WENDIGO [PART ONE]
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"That's a boring game! Dat's a game for babies! And bewides you just want me to be wiet!"
—
"Right! That's it!"

• • •

"Harlow I swear, if you don't cut that out, you're going into time out as soon as we stop this car!"

Juliet sighs and rubs a hand over her face as she groans, starting to feel a headache coming on. Harlow, who's been in a mood all day, continues to kick the back of the driver's seat as Dean tries his best to stay concentrated on driving down the highway, not wanting to crash the car.

However, the young girl doesn't think about the consequences, and instead, opts to ignore her father as he reprimands her for her actions. Juliet's tried to work with Harlow, trying to get the little girl to stop misbehaving but all her attempts at getting the child to calm down and telling her off had resulted in the five-year-old lashing out and hitting her mother, as the older woman tried to take the more gentle approach when telling the youngest Winchester off.

However, Harlow decided not to compromise with the gentle approach and that's where Dean decided that he would take over. The eldest hunter had been trying to get Harlow to listen and stop being difficult since the early morning and Harlow wasn't happy with her father now being the one on her case.

So, now she sits in the back of the infamous Impala, legs outstretched as they can be as she continuously kicks the left side of the front bench seat, otherwise known as the driver's side...more specifically, Dean's side.

The said man clenches his teeth, his back thumping against the back of his seat as Harlow's kicks became harder and more powerful.

Left foot, right foot.

Left foot, right foot.

Left foot, right foot.

The dirty blonde doesn't know how much more he can take of Harlow's attitude before he explodes. However, there is one thing he does know for sure, his back is sure gonna be aching tomorrow, with how hard the girl kicks are, he wouldn't be surprised if foot-shaped bruises appear on his mid to lower back the next day.

Sam sits next to his brother, riding shotgun. The taller man's body is hunched over as he sleeps on the front bench seat. Juliet and Harlow occupy the back, the latter stretched across her car seat to reach the back of the seat in front of her. The former of the two that sit in the back, cradles her head in her hands, questioning why Harlow had to choose today of all day's to make everything difficult.

The brunette looks up and tilts her head as she eyes the man on the passenger side of the front seat, wondering how he can sleep through Dean's shouting on top of Harlow's kicking.

The little girl had been playing up since the family of four left the motel in Stanford and both parents know she's not going to stop misbehaving anytime soon. Dean and Juliet knew, from the minute they woke up, that today's not going to be an easy one, they should have stayed in bed.

Dean flicks his eyes from the road to the rearview mirror. Having distinguished the look on his daughter's face, he knows what's about to happen. Dean narrows his eyes, waiting for the moment Harlow's green eyes meet his.

Harlow, knowing that she shouldn't due to all the times her parents have told her not to, opens her mouth, not caring about the scolding she will get from both her mother and father, the Winchester child feels someones gaze on her and looks up, meeting Dean's hard stare in the rearview mirror.

The twenty-six-year-old raises his eyebrow, daring the youngest Winchester to disobey him while also silently warning his only child with a shake of his head but it seems like the youngest Winchester could care less. Harlow shakes her head at her father as if to say No, I'm not listening to you.

"No! I wanted to sway in Stanward!"

She then continues to stamp her feet against her father's seat, Dean rolls his eyes as her kicks become more and more aggressive the longer she's ignored. The bench seat is the only thing that's stopping Harlow's feet from colliding with his back, straight on. At least he can use the bench seat as some kind of protection.

Dean silently curses himself, he should have known that challenging his daughter wouldn't help the situation, as it seems to do the opposite of what he wanted to happen. The older Winchester's pointed look, instead, causes the child to become more frustrated with her father. The green-eyed man shakes his head, hating the fact that his daughter has both his and Juliet's stubbornness as well as their knack for not listening to others.

On one hand, the supernatural hunter is amazed at how fearless Harlow can be, whereas on the other hand, his daughter's lack of fear and the sudden nerve she has to talk back to her father infuriates him. Knowing that Harlow is aware that out of both of her parents, Dean is the one most likely to break a fuse when Harlow won't listen to anyone, including her mother.

The older Winchester tries his best to control his annoyance. However, his attempt at controlling the irritation that continues to build up is futile. Dean curls his fingers around the steering wheel, his knuckles starting to turn white because of his vice-like grip on the object. Aggravation towards his daughter starts to bubble up inside of him, he feels the hold on his emotions start to loosen and it isn't long before Dean decides that enough is enough.

The glare that is on the male hunters face, intensifies as he looks at his daughter's matching expression as father and daughter challenge each other, once again.

"Enough! We couldn't stay at Stanford! Meaning, you'll just have to suck it up and quit complaining!"

Harlow's face starts to become red as she groans in annoyance, inwardly seething as Dean berates her for her non-stop whining. The five-year-old is about to explode as her face becomes redder and redder the more she loses her temper.

Juliet notices this, too and quickly thinks of a solution to keep her daughter from throwing a temper tantrum which will, no doubt result in Dean becoming angrier to the point where he might hit the roof, which certainly would make matters worse.

The brunette turns and faces her daughter as an idea pops into her head. Trying her best to push past her pounding headache, Juliet smiles at the five-year-old and dramatically widens her eyes as she lets an exaggerated gasp slip past her lips, doing her best to not let the wince that wants to pull her face, show.

The little girl snaps her head in her mother's direction, Juliet's sudden reaction catches Harlow's attention. The brunette silently sighs, holding back the smile of victory that's tugging at the corners of her mouth. The twenty-three-year-old internally jumps for joy as Harlow takes the bait.

"I just thought of an amazing game we can play."

The huntress watches as the Winchester child processes her words before she tilts her head, an inquisitive look on her little, freckled face.

"What dame?"

Juliet clears her throat, hoping that tricking the young Winchester girl will work.

"A game called who can sit still and stay quiet the longest, ready? Go!"

But alas, the woman's aim to trick her daughter into silence, is just as ineffective as Dean's attempt was when trying to reign in his temper. The mother's point is proven by the grumpy look that's once again, back on Harlow's face.

The little girl crosses her arms as the glare that changed into a curious expression, is back on her face but this time, her heated gaze is now directed at her mother and not her father. The child's tantrum, that Juliet was hoping to diffuse, starts to emerge, again.

