||CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE // I AM A HUNTER||
The next couple days were rough for Dakota, she had to deal with meeting her mother and her half-brother alone, because Dean and Sam left for hunt shortly after the meeting. Dean was reluctant to leave but Dakota knew it was important for him to help people and take over the family business. She cried a lot, thinking that she wasn't good enough for her mother.
Her sadness soon turned into anger, it scared her a little how angry she was at her mother. She hated her mother for leaving her and having another kid, for staying with him instead of her.
She didn't need her mother, she's done great for eight years without her. She's helped people, she got an A on her spelling test without her mother. She learned how to ride a bike, tie her shoes, and spell her own name by herself. Of course she had the help of her dad and uncle, but she learned all of that without her mother. She didn't need her. If her mother didn't love her enough to stay, than Dakota didn't need her to help her with anything.
She sighs heavily, pushing her covers back and stumbling out of bed. Bobby called her name an hour ago but gave up when she didn't respond. She pulls out her backpack and dumps her books onto her bed, today was the day of her class trip and she wasn't as excited as she was before. The phone beside her bed starts ringing, the only time the landline rings is if it's Dean or another hunter calling for Bobby.
Dakota glances at the phone before shaking her head slightly, deciding to let Bobby answer it this time. She starts to shove her clothes into the bag as she listens to Bobby talk to whoever called.
"Dakota! Sweet pea, it's for you!" Bobby calls, Dakota drops her back with a wide excited grin.
"Daddy!" She greets happily as she answers the phone. She hears Dean chuckle breathlessly and hears a couple more rustling noises.
"Hey, Kota." Dean replies, she can hear the grin in his voice.
"Hey, bug." Sam calls from in the background.
"Sammy! Guess what!" She nearly shouts at the phone, she jumps up and down a couple times.
"Quit your jumping!" Bobby calls from downstairs, the three Winchesters laugh as they hear him.
"What happened, bug?" Sam questions, his voice sounding closer than before.
"I got an A on my spelling test!" She cheers loudly, closing her eyes and throwing her free hand up.
"That's good, Kota!" Both Winchesters shout into the phone, pride easily heard in both their voices.
"I didn't spell a single word wrong!" She continues, stomping her feet quickly but quietly in excitement.
"You're so smart, baby, how are you so smart?" Dean questions in a soft tone.
"I don't know." She shrugs with an innocent smile. "Sammy?"
"Hey!" Dean protests, Sam laughs loudly, a soft thud is heard as he hits Dean's shoulders.
"Today's the class trip, I have to go soon." She changes the subject, her voice lowering as her smile lessens.
"T-that's today? Are you sure you have to go? I could come pick you up, and you can come with us." Dean tries to persuade her, his voice wavering slightly. He's attitude changes every time she brings up the trip.
"Dean, she can't skip. She has to go. You have to go, bug, so you can get smarter, smarter than your dad." Sam cuts in quickly.
"I know," Dean says quietly to Sam, before he raises his voice slightly for Dakota. "How long is it, Dakota?"
"Only a couple days, we're just lookin' at leaves and stuff." Dakota replies softly, her voice almost too quiet for them to hear. "I got my knife if it makes you feel better."
"You mean my knife?" Sam corrects her, she can hear the joking tone in his voice.
"Pssh, nooo." She says dragging out the 'o'.
"Mhmm." Sam hums, exhaling in a chuckle through his nose.
Dakota looks out the window to see the bus pulling up outside, she sighs as Bobby calls out her name to tell her it's time to go.
"I gotta go, daddy." She sighs again. "Bye Sammy, bye daddy, I love you guys."
"Love you too, Kota." They say at the same time.
She smiles and slowly hangs up the phone, grabbing her bag and heaving it over her shoulder. She jumps down the stairs, smiling at Bobby and grabbing a piece of toast from him. He gives her a look but she just gives him an innocent look before grinning mischievously and biting the toast. She swallows it and hits him playfully on the arm, he rolls his eyes but the corner of his lips twitch up in a smile, he kisses the top of her head and pushes her out the door gently.
