CHAPTER EIGHT

Nyx wakes​ up and starts​ looking around the enclosed area that she's trapped in — the walls look like they're made of dirt, which tells her that she's underground. Her mind immediately goes to the abandoned mines that Sam was telling her about before. Then she sees two guys hanging the exact same way that she is: by their wrists. One of them is awake, but the other's passed out.

"Are you Tommy?" The brunette asks​, her voice low, and he looks at her.

"How do you know me?" He questions as he uses the tips of his toes to turn more toward her.

"My friends and I came out here with your brother and sister. We were looking for you." She tells him. "They're gonna find us."

"And if they don't?" He asks, clearly terrified. "That- That...thing has already killed one of my friends."

"We're making it out of this alive." She insists. "I have a brother and sister too, and I'm not letting them lose anyone else. My parents' funeral was just last May, so I'm not dying out here. They need me to survive this, so that is exactly what I'm going to do. Nothing else is an option for me."

"You lost your parents?" He asks, and she gives a struggled nod.

"Haley said that it was just you and your siblings. I'm sorry." She says,​ and he nods as best he can. "I'm Nycole. If we're gonna survive this thing together, you should know who you're surviving with."

They hear a noise, and Tommy tries to cower away. "It's coming back." He tells her as he turns away from the direction that it's coming from.

The creature walks in and makes its way straight over to the guy that's been unconscious the entire time. He wakes up and starts screaming​ from the pain of what it's doing to him. Nyx squeezes her eyes shut as tightly as possible and tears start to run down her cheeks as she listens​ to Tommy's friend get killed by the monster.

The screams eventually stop, and they hear the thing leave. Nyx looks to where the other guy was hanging, but he's not there now.

"We're gonna die." Tommy​ whimpers, and the brunette looks over at him.

"Hey, look at me." She says, and he turns to face her again. "We are not dying, okay? You and I are making it out of these mines. Haley and Ben need you. Elena and Jeremy, my siblings — they need me. We are going to survive this for them. Alright? My friends are going to find us. I know they will."

"You have a lot of faith in them." He says, and she takes a deep breath.

"It's easy when you consider the alternative." The teenager tells him. "I can't leave my brother and sister. I just can't."

"Tell me about them." He says. "Get my mind off of that thing."

"Elena and I are twins. We look exactly alike, it's kinda ridiculous." She chokes out a sort of half laugh. "We're seventeen; she's a Junior, and I graduated school last year. I was homeschooled through the local high school. I couldn't sit in classes all day, I got bored and stopped paying attention. So, my mom decided to homeschool me, and I got ahead and graduated early. But I was still able to be a cheerleader with my sister, we always did everything together. Town events, pretty much anything and everything that we possibly could. We liked being involved​ with the community and helping people in town. But things changed after my parents died."

"And your brother?" He asks.

"Losing my parents hit him the hardest." She says. "He's fifteen now, and he just started high school in September. After they died, he started doing drugs and drinking. He was spiraling for a while, but he's finally getting his life back on track; he's more like he used to be. He was happier and he loved to draw. He's a talented artist, it's amazing. I always loved​ seeing all of the pictures in his sketchpad."

Tommy nods as he looks at her. "You're gonna see his pictures again. We're gonna survive this...together." He says, and she smiles at him.

—

Nyx and Tommy have both drifted in and out of consciousness over the hours that they've been stuck together in the abandoned mine. She's awake now, but Tommy's out cold. Nyx turns​ and sees​ two more people hanging in here that weren't there before. She gets​ a better look at them and recognizes Dean, which means that the woman next to him has to be Haley.

It's definitely not how she was hoping he'd show up, but as long as they all get out of this alive and in one piece, she doesn't really care.

Nyx hears something break and then two figures fall into the area that they're hanging in — Sam and Ben. Ben sees something on the ground in front of his face that freaks him out, and Sam has to quickly get him to calm down. The older boy then looks around the enclosed area and he sees his brother first. He hurries over to him, and Nyx tries to move.

"Sam." She barely manages to speak because of the position that she's currently in, and his head snaps over in her direction.

"Nycole, hey. I'll get you down, I promise."

Ben sees his sister then and immediately runs over to her, trying to wake her up too. Nyx watches as Sam quickly wakes up Dean and then cuts him down from where he is.

"Where's Nyx?" Dean asks, worried about what might've​ happened to her while he was unconscious.

"I'm gonna cut her down right now, hang on." Sam tells his brother as he helps him sit down and then he hurries over to the teenage girl. "Are you okay?" He asks, and she nods.

"Just get me down from here." She coughs,​ and the older boy cuts the ropes that are keeping her tied up. She starts to fall, but he catches her. "Where is it?"

"It's gone for now."

"Tommy." Haley sees her brother and rushes over to where he's hanging next to Nyx and Sam.

They wake him up, and Sam reaches up to cut him down. His siblings catch him so he doesn't fall to the ground, and Nyx leans into Sam's​ side. Her arms hurt like hell from being stuck in that position for so long.

"Check it out." Dean gets their attention, and they look at him.

"Flare guns." Sam smirks. "Those will work." He muses, and Nyx looks between him and his brother.

"What is this thing?" She demands.

