lifted up his robe from his shoulder to reveal old scars, from a clawed attack. Sam and Dean stared at them grimly.


“There’s something evil in those woods,” Mr. Shaw continued after putting his robe back in place. “It was some sort of demon.”


OO)\SCENE-BREAK/(OO


After bidding good night to Mr. Shaw, and discussing what they had learned in the hallway, they made their way back to the motel, where they told Adam what Mr. Shaw had told them, and their thoughts on what it might be. As it was confirmed corporeal, it couldn’t be a demon. Sam and Dean thought it could be either a Black Dog or Skinwalker, but Adam disproved that quickly.


“No, Black Dogs and Skinwalkers don’t have the long feeding cycle that this thing does,” said Adam thoughtfully after listening to them.


Sam blinked and looked over at Dean, who also seem surprised. “Can’t believe I forgot about that.”


“So… if it’s not a Skinwalker or Black Dog, what is it?” asked Dean.


“I think I might have an idea,” said Adam a moment later. “Can I see Dad’s journal?”


“Sure,” Dean took the journal out of his jacket pocket and handed it to Adam. Adam flipped it open to the page he was looking for, and took his time reading.


“Ok, look at this,” He said a moment later, turning the book over to Dean so that he and Sam could look at it. It was the page on Wendigos.


“Oh, come on!” Dean replied with annoyance. “Wendigos are in the Minnesota woods or northern Michigan, alright?. I’ve never even heard of one this far west.”


“No, it makes sense,” said Sam thoughtfully. “Wendigos are said to be intelligent, super fast and strong, and hibernate for years, only to wake up and feed on food they stored years earlier. It fits with what we know so far.”


“Great,” said Dean with a groan. “Remind me to bring a blowtorch and can of gas tomorrow.”


“Yeah, guns will be useless,” Adam replied with a frown. “I’ll make a copy of the Anasazi symbols, in case we need them-”


“Wait, we?” Sam looked up from the journal at Adam. “Adam, if you’re right, it’s too dangerous for you to come along.”


“I’m sure I can handle myself, Sam,” Adam replied with a frown. “I’m not a kid anymore. I’ve been training for this for years.”


“Still, I’d rather not have to worry about you while we’re out there,” Sam insisted. “Dean and I need to be focused on finding Dad and saving Tommy, we’ll have enough to worry about without you in the mix.”


For a brief moment, Adam’s face twisted with an ugly emotion, before clearing up.


“Fine, whatever you and Dean need,” he replied in a bitter tone, before standing up. “I’m going to bed. Good night.”


With that he turned around and walked over to his bed and started preparing to go to sleep.


Dean smacked Sam over the head.


“Ow, what was that for?” Sam asked, standing up.


“Dude, not cool,” Dean replied furiously, before standing up and getting ready for bed himself.


Sam looked between the two of them in confusion, before looking down at his feet and muttering: ”What did I do?”

 

The morning after we had arrived in Lost Creek, CO, I woke up at five in the morning like usual. After a piss and a quick shower, I went to the nearby convenience store to get newspapers. The convenience store wasn’t open yet, but there were still newspaper boxes outside that I could get newspapers from for a few quarters.


After returning from the convenience store with the newspapers, I had set up my foldable table with my gas stove and cutting board, just outside of our room at the motel. Ten minutes later, the smell of sausage, hashbrowns, and sauteed brussel sprouts and onions wafted up from my cast iron skillet.


When they were finished cooking I doled out portions onto three paper plates, before setting them on the table in the motel, where I had already set up paper napkins and plastic cutlery. I put the newspapers in the center of the table so everyone could grab a copy, and prepared three cups of coffee exactly how Sam, Dean, and I liked them.


Dispite his macho personality, Dean liked his coffee watered down with milk and sugar. Sam liked his black with a single packet of splenda to take the edge off. I liked mine with maple syrup.


By this point, Sam and Dean had already gotten up and taken showers themselves, and were sitting at the table, waiting for the coffee.I irritably placed Sam’s coffee on the table in front of him, while handing Dean’s coffee to him, before sitting down myself, coffee in hand.