However, this time the child's tantrum is, somehow, worse than the first outburst that Juliet had tried to unsuccessfully prevent by attempting--and failing--to divert the child's attention, elsewhere.

"That's a boring dame! Dat's a dame for babies! And bewides you just want me to be wiet!"

Dean, noticing Juliet rubbing her temple, decides to take over. The green-eyed man scoffs as he flicks his eyes to the rearview mirror, looking at the child's face that's starting to turn red like before. The older Winchester brother sets his mouth in a thin line, looking at Harlow as a stern expression starts to take shape upon his face, letting her know that her tantrums won't work on him.

Desperately wanting to put an end to his daughter's backtalk, Dean decides one final attempt on getting his five-year-old to remain quiet. The dirty blonde's tone becomes stricter with the reddish-brown-haired child that's too stubborn for her own good.

"You are still a baby in my eyes, ma'am. Yes, that's exactly what we want you to do. You're giving your Mom a headache." Harlow huffs and sulks at her dad's words before kicking the driver's seat one last time. The Winchester offspring makes sure to kick the back of her father's seat with as much force as her little legs can muster.

"Right! That's it!"

Dean pulls off the road and cuts of the Impala's engine. Having to no longer put all his attention into not crashing, the dirty blonde-haired man turns around and faces Harlow, giving her his full attention, his heated expression matching his daughter's. The green-eyed hunter points a finger at Harlow, a fierce as well as fed up look appearing in his eyes.

The eldest Winchester stares at his daughter, daring her to say one more word as he did before.

Knowing that she shouldn't ignore this warning or rise to her father's challenging gaze, Harlow opts to keep quiet and instead swallow the rude words she desperately wants to say and call her father as she internally groans, finding her father's reaction a little on the extreme side. Also, thinking that Dean telling her off is uncalled for.

"Will you stop being so difficult and, for once, listen to what your mother and I tell you. I've had it up to here with you and your stubbornness! Stop trying to challenge me and for the last time, stop back talking the both of us! When will you learn that you're the kid and we're the adults? I do not want to hear another peep out of you for the rest of the journey, ya understand me?"

Harlow nods her head, her heated gaze remaining in her forest-green eyes, the same shade of green that her father's eyes have. The hot-tempered father of one turns back around in his seat, turning the keys that are in the ignition.

Dean revs the engine of the sleek black car before driving back onto the highway, carrying on with the drive that's now peaceful.

Harlow leans back in her seat, bored out of her mind. The young Winchester child leans her head against the stone-cold window, watching as the boring, plain, gloomy and not at all colorful world flies past her window in a blur.

Dean turns up the volume on the radio as his younger brother shoots up from the passenger side of the front bench seat, his eyes wide as he tries to get his bearings.

Dean glances at his younger brother, the hard and annoyed expression that remains on his face due to Harlow being a pain in his ass, immediately dissolves and turns to concern the minute he lays his eyes on Sam.

Juliet's face mirrors her boyfriend's, the couple both have the same worrisome expressions on their faces. Sam sighs as he notices this, already knowing the questions his brother and best friend will undoubtedly be circling in both of their heads, questions that the hunter and huntress will, without a doubt, ask him as they do the thing he doesn't want them to do, worry about him.

"You okay, Sammy?"

Sam glances at Juliet in the rearview mirror and gives her a small smile before nodding. "Yeah, I'm fine."

Dean glances at his brother before looking back towards the road he's driving down. "Another nightmare?" Sam clears his throat, opting not to say anything. The younger Winchester brother doesn't want to worry the couple and likes to keep his nightmares to himself, not ready to open up about it, even if they're the two people he cares about, most. However, that's not saying he would forever keep it from them.

Dean glances at Sam from the corner of his eye, making sure to still keep his attention on the road, not wanting to crash his beloved classic car.

The eldest Winchester's not an idiot, he knows his brother like the back of his hand, hell he practically raised him when he was a boy. Meaning, he can always tell when something is on the taller man's mind, it's one of his advantages when it comes to either annoying Sam or comforting him.

Mainly used for annoying his younger brother, but that's not the point.

While multitasking, a thought pops into the eldest Winchester's head. Silently, he considers whether or not to speak the idea that he plucked out of thin air. After one more glance towards his younger brother, Dean decides that there's no harm in him at least trying to distract his freakishly tall brother.

The dirty blonde clears his throat, his gaze bouncing between Sam and the road ahead.

"You wanna drive for a while?"

Sam laughs in disbelief as he turns to his older brother, his request taking him by surprise. Although she hides it, Juliet is also the tiniest bit shocked, the woman never having heard those words be uttered from her boyfriend's mouth, ever.

Still, the brown-eyed huntress can't stop the smile from tugging at the corners of her mouth. While Dean likes to put up a front and pretend that he's this emotionless hunter who's built an unbreakable wall around himself, Juliet knows better and always has. The brunette has known the man all her life and counts herself lucky to be the woman who gets to love him and have the same affection returned. She has seen every part of Dean and is grateful as well as thankful for him trusting her enough to open up in front of her, letting her see beyond the wall he's built.

Letting her in and opening up to her, telling her the things he wouldn't even tell Sam and John.

She's the one fortunate enough to have a place in his heart, she's the woman who's fortunate enough to have a family with the eldest Winchester and she's the one who considers herself blessed to have such a family, yes they're not a normal functioning family and John is certainly not like the average parent and is hard-headed as well as stubborn. Be that as it may, the widowed father did care about them, in his own twisted way.

And there's that guilt feeling again, the brunette swallows the lump in her throat. The damned guilt feeling has been clawing at her from the inside ever since John left, ordering her not to tell Dean about where he truly is, not that she knows herself.

The chestnut brown-haired woman is pulled away from her thoughts by the sound of Sam's voice. Juliet shakes her head and focuses on the two brothers, curious about what Sam's answer is going to be.

"Dean, your whole life you never once asked me that." Juliet sighs as her best friend as he doesn't take Dean up on his offer, she knows she would. The eldest Winchester shrugs his shoulders, trying not to let the frown that's wanting to pull at his face, show. "Just thought you might want to. Never mind."