"Bye, sweet pea." He calls out, waving as he leans out the door.
"Bye, Bobby! Check in with daddy every once in awhile!" She reminds before running towards the bus quickly, she hops on and slides into the seat next to Isabella. "Hi, Bella." She grins.
"Hey, Dakota. How was your weekend?"
"Uh...good." She settles with a short lie, giving Bella a short smile.
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Dakota trudges slowly behind her classmates and teacher, her eyes scanning the trees distrustfully. She shoves her hands into her coat pockets, her right hand curls around Sam's knife with her thumb hovering over the button.
"Keep up, Dakota." Her teacher calls back, Dakota's eyes snap to meet hers and she nods her head quickly, but remains in the back. She stays closer to her classmates but chooses to stray farther back in the group.
Branches crack in the distance like somebody stepped on them, the air breezes through the trees and tosses Dakota's hair over her shoulder. A bad feeling starts to settle in her stomach, she regrets not taking her dad up on his offer to go with him.
Shadows cast over the class like demons haunting them in the evening, the further the sun sank the worse Dakota felt. She knew something wasn't right but also knew nobody would believe her, she couldn't call her dad for help either. For the first time, Dakota felt absolutely alone and helpless.
She takes a deep breath to calm herself down as something races behind her. The teacher decided to set up camp when the sun started to lower itself. Dakota grips onto the knife tightly, her eyes darting across the trees.
"Time for bed, kiddos." Mrs. Johnson sings happily, shepherding the kids into different tents. "We have big plans tomorrow! Dakota, come on, sweetie it's time for bed."
Dakota sighs heavily, releasing her grip on the knife and following Mrs. Johnson's finger pointing towards the tent she's assigned. Isabella, Dakota, and another girl named Elizabeth all share the tent together. Elizabeth was quiet compared to Bella, and Dakota was too uneasy to join the small conversation they were having. The rustling grows louder and closer to the camp, a loud swooshing sound pass through the camp.
Dakota sits up straight away, crawling towards the tent door, she peeks out slowly as her breathing starts to pick up.
"Something's not right." She murmurs to herself, Bella shifts around in her spot and sits up as she see's her friend halfway out the tent.
"What's wrong, Dakota?" Bella questions.
"Something's not right." She repeats, she reaches into her pocket and pulls out her knife quickly. Hiding it from Bella and Elizabeth's view.
That's when the screaming starts, Dakota races out of her tent at the same time as she flips her blade out. Her teacher's tent is torn apart and there's blood lining the fabric. She hears something growling behind her, heavy breathing brushes against the back of her neck. Tears spring up in her eyes and she takes a shaky breath.
She turns slowly and sees a wendigo screeching at her, she screams and drops her knife as everything turns back for her. The last thing she hears is her classmates crying out in fear.
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Bobby sighs heavily as the phone rings again, Dean has been calling all day to see if he's heard anything from Dakota. Bobby knows the girl wouldn't be able to call him, but he didn't know what to tell the Winchester to soothe him.
"Hello?" Bobby questions, already suspecting that it's Dean calling again.
"Hello, this is deputy Ryan Baxter from the Sioux Falls Police Department, is this Bobby Singer?" A man's voice asks gently over the phone.
"Yes." Bobby says nervously, a pit sinking in his stomach. "Is everything alright, deputy?"
"Is your granddaughter apart of the Sioux Falls elementary class trip?" Ryan asks.
"Yeah, is she okay?" Bobby stands up, his voice wavers.
"There's been an accident involving your granddaughter, Mr. Singer. A bear attacked their campsite and I'm afraid that your granddaughter is one of the victims." The deputy informs, his voice sounding grave and sad.
Bobby exhales shakily, he stutters slightly as he tries to find the right words to say. "A-are you sure? W-were th-there any s-s-survivors?" He barely gets the words out.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Singer, I'm afraid I can't release that information. I've been told to ask you to come down to the station to identify some things that were dug up from the campsite." Ryan says almost robotically.
"Uh, yeah, I-I'll be there." He tells them before hanging up, not letting deputy Baxter get another word in. "Balls." He snaps before before dialing Dean.