It was a quiet meal, for the most part. I cleaned my plate quickly, then picked up a newspaper to read.


“Thank you for breakfast, Adam,” said Sam a minute later.


“You can thank me by packing up my kitchen stuff,” I replied curtly, not looking up from my paper.


Sam stared at me for a long moment. “Is something wrong?”


“No. Of course not. Why would you think something’s wrong?” I remarked in the same curt tone.


Sam pursed his lips. “Look, I get it. You’re angry at me-”


“I’m not angry, I’m pissed off,” I interrupted sharply, turning to glare at Sam. “I’m really pissed off, Sam, because...”


I trailed off and looked away from Sam. My feelings on the issue were fairly complex and difficult to articulate.


“Because…?” asked Sam a moment later.


“I’ve been training for this… for eight years,” I stated bluntly. “Eight years. Ever since… ever since Mom died. Eight years. And for four of those years, you were absent. You chose to put the hunting life aside. You chose to go to college, to get a girlfriend. And then suddenly, you’re back, After four years of absence. Four years. And you want to play the ‘Worried Older Brother’ card? Really?”


I glared at him as I talked, and he stared back silently, lips still pursed.


“No, it’s worse than that. The reason you came back was because the same thing that killed your mom and my mom, came back and killed your girlfriend. You’re not here because you want to be a hunter, or because you want to be with your family. You’re here… because you want revenge.”


I trailed off and didn’t speak for a long moment, staring at Sam. He looked away.


“Do you think I haven’t lain awake every night since my mother died, and thought of revenge?” I continued evenly, leaning back in my chair. “I saw everything that happened that night. Everything. I saw her pinned up on the ceiling, I saw her stomach ripped open. I saw her burst into flames.”


And now we’re here, in Lost Creek, Colorado, because we’re looking for our father, hoping he might have answers, hoping he might know where this thing is, hoping his might know what this thing is, and you want me to stand to the side? You want me to stay behind? You? Because… you’re worried about me?”


I paused again, looking between Sam and Dean. “Dispite all these years we’ve spent together, sometimes I still feel like an outsider in this family. Like I don’t belong.”


A long pause followed that declaration, before Dean finally decided to speak up. “Ok, look: I don’t care what anyone else says, you’re a part of this family, Adam. You’re a Winchester, just like me and Sam. And if you’re so hellbent on helping us find Dad and deal with this Wendigo… well, who am I to deny you?”


“Thank you, Dean,” I replied with my first real smile this morning, before standing up. “Well, we can’t expect Hailey Collins to wait for us forever, I say we get ready and hit the road.”


“Amen to that!” said Dean with a smile, standing up himself.


I walked over to my bed and started packing up, while Dean walked out to the car to start packing up himself.


“I’m sorry, Adam,” I heard Sam say from the table were he had been left sitting. “I completely forgot-”


“-That you’re not the only one here with issues?” I interrupted, turning to regard him. “Yeah, being away for four years will do that to you.”


“Still...” Sam trailed off.


“Yeah, yeah, enough with the chick-flick bullshit,” I replied irritably. “Now go pack up my kitchen stuff like I told you to.”


“Alright, fine,” Sam stood up and made to walk out the motel room door. “Dick.”


“Bitch.”


OO)\SCENE-BREAK/(OO


Half an hour later we turned up at the Blackwater Ridge trail park, where Hailey Collins, her brother, and the guide she had hired were getting ready.


Hailey Collins put her hands on her hips and gave us a sardonic smile when we turned up.


“You guys got room for three more?” asked Dean after he had stepped out of the Impala.


“Wait, you want to come with us?” asked Hailey curiously, eyeing the three of us.


“Who are these guys?” asked the guide.


“Apparently this is all the park service could muster up for the search and rescue,” Hailey replied with a sardonic smirk.


“You’re rangers?” asked the guide with surprise.


“That’s right.” Dean replied with a smirk of his own.


“Well, they’re rangers,” I spoke up from Dean side, holding my hand up to shake and shifting my backpack. “I’m Dean’s little brother, Adam. He brings me along sometimes.”