The dirty blonde looks forward, keeping his eyes on the road as a beat of silence passes between the four. Harlow, not liking the silence, looks between her father and Uncle, an idea popping into her head.

"Tan I dwive?"

Without missing a beat and without hesitation, Juliet and Dean glance at their daughter and in synchrony say, "No."

The hopeful look that graces Harlow's face, is immediately wiped off and is replaced with a frown as she goes back to sulking, not liking how quickly Juliet and Dean uttered the word 'No'. The Winchester child both likes and dislikes how her mother and father can read each other's minds and be so in sync with one another...this is one of those times where she dislikes their, what she likes to call, 'magical ability.'

Sam laughs at the deflated expression on his niece's face, finding it to be adorable. The grumpy look reminding him, somewhat, of a grouchy bear cub.

The taller Winchester brother shakes his head before turning serious as he glances at his brother. "Look, man, I know you're worried about me..." His eyes then flick up to Juliet's brown ones. "And I know you are too, Juliet. And I get it, thank you, but I'm perfectly okay."

Dean hums while giving his brother the side-eye while Juliet nods her head, both of them not convinced or reassured by the youngest adult's words.

Sam then leans over the dashboard and grabs the folded up map and opens it, analysing it. "All right, where are we?" Dean glances at the now, open map as Juliet grabs her bottle of water from the bag down by her feet while also grabbing the bottle of Tylenol, now realizing that her headache from earlier has returned, and is beginning to throb, causing the woman discomfort.

"We are just outside of Grand Junction," Dean states while flicking his green eyes to the rearview mirror, his green eyes reflecting concern as he watches Juliet as she pops two of the Tylenol capsules into her mouth before taking a gulp of her water, swallowing the medication.

Her brown eyes meet Dean's green ones. Juliet sends the eldest hunter a smile, silently telling him she's fine.

Sam nods his head, not seeing the exchange between the two. He folds up the map which is of Colorado. The map adorns a large 'X' with the coordinates '35-111' labelled underneath, written neatly in red biro that Juliet had decided to add to the map the night before they left Stanford.

Sam sighs as anxious thoughts about the destination that he once considered his home, running through his head. He can't help but feel like they may have missed something.

"You know what? Maybe we shouldn't have left Stanford so soon."

Harlow smiles at her Uncles words. "See, Untle Sammy agrees!" Dean gives his only child a look through the rearview mirror, making a zip it gesture by pretending to zip his mouth closed, before pointing to her.

"I don't wanna hear another peep out of you for the rest of the drive."

Dean turns his attention back to the road, knowing that the five-year-old will be quiet, at least for the next 10 miles.

Seeing that her father is preoccupied with his concern for her uncle and with making sure they don't crash, the young girl smiles to herself as a risky thought pops into her little head.

Making sure that her reflection can't be seen in the rearview mirror, and that her father's attention is no longer on her, Harlow dramatically rolls her eyes before sticking her tongue out, the young girl internally does a victory dance as Dean doesn't notice what she's doing.

The young girl smirks, sticking out her tongue one last time, as her father continues to drive, oblivious to the young girl doing, what she deems, getting her own back on him.

The young girl smiles, thinking that she's gotten away with being naughty. Well, that is until her green eyes land on her mother, whose brown eyes are already looking at her only child.

The youngest Winchester instantly freezes as Juliet gives Harlow a stern and firm look, having noticed the little girls actions. Upon being caught, the five-year-old's smile instantly drops from her face as she goes back to looking out of the window, the cloudy sky affecting the world outside her window by making the outside seem void of all color.

Dean, failing to see the looks exchanged between the mother and daughter, flicks his eyes to his little brother, the eldest hunter sighs as he gently reminds the younger male Winchester, using the same words he's had to repeat for what feels like, the millionth time.

"Sam, we dug around there for a week. We came up with nothing. If you wanna find the thing that killed Jessica-"

Sam cuts Dean off, already knowing how his brother's going to finish the sentence, having heard it a billion times, and quite frankly it's starting to piss him off. The taller Winchester rolls his eyes as he finishes Dean's sentence.

"We gotta find Dad first."

Dean nods his head. "Dad disappearing and this thing showing up again after twenty years, it's no coincidence."

Juliet nods her head and points to Dean, silently agreeing with him.

"I'm sure John will have answers, Sammy. He'll know what to do." Sam shakes his head as he glances between his brother and best friend as he picks up the map again. "It's weird, guys. These coordinates he left us. This black water ridge?"

Juliet raises an eyebrow as she shifts forward in her seat. "What about it?" Sam shrugs. "There's nothing there. It's just woods."

The brunette furrows her eyebrows. "Hey, don't underestimate the woods Samantha, a lot of scary things can happen in the woods."

Dean nods his head, mutely agreeing with Juliet's statement. Sam, once again, puts down the map. "Yeah, but why is he sending us to the middle of nowhere?"

Juliet shrugs as she leans back in her seat. "Why did John send us anywhere? He probably found something that he wants us to investigate. At the end of the day, it's a job, and we work it."

Dean smirks as he glances at Juliet in the rearview mirror. "Man, I love it when you get all blunt and snippy, it's sexy."

Juliet playfully rolls her eyes. "Just shut up and drive."

Sam laughs as Dean puts his foot down on the gas and gives a mock salute. "Yes, Ma'am!"

Harlow tilts her head as they pass a sign that says 'Welcome to LOST CREEK Colorado National Forest.'

• • •

Dean parks the Impala outside the rangers station.

Juliet sighs as she gets out of the sleek black car and stretches her body, the bottom of her shirt lifting as she does, exposing her tanned and muscular torso.

Dean can't help but check out his girlfriend as he, too, steps out of the car and makes his way to Harlow's side, opening the door and unbuckling her from her pink polka-dotted car seat. He sets the young girl on her feet and looks down at her with a stern look in his eyes.

"You, ma'am, are gonna keep a tight grip on my hand and you don't let go or touch anythin', ya hear me?"

Harlow huffs but nods her head. Dean nods his head, a small smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. He then turns to Juliet and Sam, motioning to the Rangers Station, gesturing them to go inside.