"Hey, Bobby, did you hear anything from Dakota?" Dean questions after the first ring.
"Hey, Bobby." Sam calls.
"Bobby?" Dean asks when he receives no answer. "What's wrong?"
"Uh, boys I have something to tell you, and you're not going to like it." Bobby starts slowly, sinking down into a chair and covering his face.
"Yeah? Bobby, y-you're startin' to scare us." Sam chuckles nervously.
"I got a call from the deputy sayin' there was an attack..." Bobby voice trails, he squeezes his eyes shut tightly.
"Oh, God, oh no." Dean whimpers as he starts to piece together what happened.
"What? Dean, what? " Sam questions, not knowing what's going on.
"The campsite they were stayin' at was attack, they said a bear and t-they said D-Dakota was one of the victims."
"Oh, please, no no. Oh, God." Dean murmurs to himself, repeating the same words over and over again.
"Bobby, this isn't funny." Sam denies, his voice low and angry.
"I ain't laughing, boy. I have to head down and identify her things."
"I will." Dean snaps, his voice hard. "I'm her dad, I'll go down and pick out her stuff. I'm going to find out what did this."
"Dean, they said it was a bear."
"Do you believe that? Like truly believe that?"
"You have a better chance at seein' God Himself than a bear." Bobby sighs.
"I'm going to find her, Bobby, and I'm gonna kill the son of a bitch that took her."
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Dakota's eyes flutter open, loud crying and screaming echoes around her, she groans and holds her head. In the dim light of the cave, she can see her fingers came away wet with blood.
"Dakota!" Bella shouts, gripping onto her wrist tightly. Dakota's head snaps over to her quickly, confusion swirling around in her green eyes.
"W-what's going on? Where are we?" Dakota questions, sitting up and looking around.
"Monster." Bella whimpers, Dakota's eyes snap back to her immediately.
"What does it look like? Bella, the monster, what does it look like?" Dakota places her hands on Bella's shoulders, making her friend look at her as her inner hunter comes out.
"B-big and s-scary, i-it has t-t-teeth and claws...i-its g-grey." Bella cries, fear in her eyes that makes Dakota clench her jaw. Her classmates screams ring in her head.
"Everyone shut up!" She shouts, her friends stop crying and look over at her with fear. "You need to calm down! Okay? We're gonna be okay, we're gonna get out of here."
Everyone murmurs quietly, all scared that she's lying.
"Bella, where's my knife? I had a knife in my hand when it got me." Dakota explains, she knows a knife won't stop it. Bella's description points to a wendigo, something she hasn't seen since she was four. "We need fire." She mumbles to herself.
"I-it t-t-took your k-knife." Bella stutters, Dakota takes a deep breath in through her nose, she's getting frustrated with all the stuttering but she knows Bella can't help it. She's scared.
"Did Mrs. Johnson have a flare gun? None of you know what that is." Dakota sighs, covering her face and dragging her hands down it. "Mrs. Johnson's stuff, did it take her stuff or anything?"
"There's a bunch of stuff over there, but it's too dark to see." A kid, Daniel, points towards on of the corners. He's one of the oldest kids in Dakota's class. He turned eight a couple months ago.
Dakota squints through the darkness and crawls over the rocks and other kids to reach the pile of old hikers bags. They groan in annoyance and pain as she climbs over them, she's shoved onto the pile of bags. She starts to dig through them when a skull rolls off the pile, she yelps and scrambles backwards.
"I'm not scared, I'm a hunter. I'm not scared, I'm a hunter." She mumbles to herself, taking deep breaths to calm herself. She starts digging through the bags again, pulling out water bottles and extra clothes.
"What are you looking for?" Bella questions, crawling over near her.
"Flare gun...fire, it's the only thing that can kill the monster." She corrects herself, realizing that Bella has no idea what a flare gun is.
"How do you know?"
"I just do." Dakota sighs, not pausing her search.
"But how?"
"It's my family's job, Bella." She replies.