“Hailey,” Hailey Collins replied while looking me over with a critical eye, shaking the pro-offered hand, before turning back to Dean. “So, you’re rangers, but you’re hiking out in biker boots and jeans?”


“Well, sweetheart, I don’t do shorts,” Dean shot back after looking down at his boots, before walking past her and the guide.


“Oh, you think this is funny?” asked the guide in a serious tone. “It’s dangerous back country out there, Her brother might be hurt.”


“Believe me, I know how dangerous it can be,” Dean replied in the same serious tone. “We just want to help them find their brother, that’s all.”


OO)\SCENE-BREAK/(OO


For about half an hour we walked along the trail, making our way towards Blackwater Ridge. The half hour passed quietly, for the most part, but apparently Dean was starting to get bored, and decided to start shit by questioning whether our guide (who’s name was Roy, it turned out) had ever hunted anything that hunted him back.


“So Roy, you said you did a little hunting?” asked Dean in a teasing tone of voice.


“Yeah, more than a little,” Roy affirmed as he walked in front of us, observing the woods around us.


“Uh-huh,”Dean smirked as he walked behind him. “What kind of furry critters do you hunt?”


“Mostly buck,” Roy replied as he stopped, one leg on a root. “Sometimes bear.”


“Tell me,” Dean drawled as he made to pass Roy. “Bambi or Yogi ever hunt you back?”


Just as he passed him, Roy reached out and grabbed his shoulder, pulling him back. Sam and I jumped forward, planning to break up a fight if we needed to.


“What’re you doing, Roy?” Dean asked, looking at him.


Roy grinned but didn’t reply, instead picking up a stick and pressing it on the ground in front of them. With a sudden snap, a bear trap activated, snapping the end off the stick.


“You should watch where you’re stepping… Ranger,” Roy replied a moment later with a smirk.


“It’s a bear trap,” Dean chuckled after Roy had stepped pass him, glancing back at Sam.


The group made to continue walking, but Hailey darted ahead of us, walking up to Dean and grabbing his arm. “You didn’t pack any provisions, you guys are carrying a backpack and a dufflebag between you, and you dragged your little brother along. You’re not rangers, so who the hell are you?”


In the pause that followed, Dean nodded at both Sam and I as we passed them, indicating that he would deal with it. Sam continued walking, but I lingered, wondering what Dean would say.


“Sam, Adam, and I are brothers,” Dean replied honestly. “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, you know?”


“Why didn’t you just tell me that from the start?” Hailey asked after taking a moment to consider his words.


“I’m telling you now,” Dean replied with a nod. “Besides, it’s probably the most honest I’ve ever been with a woman… ever.”


Hailey regarded him for a moment, taking a deep breath.


“So, we okay?” Dean questioned.


“Yeah, okay,” Hailey nodded after considering it some more.


“And what do you mean I didn’t pack provisions?” Dean teased with a smirk, pulling a bag of M&Ms out of his pocket, then turning to continue walking.


Hailey rolled her eyes, and continued after him.


I eyed Dean when he caught up to me, and kept pace with him as we walked for the next few minutes. A moment later Hailey passed us, probably wanting to catch up with her brother. I waited until she was out of earshot before I turned to my brother. “So...”


“So… what?” Dean asked, looking at me while he popped an M&M in his mouth.


“Are you seriously looking to get your mack on while we’re out here, in the wilderness?” I asked with pursed lips. “I mean, seriously, while we’re working a job?”


“Well, not out here,” Dean shrugged, then looked at me with a salacious smile. “But when we get back…”


I rolled my eyes. “Just don’t flirt with her in front of Dad, you know how he feels about cruising for a hook up when you’re supposed to be working a job.”


“Are you kidding me? That’s rule number one for working a job with Dad,” Dean smirked, before looking at me sideways. “You know… you’re what, sixteen? You should try and get some action yourself at some point, you know? Instead of just watching gay porn all the time…”


“Yeah, and who am I gonna hook up with, some teenager?” I replied with annoyance. “Dude, I don’t even go to school.”


