ta-daaaa
not dead
four
"And the werewolf?" Sam asked, obviously trying to get his mind off Jessica and the wendigo. And of course, wanting to get to know his brother in law.
"I had followed the evidence to where Fenrir was. See when my friend, Remus, was bitten, he was only a kid. His parents would lock him up on full moons and he continued to do it to himself when he became of age and his parents had died."
The younger Winchester rose his eyebrows, surprised to how a monstrous creature had learned to live among society without killing anyone.
"I can tell you're thinking he was a monster, Sam. But he actually taught my class when I was thirteen. And then I found out he was one of my Dad's best friends. He was brave and about to be a father."
"Where's-"
"I'm Teddy's godfather, but right now he's with my best friend and her old as dirt husband."
"Old as..."
"He's a vampire. I come from a very different world, mate." Harry then put on a funny voice, "'You know nothing, Sam Winchester...'"
The younger of the two snorted, "So Fenrir?"
"I found him in a little girl's room, about to give her the bite and I was just about to get him when guess who comes barreling through the door waving a shotgun in the air?"
Sam let out a small laugh even though he probably shoudn't've.
"The asshole jumps through the window and Dee and I stare at each other for like a minute before we're both after him."
"What happened next?"
"It took us another day to track the bastard down. Your dad was there the moment we killed him. Fenrir was about to take a chunk outta your sister when I tackled him away and just about decapitated the monster with a silver knife."
"Thank you, Harry." Sam looked grateful.
"It's no problem, mate. Apparently, John had heard of me and didn't think I was that good of a hunter until I saved his daughter's life."
"Wow."
"Yep."
Sam opened his mouth to ask another question when Deanna walked over, sitting between the two of them. She turned to her brother, "You wanna tell me what's going on in that freaky head of yours?"
The younger Winchester sighed, "Deanna-"
But she cut him off, "No, you're not fine. You're like a powder keg, man, it's not like you. I'm supposed to be the belligerent one, remember?"
The brief pause was cut with Harry's quiet, "True."
The blonde sent a glare at him, then looked back at her brother when he started, "Dad's not here. I mean, that much we know for sure, right? He would have left us a message, a sign, right?"
"He's right, Dee."
Deanna sighed, defeated, "Yeah. Tell you the truth, I don't think Dad's ever been to Lost Creek."
"Then let's get these people back to town and let's hit the road. Go find Dad."
Harry leant forward to look his wide in the eyes, "Why are we still even here?"
She stood up and held out the book, so the two could both see it, "This is why. This book. This is Dad's single most valuable possession-everything he knows about every evil thing is in here. And he's passed it on to us. I think he wants us to pick up where he left off. You know, saving people, hunting things. The family business."
The Master of Death sucked in a deep breath while Sam just shook his head, "That makes no sense. Why doesn't he just call us? Why doesn't he tell us what he wants, tell us where he is?"
"I dunno. But the way I see it, Dad's giving us a job to do, and I intend to do it."
"Come on, Dee-"
Sam cut Harry off, "Deanna...no. I gotta find Dad. I gotta find Jessica's killer. It's the only thing I can think about."
"Okay, all right, Sam, we'll find them, I promise. Listen to me. You've gotta prepare yourself. I mean, this search could take a while, and all that anger, you can't keep it burning over the long haul. It's gonna kill you. You gotta have patience, man."
The younger Winchester dropped his gaze to the leaf littered ground, then to Harry, then to his sister's face, "How do you two do it? How does Dad do it?"
Deanna turned her head to Haley and Ben, "Well for one, them."
Her brother followed her eyes and Harry nudged him with his shoulder, "We save so many lives, mate. Keep the monsters away so no one gets hurt."
"I mean, I figure our family's so screwed to hell, maybe we can help some others. Makes things a little bit more bearable."
A small pause then Deanna started again, "I'll tell you what else helps."
Sam and Harry looked the older Winchester, "Killing as many evil sons of bitches as I possibly can."
The youngest smiled and the wizard shook his head, amused. He opened his mouth but then a twig snapped.
"Help me! Please!"
Deanna looked around, her gun ready and Harry stood with his hand on his thigh, the Elder Wand humming with anticipation.
"Help!"
Sam then shone a torch into the trees around them.
Harry then tried to soothe them all, "He's trying to draw us out. Just stay cool, stay put."
Roy scoffed, "Inside the magic circle?"
"Help! Help me!"
A deep, savage growl echoed out from the trees and the deer hunter aims his rifle, "Okay, that's no grizzly."
Haley turned to Ben, "It's okay. You'll be all right, I promise."
Something huge then rushed past, making the girl shriek with fear.
Sam then murmured, "It's here."