As the four make their way into the rangers station, the three adults fail to see the smirk on Harlow's face. 'She never promised her father.'

• • •

Juliet stands next to Sam, both of them looking at the 3D map of the national forest. Juliet tilts her head as she pays close attention to the ridge labelled Blackwater Ridge. Remembering Sam pointing it out when they were on their way back to Stanford to drop Sam off. She narrows her eyes, trying to work out why John wants them to go there.

It seems Sam also paid close attention to the 3D map.

"It's cut off by these canyons here, rough terrain, dense forest, abandoned silver and gold mines all over the place"

Juliet hums in thought as Sam talks to Dean. She turns to her boyfriend and looks to see him looking at a picture of a bear hung up on the wall. "Check out the size of this freaking Bear." Juliet rolls her eyes but makes her way over and grimaces as she sees that the bear is, in fact large.

"Jeez, now that's a bear I wouldn't want to piss off."

Dean chuckles as Harlow tugs on her father's hand.

Dean looks down at his daughter and raises an eyebrow. "Yeah?" Harlow looks at the photo of the bear before looking back to Dean. "I wanna see." The five-year-old lifts her arms, silently asking to be picked up. The twenty-six-year-old leans down and picks her up, jokingly grunting as he does.

"You're gettin' too heavy to pick up, kid."

The littlest Winchester gasps and lightly hits Dean on his shoulder causing the eldest Winchester to chuckle. He sets his daughter on his hip and Harlow peers at the photo of the bear, a smile beaming on her face.

"Cool! It's talwer than the man!"

It's then Juliet notices the man standing next to the bear in the photo. She glances down at Harlow in Dean's arms and pulls a face as she points to her daughter. "Stick to likin' elephants, Harls. They're better animals than Bears." The brunette walks back over the Map as Sam chuckles, shaking his head.

Harlow turns to Dean, confused as she leans closer to her father's ear. "Why doesn't Mommy wike beaws?" She 'whispers'. Dean snickers as he looks at Harlow. "Your Mom has had a problem with bears since she was a kid."

"Why?"

Dean shrugs as Juliet glances over at the two of them. "Because they freak me out, something so cute shouldn't be so vicious. I don't know why God placed them on this Earth." Dean discreetly rolls his eyes at Juliet's mention of the man who he doesn't believe in. That's the difference between the two, Juliet believes whereas Dean doesn't.

Harlow looks between her parents, having caught her father rolling his eyes. Dean and Juliet haven't told Harlow about all the different religions, wanting her to choose for herself when she's older.

Sam shakes his head at the two, also noticing Dean's roll of his eyes. He decides to change the subject before Dean opens his mouth and makes a comment about the said man upstairs. He nods his head in the direction of the picture of the bear. "There's a dozen or more grizzlies in the area. It's no nature hike, that's for sure."

Juliet goes to say something but the Ranger of the station, Ranger Wilkinson, enters the room, spotting Juliet by the map of the national forest. He walks up behind the small family, his voice startling them.

"You guys aren't planning on going out near Blackwater Ridge by any chance?"

Dean whips around to Ranger Wilkinson and sets Harlow down on her feet, turning his full attention to the Ranger. Harlow, seeing her father is distracted, lets go of his hand and goes over to the other pictures of the animals that are mounted on the wall.

Juliet shakes her head and smiles as she makes her way to stand next to Dean. "Oh, no, Sir, we're environmental study majors from UC Boulder, just workin' on a paper." Wilkinson hums as he eyes the three adults.

"And the Kid?"

Dean looks down to his left and does a double-take and notices that Harlow is no longer standing there nor is she holding his hand. He turns to Juliet and gives her an annoyed parent look. Juliet does the same.

The two squeeze their eyes shut as they hear a crash from behind them followed by Harlow's voice. "Oopsie." Dean huffs through his nose as Juliet quietly groans from beside him. The two turn around to see Harlow standing by a wall decorated with animals from the forest. The parents look down and see a photo that was hanging on the wall, now smashed by the young girl's feet.

The five-year-old gazes innocently up at her parents. "I wanted to see the pictuwe up close."

Dean angrily sighs as he makes his way over to Harlow and grabs her hand pulling her over to Juliet, the said woman giving the forest ranger an embarrassed smile. "I'm sorry, she's five and she likes to touch stuff." The brunette casts her eyes down to Harlow. "Stuff that she shouldn't touch." The brunette turns back to the ranger. "We couldn't find a sitter."

Harlow turns her guilty eyes to the floor as her mother speaks through clenched teeth. The ranger smiles and shakes his head. "Don't worry 'bout it. I have a daughter at home and she was the same at that age." Juliet lets out a sigh of relief but still feels the embarrassment.

Sam awkwardly chuckles as Dean gives Wilkinson a small smile, his hand gripped tightly onto Harlow's, but not tight enough to hurt her. The ranger goes back to the previous subject, his smile falling from his face as he eyes the three adults once again.

"But, that story you gave me, 'bout being study majors. It's bull." Dean, Juliet and Sam eye each other, the three not moving.

"You're friends with that Haley girl, right?"

Dean considers playing along before he nods his head. "Yes. Yes, we are, Ranger-"

"Wilkinson."

Dean points at Juliet and nods his head. "Ranger Wilkinson." The said Ranger shoots Dean an odd look but decides to let his weirdness slide as he makes his way to his desk and leans against it. "Well, I will tell you three exactly what we told her. Her brother filled out a backcountry permit saying he wouldn't be back from Blackwater until the twenty-fourth, so it's not exactly a missings person now, is it?"

Dean and Juliet shake their heads.

Ranger Wilkinson sighs, "You tell that girl to quit worrying, I'm sure her brother's just fine."

Dean nods his head. "We will. Well, that Haley girl's quite a pistol, huh?"

The Ranger scoffs a laugh as he looks at Dean. "That's putting it mildly." Juliet clears her throat and tucks a strand of her chestnut brown hair behind her ear as she turns to Wilkinson. "You know what would help is if I could show her a copy of that backcountry permit. You know, so she could see her brother's return date."

The ranger eyes Juliet and she raises her eyebrow in return. Wilkinson thinks it over in his head before nodding. The three adults watch as he leaves the room to fetch the permit.