Dean looked at me thoughtfully. “Ok… yeah, I can see how that would make things difficult.”


I gave him a flat look. “Ya think?”


“But still… I mean, you think I was a virgin at 16?” Dean cocked his head with a questioning look.


I gave him another flat look and held up my fist. “Dude if you tell me the story of how you lost your virginity again, I swear I’m gonna punch you in the face.”


“Alright, alright,” Dean held his hands up in a placating gesture. “But seriously, if you ever need help picking up dudes, all you gotta do is ask.”


I stared at him in confusion. “What- You’re gonna help me pick up dudes? You? Seriously?”


“I don’t know…” Dean shrugged as we continued to walk. “You could say I’m bi-curious.”


A surprised chuckle escaped my mouth, and I looked at Dean, wondering if it was a joke.


Dean looked dead-serious, though.


“Come on, Dean,” I rolled my eyes. “You’re like… the text-book definition of straight and narrow. I mean, you’re the only only person I know that owns so many Busty Asian Beauties magazines. It means a lot to me that you’d do that… for me, but please… don’t torture yourself on my account.”


“Just thought you might want help, nevermind,” Dean replied with a huff, speeding up his pace to catch up with Sam.


I sighed and rolled my eyes again, before making haste to catch up with them. Who knew brotherhood could be this complicated?


OO)\SCENE-BREAK/(OO


After another two hours of hiking, the group came to a small clearing, filled with brush. Roy paused, looking around. “This is it. Blackwater Ridge.”


“What coordinates are we at?” asked Sam in a flat tone of voice, walking a few feet in front of Roy.


“35 and minus 111,” Roy replied after checking his GPS tracker.


I was at the rear of the group, with Dean in front of me. I stayed behind the group, while Dean walked up to Sam, and looked around with him.


“You hear that?” Dean asked Sam in a low voice a moment later.


“Yeah,” Sam replied softly. “Not even crickets.”


Barely a second later, I felt it. Eyes. There were eyes on me. Someone… or something… was watching me. And somehow, I felt that I knew where the eyes were watching me from. The eyes I felt on me were watching from a high elevation, probably up in the trees. I turned around, and started looking up in the trees, trying to catch sight of it.


A moment later I found it; it was crouching on a branch in a tree, staring down on the group as a whole, probably not looking at me in particular, but then it noticed me looking at it.


The Wendigo was horrible to look at: It was awfully pale and emaciated, and I could count the ribs on it’s chest, they were so distinct. It’s skin hung loosely on it’s body, and it had elongated fingers that ended in claws. It’s eyes were black, and many sharp teeth jutted out of it’s mouth, which I noticed was red and black with old and new blood from past meals.


For a moment we stared at each other, neither of us willing to blink. I should have been quivering in my boots with fear, but for some reason, all I felt was anger. A strange feeling of possessiveness filled me, and I felt the urge to snarl.


The Wendigo did snarl at me, and a moment later, it disappeared.


“Adam, you ok?” asked Dean from besides me.


I startled, turning around and looking at him. He hadn’t been there a moment ago. “What?”


“You alright?” Dean asked again, looking up at the trees I had been staring at.


“Yeah, I just...” I looked at the spot where the Wendigo had been a moment earlier. “I thought I saw something…”


“Well, we found Tommy’s camp,” said Dean seriously as he started to walk off. “So come on, lets go.”


“Yeah, ok,” I replied as I made to follow him, my mind turning over the weird experience I had just had.


I had never felt anything like anything like that before; the weird sensation of the Wendigo’s eyes on me, the feeling of anger, of possessiveness… it was new, and I had no idea where it had come from.


Did it have something to do with my demonic powers? I didn’t know, and I had a bad feeling about it. A bad feeling that I had only escalated the hostilities with the Wendigo.


A bad feeling that… I was it’s next target.

 

It didn’t take Dean and I long to get back to Tommy’s camp, and when we arrived, it was to find Roy, Hailey, Ben, and Sam examining the remains of it: Sam was looking at the tracks, Roy and Ben were just looking around at the carnage, and Hailey had picked up a cell phone, which looked like it had stepped on.