Roy fired off a round into the bushes, then again, "I hit it!" He raced off.
Harry called after him, "Roy, no! Roy!" Then he too followed the idiot.
"Harry!" Deanna yelled, she turned to Haley and Ben and growled at them, "Don't move." She scrambled afternoon her husband with Sam right behind her.
"It's over here! It's in the tree!"
A huge creature, the Wendigo, reached down from the tree in a split second and snapped the deer hunter's neck.
The wizard shouted, "Roy!"
From behind, Deanna suddenly crashed into Harry hugging him tightly, her breathing uneven. He moved around so he could he hug her back, pressing a kiss into her dirty blonde hair and quietly, oh so quietly, she whimpered, "Don't do that again."
"I'm sorry, love." He whispered back.
Completely oblivious to his sister's almost breakdown, Sam shone the flashlight amongst the trees, finding nothing again.
:3
Sam was leaning against a tree stump, playing with a cord around his neck, holding John's journal. Deanna looked slightly shaken and hadn't let go of Harry's arm since returning to camp.
They, Haley and Ben stood amongst the tents as Haley practically whined, "I don't...I mean, these types of things, they aren't supposed to be real."
Harry shrugged one shoulder, "I wish I could tell you different."
The girl looked out at the trees, "How do we know it's not out there watching us?"
"We don't," Deanna grumbled, steeling herself. She doesn't act like this, she doesn't. But...seeing Harry run off and knowing the possibility he could have been killed...
"We're safe for now." The black haired man soothed.
"How do you know about this stuff?"
The married couple turned to each other, both debating what they should say.
"Kind of runs in the family," Deanna finally answered and Harry smiled inwardly. She still considered him family...
"Hey," Sam walked over to the small group and Haley stood up, "So we've got half a chance in the daylight. And I for one want to kill this evil son of a bitch."
"Well, hell, you know we're in." Deanna squeezed Harry's hand before trudging over to her brother.
The tall Winchester showed Haley and Ben the page of the wendigo in John's journal, "'Wendigo' is a Cree Indian word. It means 'evil that devours'."
"They're hundreds of years old. Each one was once a man. Sometimes an Indian, or other times a frontiersman or a miner or hunter." Deanna added.
"How's a man turn into one of those things?" Haley gave the book a wary look.
Deanna picked a few things up from the ground as Harry continued the explanation, "Well, it's always the Same. During some harsh winter, a guy finds himself starving, cut off from supplies or help. Becomes a cannibal to survive, eating other members of his tribe or camp."
"Like the Donner Party," Ben stated, finally breaking his silence.
"Cultures all over the world believe that eating human flesh gives a person certain abilities. Speed, strength, immortality." The younger Winchester went on.
"If you eat enough of it, over the years, you become this less than human thing. You're always hungry," Harry explained as Deanna kept bending down to pick things up.
"So if that's true, how can Tommy still be alive?"
"You're not gonna like it." Deanna stretched out, her voice slightly muffled.
Harry glanced at Sam, then back to Haley.
"Tell me." She practically demanded.
"More than anything, a wendigo knows how to last long winters without food," Harry started, "It hibernates for years at a time, but when it's awake it keeps its victims alive. It, uh, it stores them, so it can feed whenever it wants. If your brother's alive, it's keeping him somewhere dark, hidden, and safe. We gotta track it back there."
"And then how do we stop it?"
"Well, guns are useless, so are knives." Harry crossed his arms.
"Basically-" Deanna finally stood, holding a can of lighter fluid, a beer bottle and the piece of cloth she'd grabbed from the ground, "We gotta torch the sucker."
:3
Deanna led the way through the woods, a Molotov cocktail in hand while Haley and Ben followed behind with Sam and Harry bringing up the rear. Almost every tree they passed had either claw marks, blood or both.
About half a day later, Sam and Harry now were in the lead and Deanna was the last in line.
"Dee." The wizard called with a suspicious look on his face as the younger Winchester looked around, wary of their position in the forest.
The blonde jogged forward, stopping between the two of them, "What is it?"
The three gazed around at the trees again, the claw marks and broken branches even more noticeable.
"You know, I was thinking," Sam looked at Harry who stared back at him, "those claw prints, so clear and distinct."
"It's way too easy, love." The black haired man clenched his jaw, turning his green eyes to Deanna.
A deep growl had the trio swing around to see the trees rustle... right above Haley. Blood dropped down right onto her shirt and suddenly, a body thumped down from the branches onto the leaf littered ground. Right where she had just stood.
Deanna and Harry stepped closer to get a look at the corpse, Roy, and Sam walked over to a fallen Haley and shocked Ben.
"You okay? You got it?"