• • •

The small family of four leave the Rangers station and make their way down the steps and over to the Impala.

Dean laughs and kisses Juliet as Sam looks up at her with one of his eyebrows raised. "You lookin' to make a new friend or something?" Juliet breaks away from the kiss and turns to Sam and frowns. "What do you mean?" The youngest Winchester brother shrugs. "The coordinates point to Blackwater Ridge, so what are we waiting for? Let's just go and find Dad. I mean, why even talk to this girl?"

The three stop walking causing Harlow, who's still holding Dean's hand, to stop as well. The brothers stand on opposite sides of the sleek black Impala. Juliet shrugs and eyes Sam. "I don't know, I just thought, maybe we should know what we're walkin' into before we, ya know, actually walk into it."

The tone in her voice tells Sam that she's saying it like it should be obvious. There's a pause between the three as Harlow glances between the adults, feeling the tension start to rise. Dean and Juliet glance at each other before they both turn and eye the youngest adult out of the three.

Sam notices this and raises an eyebrow at the two.

"What?"

Dean decides to speak what's on his and Juliet's minds. "Just...since when are you shoot first and ask questions later?" Sam looks between his brother and best friend and shrugs. "Since now." He then opens the door to the Impala and gets inside, slamming the passenger door closed.

Juliet and Dean look at each other once more. Harlow looks between her parents and tries to remove her hand from her fathers. Dean, feeling the movement looks down to the five-year-old and gives her a stern look.

Juliet sighs, knowing they're gonna now have to deal with Harlow. Dean looks up to the brunette, his stern gaze softening. "I'll deal with butter fingers over here, you can go wait in the car." The Huntress sends Dean a smile and kisses him before getting into the car.

The eldest Winchester brother turns his gaze back to Harlow and gives her a look as he sees her smiling widely up at him. "Don't even think about it, Ma'am. That's not gonna work on me this time."

The wide smile immediately falls from the little girls face.

"I told you to hold my hand and not to let go. I also told you not to touch anything and you agreed but still did it anyway." Harlow looks at Dean, her green eyes locked onto his matching ones, she blows a breath through her mouth. "I didn't pwomise though." Dean, taken back by how gutsy his daughter can be when it comes to answering him back, hardens his stern gaze and points a finger at her.

"Hey! Don't give me lip, missy. You're only five years old, I can still ground you." Harlow frowns and yanks her hand out of her father's grip, a fierce look in her forest-green eyes. "You can't gwound me! We always on woad all the time!"

"Yes, but I can leave you in the motel all day while your Mom, Uncle Sam and I go to see Haley."

Harlow's glare hardens and she stomps her foot in protest. Dean sighs before bending down to his daughter's height. He knows that he's only making the situation worse by being strict with her.

The youngest Winchester looks away as her Dad looks at her in curiosity.

"Harlow, look at me."

The little girl does as her father says, albeit reluctantly.

"What's wrong?"

The reddish-brunette sighs as she considers telling her father what's on her little mind, she opts not to and instead shakes her head. "Nothing. I'm wust tiwed." She then turns on her heel and walks to the other side of the Impala and gets in the back. Dean sighs, standing straight before getting into the driver's side, starting the engine as soon as he shuts the door.

His green eyes flick up to the rearview mirror and connect with Juliet's brown ones. Dean shakes his head, answering the silent question the brunette is asking with her eyes. The young mother sighs and glances at Harlow as Dean pulls out of his parking space.

• • •

Dean pulls up outside Hayley's house, the three adults turn and look at the building.

"She'll probably ask to see our ID."

The eldest adult out of the three turns to Juliet and nods before opening the glove compartment, taking out two fake IDs, one for Juliet and one for himself. Dean and Sam move to get out of the car while Juliet turns to Harlow and points a warning finger at her. "You can stay in the car, we won't be long."

Harlow huffs, knowing her mother is punishing her for the incident at the Rangers station by not letting her go with them. The young girl clutches Ellie the Elephant closer to her chest as she watches her mother and father along with her uncle make their way to the screen door at the front of the house.

Juliet steps forward and knocks on the see-through door. The three don't have to wait long for Haley to answer.

Juliet looks at the Collins girl and studies her, noticing that the young adult is a couple of years younger than her. She looks to be in her early twenties, maybe one, if not, two years younger than Sam.

The younger girl has wavy, mid-length, brown hair that's a shade or two darker than Juliet's. She also has an athletic but slim build and is at least an inch shorter than Juliet.

The younger woman wears a red sleeveless top and blue denim trousers. The Collins girl looks at all three adults in curiosity, silently wondering who the three hunters are, and why they're knocking on her door.

The middle Collins sibling flicks her eyes to Dean as he turns and sends the nervous girl a small smile. "You must be Haley Collins. I'm Dean-" He then gestures to the woman standing beside him and then to his brother.

"-And this is Juliet and Sam, we're, ah, we're rangers at the Park Service. Ranger Wilkinson sent us over. He wanted us to ask a few questions about your brother Tommy."

Haley eyes the older three as she hesitates before answering. "Lemme see some ID." Dean smiles and pulls out his fake ID that has the name Samuel Cole on it and holds it up against the screen door for her to see.

Haley glances at the ID card before moving her eyes back to the green-eyed man and sees that he's still smiling. The young adult can't help but think that Dean is good looking, she doesn't voice her thoughts, guessing that he must get that compliment a lot.

The girl's eyes then flick to Juliet. She does a double-take and is instantly taken by surprise by how good looking the huntress is, the young woman looks between the couple, noticing that out of the two, Juliet is the tiniest bit better looking, in her opinion.

Haley looks the older brunette up and down, trying to be as discreet as possible as she checks the brown-haired huntress out.

The Collins girl opens the door to let the three of them inside when she catches sight of the Impala. She glances at Dean and then looks back to the sleek black car. "That yours?" Dean turns and sees she's pointing at Baby and nods his head, proud to call her his car.

"Yeah."

Sam and Juliet also look back at the Impala, the Sullivan woman noticing Harlow looking at all four adults as she tilts her head in question at the other lady who has almost the same color hair as her mother. Juliet motions for Harlow to stay in the car. Haley, not noticing Juliet's actions, turns to Dean and smiles.