Dean came to a stop besides her. “Hey… he could still be alive.”

Hailey gave him a hopeful look.

“Adam, where were you?” Sam asked me with concern after I entered the camp.

“Uh… I was back at the coordinates, looking around,” I replied awkwardly.

Sam frowned, glaring at me. “You shouldn’t have gone off on your own like that, you know what's out here.”

I pursed my lips. “Ok, you know you sound like Dad when you say stuff like that, right?”

Sam sighed and rolled his eyes. “I just want you to stay safe-”

He was interrupted by the sound of someone crying out from the forest around us: “Help! Someone, help, please!”

We all turned towards the source of the voice, and then Roy left the ground and started running towards the voice, with the rest of us making to follow him.

Running towards the voice, we eventually arrived in a small clearing, and looked around.

“It seemed like it was coming from around here, didn’t it?” asked Hailey a moment later.

We all stood in silence for a moment, listening.

“Everybody back to camp,” Sam replied urgently.

We all turned around and started making our way back to camp, only to find that the Wendigo had stolen our packs in the mean time.

“Our packs!” Hailey exclaimed when we arrived.

“So much for my GPS and my satellite phone,” Roy exclaimed morosely.

Hailey looked at Sam. “What the hell’s going on?”

“It’s smart, It wants to cut us off so we can’t call for help,” Sam replied softly.

“You mean, someone- some nut job out there just stole all our gear?” asked Roy angrily.

“Yeah,” I replied sharply. “And just think about what that nut job will do to us if it gets us alone and isolated. So, let’s all calm down and stick together. No running off on your own.”

“Look, kid, whatever’s out there, I think I can handle it,” Roy shot back derisively.

“Roy, we’re not talking about some dumb animal,” Sam shot back. “We’re talking about a damn near perfect hunter, one that’s a lot smarter than you are. And it just took away the only weapons that can kill it. Staying here is too dangerous, we have to leave, now.”

Roy gave him a mutinous look. “One, you’re talking nonsense, two, you’re in no position to give anybody orders!”

“Relax,” Dean said placatingly.

“We’re just trying to keep you guys safe,” I spoke up, before looking at Sam. “And Sam, it’s too late to head back, it’ll be dark soon.”

“We never should have come out here in the first place,” Sam replied sharply.

“Sam!” I bit out sharply, walking over to him. “You need to calm down. Arguing is not gonna solve anything.”

Sam glared at me for a moment, before sighing. “Alright.”

“Ok, look,” Hailey spoke up, and we all turned to look at her. “Tommy might still be alive, and I’m not leaving here without him.”

Dean, Sam, and I looked at her, before Sam sighed and gave a nod.

“Alright,” Dean spoke up. “It’s getting late. This thing is a good hunter in the day, but an unbelievable hunter at night. We’ll never beat it, not in the dark. We need to settle in and protect ourselves.”

“How?” Asked Hailey.

“Anasazi Symbols,” I replied. “We’ll draw them on the ground around the camp, and the Wendigo won’t be able to get in.”

“What’s a Wendigo?” asked Ben.

“It’s what’s hunting us,” Sam replied. “We’ll explain more in the morning, right now we need to settle in for the night.”

I looked at Roy. “Want to help me find some fire wood?”

Roy huffed, but then nodded. “Yeah, sure.”

I nodded back and made to walk out of the camp, with Roy following me.

“Be careful out there,” Sam called.

“I will, don’t worry,” I replied back.

Roy and I were mostly silent as we walked, making sure to pick up what dry firewood we could find, and packing it in our arms. We were careful not to stray too far from the camp, and I didn’t feel the presence of the Wendigo at all. It seemed that It was waiting for night time to try and get us.

As the forest got darker, I noticed that Roy kept frowning at me when he thought I wouldn’t notice. It was starting to get annoying, so I decided to call him out on it.

“Do you have a problem, Roy?” I asked sharply, turning to face him with my arms full of wood.