"His neck's broke." Harry scratched the back of his head. Despite doing the master of death, he didn't always appreciate being near the dead.
The younger Winchester helped the girl up when more growls filled the area.
Panicking, Deanna yelled, "Okay, run, run, run, run, go, go, go!"
They all split, taking off at full speed. Ben tripped on a root and the Winchesters both stopped to pick the boy up, the group now split in two, "S'all right. We gotcha, we gotcha."
:3
Haley had hold of Harry's arm when they came a halt.
Right in front of them stood the wendigo.
"Well, hello gorgeous."
The girl screamed.
:3
Not too far away, Ben perked up, "Haley?"
The brother and sister duo stopped to pick up Deanna's Molotov cocktail, the bottle broken.
Her eyes wide, the blonde spun around to look through trees, "Harry!"
:3
Sam, Deanna and Ben trudged through the undergrowth, hopefully in the right direction.
"If it keeps its victims alive, why would it kill Roy?" The boy asked.
"Honestly?" The older Winchester sighed, "I think because Roy shot at it, pissed it off."
Ben bent down to pick up a peanut M&M, "They went this way."
The two hunters came up behind him, Sam taking the small lolly.
Deanna scowled lightly, "That bastard did take my M&Ms. I knew it."
Sam huffed a laugh, "Better than breadcrumbs."
He tossed it to the side and about fifteen minutes later they came to the entrance of an old mine with an aged sign saying, 'WARNING! DANGER! DO NOT ENTER EXTREMELY TOXIC MATERIAL.'
The blonde Winchester took in a deep breath as Sam looked to Ben. Deanna practically on in with her brother and the boy right behind them, all of them ignoring the 'KEEP OUT NO ADMITTANCE.' sign.
:3
Sam shined a flashlight ahead of them over Deanna's shoulder, her intent to first in line really annoying him.
Growling echoed through the tunnel they were in and the blonde shoved them back into a wall, her arms spread wide to hold them against it and Sam covering Ben's mouth before he could scream.
The Wendigo prowled past them and turning the corner into another tunnel.
Deanna closed her eyes, taking in a breath before they were off again until floorboards underneath them creaked loudly and the next second all three of them crashed through them.
Landing in a pile of bones.
A large pile of skulls made the boy jump back in fright, making Sam step over to him, "Hey, it's okay, it's okay, it's okay."
The three then look up to see Harry and Haley hanging by their wrists from the ceiling.
The Winchesters rush to the wizard and Ben to Haley.
"Harry!" Deanna grabs his shirt.
"Haley, wake up!"
"Harry!" She tries again, this time slapping him hard across the face.
He grunts, his eyes flying wide open and Sam then asked, "Hey, you okay?"
The man blinked a few times then winced, his gaze flickering between his wife and his brother in law, "Yeah."
Ben took hold of his sister's face, "Haley, Haley, wake up, wake up!"
Sam cut Harry down and Deanna helped the youngest Collins cut down the older. She helped him pull Haley over to an empty patch of floor with the younger Winchester close behind with the green eyed man.
They help them over to an empty patch of floor and get them sat down.
Harry groaned a little and Sam put his hand on his shoulder, "You sure you're all right?"
Deanna scowled and crossed her arms, "He's fine."
Her husband rose an eyebrow at her then looked at Sam, "Where is he?"
"He's gone for now."
Haley pulled the rest of the rope off from her wrists and stood up, seeing her older brother still hanging from the ceiling and tears began to drip down her face, "Tommy..."
She reached up to touch his cheek when suddenly he jerked to life, making her jump back with a small shriek. The girl then spun around, "Cut him down!"
Deanna cuts him down, Haley catching her brother's weakened body. She whispered into his ear, "We're gonna get you home."
Harry stood up slowly and rolled his head, cracking his neck. The blonde Winchester then spun around and punched him the chest, making him grunt painfully.
"What did I tell you?!"
The man sighed, "Not to do 'that' again."
"And what did you do?!"
"Did 'that' again."
She punched him the chest again, anger turning her face a light red, "I am soooo pissed at you right now."
The older hunter turned around and saw everything that had been stolen the day before was all stacked in the corner of the dark room.
As the blonde walked over to the packs, Sam elbowed Harry with a teasing smirk. The older rolled his eyes and elbowed him back.
Picking up something, Deanna then turned again to show them her prize, "Check it out."
Sam looked at them, "Flare Guns. Those'll work."
He and Harry grinned at each other as Deanna laughed, twirling the guns in her hands.
:3
Heading down a tunnel, the Winchesters in front, Ben and Haley holding Tommy up between them and Harry in the back, they were quick and cautious.
Until growls filled the tunnel.