"Nice car."

Juliet looks at Dean and playfully rolls her eyes at the smile on the older Winchester's face 'cause of the younger woman's compliment towards his Baby.

The younger woman's eyes widen as she notices the playful roll of Juliet's eyes, taken surprise by the gesture coming from the woman who's remained silent and has just stared at her.

Haley takes one last look at the slightly taller brunette before turning around, leading the three Hunters inside.

As the three cross the threshold and enter the younger woman's house, Haley glances behind her, her brown eyes drawn to Juliet's figure before shaking her head and turning back around.

The second eldest hunter turns to her best friend, aware of Haley's stare lingering on her. She watches Sam as he shuts the screen door and then the front door, as he's the last person to walk into the house.

The younger brunette woman can't help but be mystified by the intriguing woman who carries a certain confidence in her stride, the confidence the younger brown-haired woman could only dream of having.

The Collins girl shows them into the kitchen where a young boy who looks to be a few years younger than Haley--presumably her brother--sits at the dining table.

Juliet looks at the woman who they plan on questioning, as Sam turns to Haley. "So if Tommy's not due back for a while, how do you know something's wrong?"

Haley, who had exited the Kitchen, returns with a bowl of food that she places on the table. She then turns to Sam, answering his question. "He checks in every day by cell. He emails photos, stupid little videos-we haven't heard anything in over three days now."

Sam shrugs his shoulders as he peers down at the young adult. "Well, maybe he can't get cell reception." What's meant to sound like a question comes out more like a statement. Haley huffs as she turns to fully face the taller Winchester. "He's got a satellite phone, too."

Dean decides to speak up, a question on his mind. "Could it be he's just having fun and he forgot to check-in?" Juliet hums and nods her head. "Maybe him calling has slipped his mind." Haley opens her mouth to speak but her younger brother beats her to it. "He wouldn't do that, and he never forgets to call, ever."

Dean and Juliet turn to Haley's brother--Ben Collins--both eyeing him. Ben, intimidated by their gazes, turns and looks away as Haley puts more food on the table. She glances at the three hunters, a sad smile on her face. "Our parents are gone. It's just my two brothers and me. We all keep pretty close tabs on each other."

Dean, Juliet and Sam share a look between them before the taller Winchester snaps his eyes back to Haley. "Can I see the pictures he sent you?" The Collins girl smiles a small smile at Sam before nodding her head. "Yeah." She exits the kitchen once more to retrieve the laptop.

When she re-enters, she sets the laptop on the table before setting it up. Once everything is up and running, she motions the three hunters over and they oblige. Haley pulls up the pictures her older brother has sent throughout his camping trip, she points to the boy with brown hair and brown eyes, a smile on his face. "That's Tommy." Haley proceeds to click twice and another picture appears, after quickly viewing the second photo, Haley clicks again and this time the still frame of a video appears.

Haley clicks play and Tommy's voice can be heard from the speakers.

"Hey Haley, day six, we're still out near Blackwater Ridge. We're fine, keeping safe, so don't worry, okay? Talk to you tomorrow."

As the video plays, Juliet squints her eyes as she sees a tall shadow flicking past, outside Tommy's three-man tent. The shadow's there for only half a second, it would have been impossible for Haley to notice, but Juliet's always had a sharp eye and has had a strong ability to notice things that wouldn't have been noticed by the untrained eye.

The Sullivan descendant purses her lips as the video ends. Her eyes meet Sam's hazel ones, it seems he's spotted the same she had. Juliet flicks her eyes to Dean as he looks to the Collins girl, a reassuring look on his face. "Well, we'll find your brother. We're heading out to Blackwater Ridge first thing."

Haley faces the three hunters, a determined look in her eye. "Then maybe I'll see you there." The younger brunette notices Juliet about to intervene to try and get the middle Collins sibling to change her mind, but Haley shakes her head. "Look, I can't sit around here anymore. So I hired a guy. I'm heading out in the morning, and I'm gonna find Tommy myself."

Juliet looks down in thought before moving her eyes to Sam.

As the female hunter studies her best friend, she thinks about what she would do if the younger Winchester brother was in Tommy's position, if any of her family were. The slightly older brunette concludes that she would do what Haley's doing and more. She flicks her eyes to Dean and can see in his eyes that he's thinking the same thing. The twenty-three-year-old casts her eyes back to Haley's and sighs before nodding her head.

"Okay, Fine."

The Collins girl is taken by surprise at how blunt the woman is and how quickly she is too she back down. Haley can't help but be curious about her sudden change of heart.

'What made her change her mind?'

'Why is she is so stand-offish?'

'Why is she so intrigued by the older woman?'

Haley looks at Juliet, her eyebrow slightly raised. The huntress feels the Collins girls eyes on her and tilts her head, staring back at her. The female hunter narrows her eyes slightly, shifting her eyes back and forth as the look in her chocolate brown eyes intensifies.

Dean smirks as he looks between the two, knowing exactly what the mother of his child is doing, having seen her do it many times. The huntress is trying to work out what the younger adult is thinking.

Haley can't help but feel intimidated by the older woman's burning gaze, the younger girl looks away. Juliet smirks as she does, having worked out that she intimidates the slightly younger woman.

Sam, feeling awkward as he feels the change of atmosphere between the two brunette's, decides to get back to the whole reason for them being there.

"Hey."

Hearing his voice, Haley moves her eyes to the younger Winchester brother and he sends her a small smile, trying to move on from the stiff feeling that surrounds the two women. He motions to, what he assumes is, Haley's laptop that's still open on the table.,

"Do you mind forwarding these to me?"

Haley exhales through her nose and nods her head, returning the taller man's smile.

"Sure."

• • •

Meanwhile, Harlow sits in the back of the Impala, a scowl on her face as she stares out of the window and at the door of the house she saw her parents and Uncle enter, waiting for them to emerge.

The young Winchester girl looks down at Ellie the Elephant which she holds in her hands.

"They're taking forever, Ellie and I'm bored..."

The plushie, of course, remains quiet but to Harlow, the teddu answers and with a smile on her face, the young girl nods her head. "That's right! Daddy didn't lock the car this time." With a michevious smirk on her face, Harlow pulls the door handle and lets out a small 'Yay' when the door opens.