He sneered. “You do realize that you and your brothers are nut jobs, right? There’s no such thing as a Wendigo. It’s just a fairy tale, a myth. I’ve lived and hunted in these woods since I was a kid, and I’ve never seen or heard of a Wendigo before. If there really was one out here, don’t you think I would have seen it?”

I huffed. “If you had seen it, you would be dead. The Wendigo hibernates for years at a time, only waking up every few decades to hunt for food. You just weren’t here in the woods last time it was awake.”

“Yeah, right. It ‘just so happens’ to have some ‘long sleeping cycle’, and that’s why I’ve never seen it,” Roy gave a mocking smile. “You’re so full of shit.”

I shrugged and turned around making to keep walking. “Hey, I get it, man. Seeing is believing. It’s just your bad luck that this thing is too fast to see, and only comes out once every two decades. But I’ll tell you what, when you’re up in heaven hunting buck, you’ll wish you listened to us.”

“I don’t believe in heaven,” Roy replied mutinously. “And when you’re back safe and sound at Lost Creek, you’ll realize-”

I suddenly felt the Wendigo’s presence coming quickly towards us, and reacted on pure instinct, dropping my wood, turning around, and reaching out with my hand to exert a psychic vice grip to stop the Wendigo just before it tore my head off.

Roy took a moment to follow my motion, slowly turning around, and saw the Wendigo not 2 feet from him.

“Holy shit,” he said in pure fear, dropping his wood and taking a step back.

“Stay back,” I said in a demonic growl as I looked at the Wendigo, standing up more fully, my arm outstretched and pointed palm first at It. It growled at me.

“Why… why is it just standing there,” Roy asked fearfully.

“I have it in a psychic grip,” I murmured. The only thing preventing me from going full demon mode right now was the shear psychic strength I had to exert to keep it frozen in place.

Roy looked at me, and asked in an even more fearful voice: “What… what’s wrong with your eyes?”

I looked at him, and saw him trembling with fear, face as white as snow. I felt a frisson of pleasure at the fear in his face, but reminded myself that I had a Wendigo to deal with. With a thought, I exerted pressure on Roy’s groin so that he wouldn’t accidentally soil himself in fear.

“Don’t move,” I commanded him with a demonic growl, before looking back at the Wendigo. I walked up to it, and looked it in the eyes. There was fear in those eyes, indicating that, although he had turned into a monster, there was still something human there.

“Fear,” I said with a demonic growl, and gave a sniff. “I can smell it all over you. I imagine you’ve never encountered something like me.”

The Wendigo swallowed, and made to yell: “He-!”

I cut him off before he could, shutting his mouth and psychically forcing his vocal cords to relax. “Ah-Ah-Ah. You’re a monster, no one else is coming to help you. To save you. You are entirely… within my power… within my grip.”

The Wendigo’s eyes widened in shock. I smiled cruelly, and with a claw like motion, psychically cut three gouges into it’s chest, and the Wendigo squirmed in pain. A moment later, the gouges healed.

“Oh… I wish I had all the time in the world to tear you apart,” I whispered in it’s ear in a sensual manner. “But fortunately for you I have a facade to keep up, so I’ll let you go… this time.”

Without another word, I psychically threw the Wendigo away into the woods. I heard it land, and then heard it go crashing through the forest to get as far away from me as it could. I grinned in cold satisfaction, before fishing my flask of holy water out from my pocket and taking a big swig.

Then I had to spit it out cause it burned too much.

I stared at where it steamed up from the ground in shock,. That had never happened before.

Slowly, I took another swig of holy water, smaller this time, and forced myself to swallow it, even though it burned. It felt like I had drunk burning oil. I took another swig and forced it down, then another.

With each swallow, it burned less and less. When I took the a swig that no longer hurt, I downed the whole flask in one go.

It seemed that my demon side was starting to emerge something fierce. Next time, I wouldn’t be able to down the holy water. The only option I had left for deal with it was Holy Blood, but that was it’s own set of problems. I could attend to that later, though. I still had this whole situation to deal with, starting with Roy.

I turned to regard him. He was still white as a sheet and trembling from fear, staring at me.

“Hey Roy, how do my eyes look?” I asked, genuinely curious.