"Looks like someone's home for dinner," Harry cracked.
Haley whimpered, "We'll never outrun it."
Deanna looked back them all then to Sam, "You thinking what I'm thinking?"
Her brother nodded, "Yeah, I think so."
She nodded once, "All right, listen to me. Stay with Sam and Harry. They'll gonna get you out of here."
Said man's gaze shot to her, "Dee... what are you gonna do?"
The Winchester winked at him, "You're not the only one with a hero's complex, Hare."
He made a face and walked up to stand in front of her, his mouth open to say something, but she spun around and walked off, yelling, "Chow time, you freaky bastard! Yeah, that's right, bring it on, baby, I taste good."
Her words trail off the further away she gets.
Harry grumbled under his breath, "Stubborn woman," then looked at Sam, "She does."
The younger Winchester made a disgusted face, grossed out, "Urgh. Didn't need to hear that."
The black haired man peered around the corner to see if the coast was clear. He nodded at Sam who then turned to the three siblings behind them, "All right, come on! Hurry!"
The Collinses followed the two down the tunnel.
:3
"Hey! Hey, you want some white meat, bitch! I'm right here!"
:3
Harry and Sam, Haley, Ben and Tommy hurried down the tunnel, the growling behind them growing louder.
The wizard pointed his wand while Sam aimed his gun, both towards the sound. The younger dropped his gun to look at the Collins siblings, Harry's wand still trained on the threatening sound.
"Get him outta here." Harry then uttered to the three.
Haley shook her head, "Harry, no."
But Sam had none of it, "Go! Go! Go!"
"Come on, Haley!" Ben pleaded, breaking the girl's stance and the two of them carried their brother down the mine tunnel.
The Winchester joined his sister's husband again, the flare gun ready to shoot, looking down the tunnel.
"Come on. Come on." Harry mumbled as the growling grew even closer.
But...it was behind them.
They spun around, the Wendigo right in their face.
Both of them fired, both of them missing, leaving the two to chase after the Collinses.
"Harry! Sam!" Haley called as they caught up.
"Move it, people!" Harry yelled.
"Come on, hurry, hurry, hurry." Sam added.
They reach the end of the tunnel trapped with the Wendigo right on their tails.
"Get behind us." The younger Winchester and the Master of Death hid all three of the Collinses behind them as the Wendigo approached slowly, dragging everything out when-
"Hey!"
The thing spun around to see Deanna, who fired the flare gun landing the pellet right in its stomach. It screeched loudly as fire overcame its body, lighting up like a Christmas tree.
She grinned at the five of the others, "Not bad, Huh?"
Sam grinned back and Harry rolled his eyes, but the hint of a smirk pulled at his lips.
:3
Deanna stood in front of Harry with her arms crossed, her hazel eyes narrowed and her beautiful face twisted into a scowl. Her husband learnt against the Impala door, his hands in his pockets and a teasing smirk on his lips that always made the Winchester's heart flutter.
But not today.
Haley, Tommy and Ben were all packed up in one of the ambulances, so it was just them and Sam, who was minding his own business elsewhere.
"You-"
"I'm sorry."
The Winchester looked startled, "Huh?"
"I shouldn't've rushed off like that, I shouldn't've split from you the second time and," Harry stood up straight, a head taller than Deanna, "I'm sorry I didn't listen to you that very first time."
The blonde frowned.
"I was gonna tell you, Dee, I was. But your reaction was exactly what I was afraid of. You wanted me gone, so I left," he gently took her face into his rough, calloused hands, "I love you with all my heart, body and soul, love, until the day I die. So if you'll have me, I'll follow you to the ends of the earth."
The man kissed his wife, a small peck, promising many things and when he stepped back their eyes met.
And Deanna punched him, square in the chest.
Harry grunted painfully, bending over slightly.
"I'm still mad at you."
The Winchester walked around him to sit beside her brother on the hood of the car and the wizard soon joined them, sitting on Sam's other side.
Deanna sighed, "Man, I hate camping."
Harry nodded and Sam added, "Me too."
The sounds of the ambulance sirens faded as they drove away and the older Winchester looked at her brother, "Sam, you know we're gonna find Dad, right?"
"Yeah, I know. But in the meantime? I'm driving."
"Wha-? Bu-?" Harry stuttered as the blond threw the keys.
She then turned to the green eyed pain in her ass and pointed at him, "You're in the back."
The two siblings then got in the car, their doors clamming shut almost at the same time, while the wizard pouted and grumbled as he obeyed his wife.
'Why try? I know why.'
The Impala rumbled to life and they were on the road again.
'My ship isn't coming and I just can't pretend,
My ship isn't coming and I just can't pretend.'