The Five year old exits the car, having already unbuckled herself as soon as the house her family went into shut behind them.

With her stuffed elephant still in hand, her shoe-clad feet hit the concreted ground and she giggles in glee as she shuts the Impala door behind her and runs towards the house her parents are currently inside.

The little girl raises her small fist to knock on the door but to her surprise it opens and she's met with the surprise face of her father. The surprised look on Dean's face doesn't remain there for long. Harlow swallows as a look of anger is now on his face, anger that is directed at his daughter.

"Okay, that's it, missy!"

Harlow winces as Dean grabs her arm and practically drags her back towards the car.
"You refused to listen to your Mom this morning, you refused to listen to me this morning. You have been disobeying the both of us most of the day and I've had enough of it!"

Dean lifts his daughter up by her arm and puts her into the Impala and back into her carseat before he rebuckles her into the seat. Harlow starts to cry due to her father's anger but instead of Dean relenting and softening his anger towards her like she was expecting, he huffs and points a stern finger at her in warning.

"Shut it! Those waterworks ain't gonna work on me. You are gonna sit there and shut up. All you've done today, is push mine and your mother's patience and I'm sick of it, Harlow! Ya hear me?"

Harlow hiccups and nods at her father's words, knowing that he's deadly serious and if her pushing him will only anger him more.

Dean nods his head and slams the door shut before making his way to the drivers side and gets in.

Harlow then realizes that her Mother and Uncle have joined the scene. Sam gets into the shotgun side, an awkard look on his face as Juliet gets into the back and sits next to her daughter.

Harlow sneaks a peek at Juliet's face and see's the brunette woman already looking at her with a hard yet disheartened look on her face. Juliet shakes her head at her daughter, silently telling her that she doesn'tt want to hear it.

The little Winchester sniffs and looks down at Ellie the Elephant before clutching her close to her chest, wanting to disappear into the carseat. Harlow could and can never deal with her parents when they become angry at her, knowing and feeling as if she's let them down and in a way, she guesses she has.

• • •

Dean looks up from where him and Sam are sitting and smiles as Juliet cheers from winning a game of pool...again.

"That's it. Cough it up."

Dean chuckles and shakes his head as people who stood to watch the pool game play out, hand their money over to the young brunette. Some of them had betted against the young brunette and betted that she'd lose but evidentally they were wrong, hence them handing over their money with frowns on their faces.

"Thank you. Thank you. I'll take that."

Juliet smiles down at the money in her hand, it's sure to be enough to book a room at the motel down the road for a night. She makes her way back towards their table where Dean and Sam are sitting, Harlow on her Uncles lap, asleep.

The eldest Winchester brother playfully grunts as Juliet sits herself down on his lap. The said huntress, after hearing his grunt, shoots him a glare as she picks up her rum and coke from the table and takes a sip.

"How much did you win?"

Juliet turns her head to Sam, a smirk dancing on her full and pink lips. She waves the wad of cash towards the younger brother. "Around 100 dollars, maybe more. It's more than enough to book us a motel room though."

Sam hums and nods his head. Juliet then notices Sam was leafing through the journal in front of him and takes another swig of her drink before nodding her head towards the leather bound book. "What'd you find out?" Sam looks down to the pages of the book.

"So, Blackwater Ridge doesn't get a lot of traffic. Local campers, mostly, but still, this past April, two hikers went missing out there. They were never found."

Juliet's smirk twists into a frown.

"What about before that? Any people missing before then?"

Sam holds up a finger, telling her to give him a second as he shuffles through John's Journal once more, shifting Harlow on his lap as he does.

Dean tightens his arms around Juliet's waist as he places his chin of her shoulder. Juliet fidgets and chuckles as Dean's stubble tickles her skin. Dean looks at her and smiles like a love-sick puppy and rubs his stubble over her shoulder causing her to squeal.

"Stop that."

"Make me."

Juliet rolls her eyes but a fond smile makes its way on her mouth. The brunette leans in and kisses Dean causing the older Winchester to hum. The huntress goes to pull away but one of Dean's hands move from her waist to the back of her head and weaves its way through her hair, holding her in place.

Sam looks up from John's journal and rolls his eyes at the two young adults who are acting as if they're teenagers again. The younger Winchester brother can't help the twang of pain he feels in his heart. Although he's glad that Dean and Juliet have one another, he feels envy towards the couple. They have one another, they always have, heck they even have a child together whereas he, he's now alone with having lost Jessica.

Sam feels guilty for feeling jealous towards his family but how is it fair that they get to have a child and have a future together when he can't have that with Jessica? How come Dean gets to live his life with his love but he doesn't?

Sam clears his throat and the two seperate and look at him as he shows them the page he's turned to in John's journal.

"To answer your question, Jules, yes there were others."

Juliet andd Dean both raise an eyebrow before both speaking at the same time.

"Where?"

The mother and father both blink before looking at one another before looking back at Sam.

"Okay...that was creepy. Anyway, in 1982, eight different poeple all vanished in the same year. Authorites said it was a grizzly attack."

Juliet rolls her eyes as her and Dean both read the headline displayed in The Lost Creek Gazette.

GRIZZLY BEAR ATTACKS!

UP TO EIGHT HIKERS VANISH IN LOST CREEK AREA.

HIKERS DISAPPEARANCE BAFFLE AUTHORITES'

Families continue search and rescue efforts in spite of dissapointing [...]

Juliet tears her eyes away from the article and flicks her tongue over her teeth.

"Man, the authorites really grind my gears."

Dean hums in agreement as Sam pulls out his laptop and open it.

"And again in 1959 and again before that in 1939."

Juliet notices that the screen is already open on a window called TOM's video. She looks back to Sam. "And the Authorites' chalked all dissapearances up to bear attacks?" Sam hums and nods his head.

"Yep. Every twenty-three years, just like clockwork."

The younger Winchester brother then motions to both Dean and Juliet, gesturing for them to look at the laptop screen.

"Okay, watch this. Here's a clincher..."