“Uh… nor… normal,” he stuttered.

“That’s good,” I smiled at him.

“What… what are you?” he asked stutteringly.

I walked over to him and patted him on the shoulder consolingly. He flinched at my touch.

“That… is something you don’t need to know,” I replied softly. “And I’m going to have to ask that you keep what you saw here a secret. My brothers don’t know, and they don’t need to know. Understand?”

Roy nodded slowly.

“Now, why don’t you go take a leak and think this all over,” I continued. “I’ll get the wood, don’t worry about that.”

“Uh… ok,” he stuttered again.

“And quit that stuttering,” I groaned. “Honestly, it wasn’t all that bad.”

He just nodded jerkily, and went off to have that leak. I turned and started gathering up the wood I had dropped, my mind turning over the events I had just experienced. It seemed that my demonic side was growing less temperamental.

Normally I would have completely forgotten my priorities when my demonic side was active, but it seemed that my demonic side was now capable of restraint. What frighted me was that I had not noticed the change. It hinted at something going on beneath the surface level of my consciousness. Was I somehow developing a separate demonic personality?

Or maybe it was something worse. Perhaps my human personality was becoming demonically corrupted to the point that it was impossible to distinguish it from my true human personality. Perhaps that was the reason why I had been perfectly willing to let Jess die instead of trying to save her. Was I truly becoming so lost in my demon side that I had lost touch with my human side?

The prospect was frighting, and indicated that I needed to get my hands on some holy blood sooner rather than later.

I didn’t want to turn into a full blooded demon, but that prospect seemed more likely every day that passed. But with Holy Blood, I would be able to reverse the transformation, turning back into a proper human with a conscience, and I hopefully would finally be able to breath easily, knowing that I wasn’t a risk to people around me.

However, getting my hands on some holy blood was a logistical nightmare: First, I had to actually get my hands on some blood that I could actually inject safely, ideally type O negative. Then I needed a means of storing it. Then I had to find a priest willing to bless the blood without raising eyebrows or asking impersonal questions. And I had to do all of this without Sam, or Dean, or Dad finding out.

Like I said, a logistical nightmare.

Having gathered up the wood in my arms. I waited as Roy finished his leak, and came back.

When he did, I indicated a pile of wood. “That’s yours.”

“Oh… Ok,” he nodded, then picked it up.

I nodded back, and we turned to start making our way back to camp.

“So… are you some kind of psychic?” Roy asked a moment later.

“You could say that,” I replied softly. “It’s a bit more complicated than that, but basically yes, I am.”

“Why did your eyes turn black?” he asked curiously. “Why were you talking in that sca… that weird voice?”

“Ah...” I huffed with annoyance. “Well, that is a rather long and complicated story, which you don’t need to know, but suffice to say, being my particular breed of psychic comes with… consequences.”

“Is that why you keep it a secret from your brothers?” Roy asked curiously. “Cause of those… consequences?”

“Yes,” I replied sharply. “Now do kindly shut up, we’re almost there. No, wait, one more thing.”

I turned to look at him. “I would inform you… I did technically save your life, so you owe me. As recompense, all I ask for is your silence regarding the matter. Understand?”

“Yeah, I get it,” Roy replied gruffly. “You don’t need to sweet talk me with all that fancy talk, I’ll keep quiet.”

“That’s all I ask,” I replied sweetly, before turning to continue walking towards the camp.

A few minutes later we arrived, only to find that Sam and Dean had already gotten a fire up and going, and had drawn the Anasazi Symbols.

“What took you guys so long?” asked Dean curiously. “I was half afraid the Wendigo had got you.”

“Roy here had to take a leak,” I replied shortly, before dumping the wood next to the fire.

“Must have been a big leak,” Dean commented wryly.

“Well you know how we outdoors men are,” Roy replied with a genuine smile. “We’ve all got bladders of steel.”

Dean chuckled and shrugged. “Alright.”

He then gave me a serious look, and briefly tilted his head in Sam’s direction.

I nodded with a frown. That was Dean-speak for ‘We need to have a family discussion’.