Before she can find anything a loud roar echoes through the cave, causing all the kids to cry out and cover their ears. The sound echoes through Dakota's head, she grits her teeth and tells the kids to hide. They each cower into the dark corners, cuddling into each other in fear. Dakota hisses in pain and buries herself in the bags and bones, grimacing in disgust, but she would rather be alive than comfortable.
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Dean tears into the parking lot of the police station, Sam grips onto the door to hold himself in place. They exchange a quick glance before running towards the building.
"Can I help you gentlemen?" The receptionist asks, hearing their loud entrance.
"I'm hear to identify Dakota Winchester's things." Dean informs.
"Okay, one moment," She smiles, typing something on her computer. "I'm sorry we have no records of any Dakota Winchester."
"Try Singer, Dakota Singer." Sam jumps in before she could ask them to leave.
"Okay, the things recovered from the campsite are with Deputy Baxter."
"Thank you." Sam says as Dean just pushes his way through the cops in search of deputy Baxter. "Dean." Sam hisses sharply.
"Deputy Baxter?" Dean asks a young deputy sitting at one of the desks in the bull pen.
The man looks up and raises an eyebrow in question. "Yes?"
"I'm here to identify Dakota Singer's items." Dean nearly struggles with calling Dakota by a different last name.
"Right this way." Baxter says gently, his eyes hold a sad look.
Baxter leads the two Winchesters into a room with a couple tables set up full of different objects like clothes, bags, and food. Dean hands start to shake slightly as he approaches the table, Sam branches off and sifts through the objects.
"Dean." Sam calls out quietly, his voice wavers before faltering slightly. He holds up something for Dean to see, the older Winchester peers over and notices a worn pocket knife in Sam's hand.
"It's not her's, it can't be." Dean denies quickly, not wanting to believe that his daughter is dead or in danger.
"Dean, DMW right under my SW." Sam points to the small carved initials. "I don't want to believe it anymore than you do, but it's right here."
Dean takes the pocket knife into his hand and starts turning it over in his palms, brushing his thumb over the initials in the handle. He inhales shakily, closing his eyes and clutching the knife in his hand tightly. He brings it up to his mouth and presses his knuckles against his lips.
"It doesn't mean anything." He says after a moment of silence, he opens his eyes and looks at Sam shaking his head. "It doesn't."
"Dean-"
"No, Sam." Dean interrupts, his voice hard and gruff. "When you were gone, I didn't find a single thing but sulfur, I didn't think for one second you were dead. Just because we found her knife doesn't mean anything." He speaks slowly, scaring Sam slightly. Dean's eyes are watering, but he still holds a fierce glare on his face.
He hasn't seen Dean act this way since their dad died, it was almost a scary calm that hid how angry he truly was.
"Okay." Sam relents, taking a step away from Dean. "Okay, I'm not saying we don't look for her. We do, we'll go out there and look, okay?"
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Dakota's breathing shakes as the roaring grows louder, the thing gets closer to them. She can hear her classmates whimpering loudly, she tries to shush them gently. The monster screeches angrily, it slams it's arm against the side of the cave opening, making the kids cry out in fear. Dakota holds her breath, peering through the spaces between the backpacks.
"I'm not scared." She mumbles quietly to herself, clenching her fists tightly together.
She watches the monster closely before she reaches out and grabs a skull, she quietly moves so she's able to through the skull. She sits up slightly and throws the skull as far as she possibly can.
It clatters against rock, causing the monster to yell and chase after the sound. It leaves the cave before coming back angrily, it grabs the closest kid. Dakota can't see the kids face but his screams ring hauntingly through the cave walls.
"Help! Ahh!" The kid pleads with his classmates, Dakota squeezes her eyes shut as the monster drags the boy from the cave, his screams following them out.
Dakota whimpers, clasping a hand over her mouth before crawling out of her hiding spot. She quickly digs through the bags, pulling out useless things. She finds a full water bottle and sets it to the side, collecting all the food and water she finds. She's pulling all her knowledge about hunts that she's heard her dad and uncle talk about, she closes her eyes and pauses her movements. She takes a deep breath, a pang in her heart as she thinks about her family-if Dean knows he's probably going out of his mind.