Juliet snorts and mouths the word 'clincher' with a look of question on her face that causes Dean to chuckle. Sam huffs at the two, knowing that both of them are a little intoxicated, he shoots them an annoyed look that has Juliet saying sorry and telling him he has their full attention.

"Thank you. Now, I downloaded that guy Tommy's video to the laptop. Check this out."

Juliet and Dean watch as Sam proceeds to pull up Tommy's video and goes through three frames of the video on at a time. Juliet raises an eyebrow as the shadow she saw when Haley first showed them the video, crosses the screen.

"I saw that but the question is, what is it?"

Dean shrugs his shoulders as he stares intently at the screen.

"Do it again."

Sam does as his brotheer says and repeats the frames.

"That's three frames. That's a fraction of a second. Whatever that thing is, it can move."

Juliet hums and nods her head as Dean hits Sam in the arm, being careful not to wake his sleeping daughter. Sam looks up at Dean and gives him a look like he's offended but the candy apple green-eyed man just glares at his brother in response.

"Next time we both tell you something weird is going on, listen to us."

Sam rolls his eyes.

"Yeah."

He then closes the laptop and looks back to the Sullivan and older Winchester. "I got one more thing." Sam picks up another newspaper article and hands it over to Juliet who holds it up so both her and Dean can see it. Sam goes on to elaborate on what he found as the two look down and view the article in Juliet's hand.

"In 'fifty-nine one camper survived this supposed grizzly attack. Just a kid. Barely crawled out of the woods alive."

Dean raises an eyebrow as he looks back up at his brother.

"Is there a name?"

Sam nods his head and the three start to gather up their things before waking up Harlow.

• • •

To say waking Harlow was a bad idea is an understatement, she's been stroppy ever since Sam had to wake her up, telling her they had to go somewhere. What was so important that they had to wake her up, she doesn't know but what she does know is that she can't go back to sleep and as she stands in some lounge holding her fathers hand, glaring at the back of her Uncle's head, Harlow knows that it's going to be hard to fall asleep tonight.

The little Winchester looks up at an eldery man, his name being Mr. Shaw at least that's what she thinks the elderly man said his name was. Harlow tilts her head and pulls a subtle disgusted face at the cigarette in his mouth, the stench of the smoke from the stick makes her stomach churn.

She watches as Mr. Shaw flicks his eyes between all three of her family members before finally landing on Dean.

"Look, ranger, I don;'t know why you're asking me aout this. It's public record. I was a kid. My parents got mauled by a-"

Sam interrupts the elderly man before he can finish his sentence. Harlow tilts her head in curiosity, before his parents got mauled by what? What does mauled even mean?

"Grizzly? That's what attacked them"

Shaw takes a puff of his cigarette before exhaling, He nods his head at Sam's words.

Juliet narrows her eyes as she speaks up gaining his attention.

"Mr. Shaw, the other people that went missing that year, were those bear attacks too?"

There's a pause which has Juliet thinking the elderly man is keeping what he truly thinks it was from them. Dean takes a step foward. "What about all the people that went missing this year? Same thing?"

There's another pause and Dean takes that as his queue to carry on.

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

Shaw makes a sound between a scoff and a laugh as he shakes his head. "I seriously doubt that. Anyways, I don't see what difference it would make." The elderly man sits down in a chair that's in the longue while the three Winchester's and the only Sullivan continue to stand.

Shaw continues.

"You wouldn't believe me."

Seeing that the three hunters and Harlow are still standing, the elderly man motions for them to sit in the couch across from him. The family of four oblige and Harlow sits in Dean's lap as Sam addresses Mr. Shaw, his voice taking on a gentle tone.

"Mr. Shaw, what did you see?"

The elderly man pauses for the third time that night as he shakily taking a drag from his cigarette. He exhales the ouff of smoke before answering.

"Nothing. It moved too fast to see. It hid too well. I heard it, though. A roar. Like...no man or animal I ever heard."

Harlow holds back her whimper as the elderly man recites the traumatic memory of his childhood. She wants to be brave like her parents but even she can't help but curl into her fathers chest for protection and comfort.

Dean feels this and tightens his hold on his only child, silently reassuring her that he's there and that he won't let anything happen to her.

Juliet raises an eyebrow.

"It came at night?"

Shaw nods his head.

Sam furrows his eyebrows. "It got inside your tent?"

Much to the hunters confusion, Shaw shakes his head.

"It got inside our cabin. I was sleeping in front of the fireplace when it came in. It didn't smash a window or break the door. It unlocked it. Do you know of a bear that could do something like that?..."

Harlow shakes her head at the elderly man's question as the he continues telling his memory.

"...I didn't even wake up till I heard my parents screaming."

At the words, Harlow can't hold back her whimper. The child shuts her eyes tight and curls into her fathers chest more. Juliet reaches over and runs a hand through her daughters hair as Sam asks a question that's on all three of the hunters minds.

"It killed them?"

Shaw nods his head.

"It dragged them off into the night." The elderly man then shakes his head as he speaks the question that's been plaguing his thoughts ever since that night.

"Why it left me alive...been asking myself that ever since."

There's a pause as Shaw contemplates telling them about what the creature left on him. Unconsciously, the man's hand moves to his collar.

"Did leave me this, though." Before he moves any further he nods towards Harlow's shaking figure. "I suggest covering her eyes, it won't be pretty." Dean sends the man a small smile in thanks as he covers his daughters already closed eyes and for the first time, Harlow isn't complaining.

Shaw then opens his collar to reveal three long scars. Juliet recongnises them as claw marks as Sam and Dean also take a look.

"There's something evil in those woods. It was some sort of Demon."

The three hunters look to each other at hearing those words. All three come to the same conclusion...

They've got work to do.
—

Authors note
I hope you enjoyed the chapter!

This episode will once again be split into two parts but the second part won't be out until after Christmas as I'm wanting to spend this week with my family and Christmas is next week.

I wanted to at least get a chapter up before Christmas.

This chapter hasn't been edited yet but I will get round to doing that at some point.

Please don't forget to leave a vote and comment. I do love reading every comment that is posted on my stories and it lets me know if y'all are enjoying the book or not!

I'll see y'all the next chapter!

P.s Merry Christmas you lovely lot ❤️🎅🏻