I looked over at Sam, and noticed that he was sitting near the perimeter of the camp, staring off into the darkness.

A moment later Dean got up, and made to walk over and sit next to him. I followed him and sat on Sam’s other side.

“You wanna tell me what’s going on in that freaky head of yours?” Dean asked a moment later.

Sam sighed.“Dean-”

“No, you’re not fine,” Dean cut him off. “You’re like a powder keg, man. It’s not like you. I’m supposed to be the belligerent one, remember?”

“Whatever it is you’re feeling, you just need to know that we care about you, Sam,” I spoke up a moment later. “You don’t have to carry your burden alone. Dean and I… We’re here for you.”

A silence fell and lingered for several moments, before Sam spoke up softly, an undercurrent of fustration in his tone. “Dad’s not here. I mean.. that much we know for sure, right? He would have left us a message, a sign. At least something, right?”

“Yeah, you’re probably right,” Dean replied shortly. “To tell you the truth, I don’t think Dad’s ever been to Lost Creek.”

“Then lets get these people back to town and hit the road,” Sam urged softly. “Go find dad. I mean, why are we still even here?”

Dean regarded Sam for a moment with a considering expression, before standing up and siting down across from Sam, pulling out Dad’s journal.

“This is why,” Dean replied as he placed Dad’s Journal on his palm and patted it. “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 want us to pick up where he left off. You know, Saving people, Hunting things. The Family business.”

I nodded along with him. “And you know Dad’s all about the family business.”

Sam pursed his lips in fustration. “That’s makes no sense. Why… why doesn't he just call us? Why doesn’t he tell us what he wants, tell us where he is?”

Dean frowned in thought.

“I don’t know,” He admitted a moment later. “But the way I see it, Dad’s given us a job to do, and I intend to do it.”

“Dean,” Sam sighed sadly. “No. I’ve gotta find Dad. I’ve gotta find Jessica’s killer. It’s the only thing I can think about.”

“Ok. Alright, Sam, we’ll find them, I promise,” Dean promised softly. “Listen to me. You’ve got to 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.”

I frowned and looked between the two of them. Dispite trying to inject myself in the conversation, I still felt somewhat like a third wheel.

Sam gave a nervous chuckle. “How do you guys do it? How does Dad do it?”

Dean sighed and glanced towards Hailey and Ben. “Well, for one, them. I mean, I figure our family’s so screwed to hell… maybe we can help some others.”

I nodded along. “Yeah, saving people… It makes it easier to bare.”

Dean nodded as well, before giving Sam a wan smile. “And I’ll tell you what else helps… Killing as many evil sons of bitches as I possibly can.”

Sam smiled back.

“Don’t worry Sam,” I stood up. “No matter how long it takes, we’ll find them. But in the mean time, it’s getting late. We should turn in.”

“Yeah, we gotta find that Wendigo in the morning,” Dean nodded, standing up himself. “Then we’ll get out of here and hit the road.”

“Alright,” Sam replied, leaning back. “Hey, can I have Dad’s journal? I’ll read up, see if I can find another weakness.”

Dean nodded and passed the journal to him. “Alright, but wait until the morning, it’s too dark out right now.”

Sam smiled again as he took the book. “Thanks, I’ll do that.”

“Goodnight, Sam,” I said before walking over to another spot near the fire.

“’night, Adam,” Sam replied softly, looking at the book.

I settled down next to the fire and look into it’s depths, thinking.

I had thankfully survived the encounter with the Wendigo, but it had revealed a new problem: My rapid transition into a full blooded demon.

I knew in my heart of hearts that it was a problem that I would have to solve soon, as in, the next few weeks, but I was still stumped on how to solve it. I needed some time away from Dean and Sam so that I could work on the problem without being caught.

But that was something I could work on when I wasn’t in the middle of a hunt, so I leaned back on the ground, and closed my eyes.

Hopefully the Wendigo would be smart enough not to go near me again, cause if I was forced to used my powers again, I could feel that it would bring me very close to completing the transition.

If that happened, there really would be a demon prowling these woods.

And I wasn’t one to sleep on a decade long cycle.