"Okay." She whispers, releases her breath and returning to her search. She brushes her hair back away from her face, she can see the dried blood matted to her hair.
She has scrapes all over her arms, her ribs hurt when she breathes, and her head was pounding. She tries to lessen her pain by taking short breaths, but it just makes her head hurt more.
"Dakota! It's coming back." Bella cries, Dakota looks towards the dark entrance of the cave. Even though her eyes are adjusted to the dim lighting, she squints to see the wendigo's shadow coming back.
"Hide!" Dakota hisses, she dives back into the pile of bone, they dig uncomfortably into her body, but she sucks it up and covers herself.
She wiggles upward so she can peek through spaces in the bones and bags, she spots the wendigo's arm lift into the air before grabbing the back of Bella's coat. The young girl screams loudly, fear prominent in her voice.
"Bella!" Dakota gasps, the monster stills and looks around with Bella hanging from it's grasp.
Dakota reaches up with her hand, searching until she grasps a giant rock and she clutches it. She rears her arm back before throwing it forward as hard as she can, it sails through the air and crashes into the wendigo's head.
The wendigo throws it's head back and releases a loud, angry roar, shaking the entire cave so much that rocks start to break off from the walls and roll down. Dakota whimpers as the sound reverberates throughout her skull, she clutches her head in her bloodied hands, digging through stones has started to really tear at her skin.
She holds her breath as the monster loses interest and trying to find who threw the rock, it wheels around with Bella still in it's hold.
"Dakota! Help me! Dakota!" Bella screams out, her wide teary eyes lock onto her best friend's pleading with her to help her.
"B-Bella." Dakota sobs quietly, watching sadly as there was nothing she could do for her best friend.
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Dean and Sam trudge through the trees, occasionally smacking some out of their way. Their eyes sweeping the treeline, hoping to see a flash of blonde hair or something.
"Dakota!" Dean screams loudly, his voice echoing through the forest. The skin around his green eyes was red and slightly swollen, making his already bright green eyes stand out more.
"Kota! Dakota!" Sam calls out, joining his brother.
"Kota! Baby, it's okay! Come out! You're safe!"
"Bug! Dakota!"
"Dakota!" Bobby shouts, following the two Winchesters through the trees towards the campsite.
"Baby! Please, come out!" Dean's voice cracks as they break through the clearing into the campsite, there was police tape around it, but the tents were still there.
They crouch under the tape and spread out through the site. Dean walks over to the biggest tent, there's claw marks and blood lining the tent. He glances down at the ground, falling to his knees when he notices something.
"Oh, God." He gasps, his hand shakes as he reaches it out, his fingers brushing against the object.
"Dean?!" Sam calls out, rushing over to his older brother and bending down beside him. He sucks in a sharp breath at what Dean's holding.
Dakota's shoes was held loosely in his hand, blood splattering the front of it and smeared on the side of.
"B-baby?" Dean stutters, tears lining his cheeks quickly.
Sam looks away from the bloody shoe, not wanting to stare at it any longer, his eyes fall on claw marks slashed against a tree.
"Dean." He mumbles, hitting Dean's shoulder. Dean shoves him away, but Sam's not taking no for an answer. "Dean, look!" He hisses sharply, hitting Dean again.
Dean groans and follows Sam's line of sight towards the tree. He drops the shoe, rushing over to the tree and brushing his fingers over the mark. They were eerily familiar to both Winchesters, even Bobby could piece together what it was.
"Wendigo." Dean mutters, his eyes scanning the trees for more marks.
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Dakota's lips quiver, in sadness or fear she couldn't tell, she pushes herself out of the bones. Her hands shake slightly as she pulls a bag closer to her, unzipping it and searching inside. She feels like that's all she's been doing this entire time, searching through bags that are useless.
She sighs and rubs at her face, her classmates are crying and saying that they're next. It was starting to wear on Dakota, the situation. Being trapped in a room full of crying kids, waiting to either be rescued or killed next.