"Uh, we'll...fill you in later." He says as he glances at Tommy and then back at her. She just nods in response.

"Let's get the hell out of here." Dean says, and then they all start moving through the tunnels of the old mine that they were trapped in. The group soon hears growling, and all of them quickly stop. "Looks like someone's home for supper."

"We'll never outrun it." Haley says.

"You thinking what I'm thinking?" He asks his younger brother.

"Yeah, I think so." Sam nods, and they hear another growl.

"Alright, listen to me. Stay with Sam, he's gonna get you out of here." Dean quickly instructs the trio of siblings. Then he looks over at Nyx. "You're coming with me."

"What are you two gonna do?" Haley asks, and he just winks at her before they walk away from them.

"It's chow time, you freaky bastard! Yeah, that's right! Bring it on, baby! I taste good!" He yells, trying to draw the creature to them and away from the others. "Over here!"

"Why'd you have me come with you instead of staying with them to help Sam?" Nyx asks as she and Dean walk through the tunnels.

"What do you mean?" He asks and then yells some more.

"I could've stayed to help him get the others out of here. Why did you tell me to come with you instead?" The brunette asks​.

"The last time I let you out of my sight​, you got kidnapped by a wendigo." He says, and she just looks at him as her eyebrows furrow.

The two hunters hold eye contact for a second, and she sees that he was really worried the entire time that she was gone. He then clears his throat and turns away from her to keep going after the monster.

"Hey, you want some white meat, bitch?! I'm right here!" He yells, still trying to keep the wendigo away from the others.

Dean passes a flare gun over to Nyx, and she takes​ it. It's one of the few guns that he found in the packs where they woke up. They must've belonged to Tommy and his two friends.

A gunshot suddenly echoes through the tunnels, and they both start moving even faster. The wendigo's not following them, it's following after the other four.

"It eats people, doesn't it?" Nyx asks,​ and he nods. "It ate that guy — Tommy's friend."

"It's not gonna hurt anyone else." He says as they keep going.

The pair finally finds them, and the wendigo has Sam and the others cornered. The hunter has the three siblings behind him, and they're pressed up against the wall as he shields them from the monster that's after them.

"Hey!" Dean yells, and the skeletal creature turns around.

Nyx aims her gun at its head as it lets out another loud roar. "Eat this, you son of a bitch." She fires off the flare, and it goes straight into the wendigo's mouth.

Dean shoots it in the stomach, and its whole body starts to burn as it lets out an ear piercing screech. "Not bad, huh?" He asks, and Nyx looks up at him then. "I am so glad that you're a better shot than you are a driver." He says, and she chuckles as she flips him off.

"Shut up."

Their group leaves​ the mine and gets​ the hell out of the woods as quickly as they can manage the trek. They get Tommy some help, and give their statements about what happened back there. It's all a total lie, but it'll explain away the truth and how Roy and Tommy's two friends actually died. The story is: grizzly attack.

Nyx then walks over to Tommy before they can put him into the ambulance to take him to the hospital. The EMT walks away from them, and the brunette smiles​ at the older boy.

"I told you we were gonna make it out of there alive." She says, and he nods.

"Thanks." Tommy says. "I'd given up hope long before you showed up down there."

"I'm glad that I could help." She takes his hand in hers for a second and squeezes it.

"We've gotta get him into the ambulance now." The EMT says as he walks back over to them.

"Take care of yourself, Tommy." Nyx tells him.

"You too." He says, and she lets​ go of his hand and walks over to Sam and Dean.

The teenager walks past Haley and Ben as they head over to get into the ambulance with their older brother. She then leans against the front of the Impala next to Dean.

"Man, I hate camping." Dean says.

"I second that." Nyx mumbles.

"Me too." Sam agrees.

"Sam, you know we're gonna find Dad, right?" Dean says, and his brother nods.

"Yeah, I know." The younger boy says. "But in the meantime... I'm driving."

Dean tosses​ him the keys and then gets into the backseat with Nyx. The brunette smiles​ as she looks up at him for a moment, and then she pulls​ her phone out of her pocket to call her brother.

"Cole? Why aren't you asleep?" Jeremy asks after he answers the phone.

"Oh, you know... It's just been a long day, and I really wanted to talk to you for a minute. I miss my baby brother." The older girl says.

"What's going on?"

"I met someone today, and we were talking about our families... Do you remember that old sketchpad that you used to have?" She asks, and he nods.

"Yeah, uh... I've actually pulled it out again recently." He tells her.

"You're drawing again?" She asks with a smile on her face.

"Yeah."

"Good, cause I left the last picture you drew me there, and I don't know what happened to it. I'm gonna need a new one the next time I see you." She says, and he chuckles.

"Yeah, I think I can manage that. Any requests?"

"Um... Anything but monsters or the woods." She says,​ and Dean and Sam both laugh.

"You got it." Jeremy agrees.

The siblings get off the phone soon after that, and she lays​ her head on Dean's shoulder as she sinks into the seat. She manages​ to fall asleep fairly quickly, and he leans his head back as he slouches down as much as he can next to her. Sam sees them in the rearview mirror and smirks, but he stays quiet. He's afraid that if he says anything — especially to his brother — it'll ruin whatever's going on between the two of them.