"Quiet!" Dakota screams angrily, running her hands through her hair, blood matted her hair together at the scalp. Silence engulfs the room Dakota's classmates are too shocked to say anything. "Everyone be quiet. We're getting out of here! Just give me a couple minutes of silence." She orders sharply.
The class whimper but ultimately nod their heads, some even place their hands over their mouths to ensure silence. Dakota sighs heavily and nods her head in reply, wheeling around and resuming her search for something helpful.
"Okay, okay, okay. It's okay, Dakota, you're okay." She says to herself, pulling more food packets and water bottles from the bag. She pushes the stock she's piled up towards her classmates, they all scramble towards the pile. They each grab a water bottle and start chugging it. "Slow down! Save it!" She orders them.
The class slow down, some even pull the bottle away from their lips. She crawls over the pile, deciding to move to the back of the all the bags. Her knee places itself on a skull as she crawls, the skull rolls from under her and her knee cap slams into the stone. She yelps in pain, rolling on her side and holding her knee. Small pebbles are stuck deep into her skin, blood blooms from around them. She cries at the pain flaring in her knee, she tries to straighten it but ends up screaming.
She curls up, holding her knee and crying. She wants her dad, she wants Sammy. She's sick of being the responsible among the kids and keeping them in place.
A long roar echoes through the cave, causing Dakota to stop crying and sit up in her spot. She quickly continues to crawl to the back, telling her friends to hide better this time. She ignores the pain in her knee and practically tackles the back, unzipping it and quickly searching inside. Her fingers brush against hard plastic, she pulls it out and nearly starts to cry again at the sight of the flare gun. She grips in her hand at the same time something grabs onto her arm.
A scream escapes her mouth, the loud sound reflects off the walls of the wave, sending it back at her. The wendigo's claws dig into her arm, she can feel blood flow and drip down her skin. She kicks her feet, her instincts kick in and she starts screaming as loud as she can, pain laces her voice.
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Sam, Dean, and Bobby trek through the woods, following the claws marks scratched onto trees. Dean taking the lead with Sam behind him and Bobby bringing up the rear, the three of them have guns in their hands but they're aware it won't do much. None of them brought a flare gun or any type of fire.
Dean's about to say something when an ear piercing scream shatters the silence in the woods, the older Winchester's eyes blow wide as he recognizes that scream. He stutter-steps and stumbles into a tree.
"Dakota!" He shouts, pushing himself off the tree and sprinting through the woods, following the scream. Sam calls out his name, running behind him and almost over taking him quickly. "Dakota! Baby!"
Dakota's scream sounds out again, Dean speeds up his pace as he follows the sound. A pang pierces through his chest as he hears the fear and the pain in her voice.
"Dean, up there!" Sam yells, throwing his arm out to point at cave like structure in the side of a small mountain.
"It's the old coal mine, closed down long time ago." Bobby explains, they peel back boards that are covering the entrance. The two Winchesters and Bobby quickly pull out their flashlights and enter the mine.
"Split up." Dean orders, taking off in a direction before they could protest.
"Dean!" Sam hisses rushing after him, telling Bobby to go in the other direction.
Dakota screams again, more pained this time. Dean calls out her name, running toward the sound. He turns the corner and spots Dakota, in front of her is the wendigo with it's claws wrapped around her arm dragging her through the mine. She cries out, kicking her feet and pointing something at the wendigo.
"Hey!" Dean yells as loud as he can, Dakota's head whips around towards the sound.
"Dad!" She calls back, wiggling more in the wendigo's grasp. Dean shouts again and the wendigo drops her, roaring and turning to face Dean.
Dakota scrambles away, clutching the flare gun in her hand tightly.
"Hey ugly!" She screams angrily, sitting up with her legs out and holding up the flare gun, pointing it towards the wendigo.
It spins back around and she presses the trigger. The flare shoots through the air and hits the wendigo's stomach, the monster starts wailing as it's engulfed in flames.
It a couple short moments the wendigo is gone, leaving Dakota and Dean staring at each other in shock. Dakota collapses backwards, her chest heaving for air.
"Kota." Dean murmurs, rushing over to his daughter. She starts to cry, emotionally and physically exhausted. "Shh, shh, it's okay."
"Dean! Dean!" Sam shouts, finally catching up to his older brother, he spots his niece wrapped in Dean's arms.
"We gotta go, baby, come on." Dean says gently, Dean stands up and helps Dakota to her feet.
"T-the others...t-they're here." Dakota stutters as she grips onto Dean's jacket tightly.
"Where? Can you show us?" Sam questions, placing his hand on Dakota's shoulder.
Dakota nods, going to take a step forward but collapses with a pained cry.
"What? Baby, what it is?" Dean asks concerned, crouching down beside Dakota.
"M-my knee." She answers quickly, her hand covering her knee as her lower lip wobbles.
Dean lifts her up into his arms, cradling her and waving Sam in front of him.
"Okay, bug, where's the kids?" Sam questions, she points her arm out towards the way Bobby ran. "Bobby!"
"I got them!" Bobby calls back, he appears a moment later with 10 kids around seven years old.
"D-daddy..." Dakota mumbles, laying her head on Dean's shoulder tiredly.
"Yeah, baby?" He urges, following Sam, Bobby, and the group of kids out of the mine.
"It got Bella. S-she kept screaming for me, asking me to help her, but I couldn't do anything." She explains quietly. "It got another one, I-I couldn't tell who."
Dean doesn't say anything, he simply just holds her tighter as she begins to cry again.
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All the kids groan as the sunlight hits their eyes, they spent too long in the mine where it was dark. Bobby calls an ambulance to get them all checked out, all them were bleeding in at least one spot. Dakota's hand were skinned, her knee was bloody and bruised, her head was bleeding a couple different spots. They clean the blood from her face, bandaging her cuts on her hands and face.
Dakota perches on the Impala's hood, her hair looks light brown from all the dirt and blood that's tangled in her hair. Her expression blank as the wind tousles her hair gently.
"You okay, bug?" Sam questions, looking over at her and laying a hand on her shoulder. She looks over at him, her eyes look like they're looking past him like she's thinking heavily about something.
"For the first time ever, I actually feel like a hunter." She replies, a small smile curl at her lips before disappearing quickly. "I couldn't save them, Sammy, I didn't even try hard. I-it took Bella and I threw a rock at it, I didn't try hard enough."
"You can't save everyone, Kota, there's been people that Dean and I couldn't save in time. It's not your fault, you saved 10 other kids, you did good. It was your first solo hunt and you're eight, you can't save everyone."
Dakota stares at him for a couple moments before nodding her head at him, reluctantly agreeing with his words. She knew that Dean wasn't able to save people before, she sat with him and held his hand while he beat himself up over it.
"He's right, baby." Dean says, walking over to them and smiling at his daughter. "You were so brave, braver than I was on my first solo hunt and I was twenty-four when dad finally let me." Dean chuckles at himself, wrapping an arm around Dakota's shoulders and pulling her into him.
"I detest school." She mutters. "I'm a hunter, dad, not a student." She pulls away far enough to look at him.
"Well...I guess you need training now don't you?" Dean asks, looking down at her with a smile.
Dakota grins up at him, everything falls into place for her. Dean's finally going to train her to be a hunter and not ship her off to Bobby to go to school, she regretted that choice almost immediately after stepping a foot in that horrid place.
"Can we go now? I hate these kids." Dakota states bluntly. They glance down at her, chuckling at her words.
Dean lifts Dakota up, her knee wrapped up making it hard for her to move it, he pauses his movements before grinning over at Sam and Bobby. They look at him suspiciously, he walks over and places Dakota in the passenger seat, the other two men give unamused looks.
"Hey, she earned it." Dean shrugs, walking over to the drivers side to get in.
Bobby and Sam exchange a look and shrug. They get in and Dean pulls away from the ambulances and concerned parents.
He was right, she did deserve this.
word count: 5602
This is the longest chapter I've written. The next chapter will be the last chapter of this book!
What do you think of this chapter?
Edited 6/11/19