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𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐓𝐡𝐫𝐞𝐞

𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘺𝘤𝘭𝘦, 𝘮𝘢𝘯!

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Delaney gasped as she jolted up in the backseat. Groaning, she rubbed her forehead once she felt the throbbing pain in it. It felt as if she slammed her head against a giant rock In the seat next to her, Sam rubbed his forehead and Delaney realized why her forehead was pounding. Wasn't because of a giant rock, but her brother's head was close enough to one.

"You have a hard head, you know that?" Sam teased, dropping his hand into his lap.

"Why were you leaning over me?" Delaney asked, scooting over to make more room for Sam in the back seat. 

Dean sat in the front still so someone could keep the car moving, glancing in the rearview mirror every few seconds to look at Delaney. He was giving her the same worried expression the past few days, ever since her nightmares started and Will died. It was a look that Delaney was quickly beginning to hate.

"You were screaming and tossing in your sleep. I climbed back here to try and wake you up, but you kind of did that yourself," Sam responded, gesturing to her forehead that was still slightly red from when it slammed into his.

Delaney looked between her two brothers who were now both wearing the same worried look. Ever since she's learned about the family business and the true story behind her mother's death, everything changed. Dean and Sam became even more protective - more so Dean than Sam - and they even taught her how to fire a gun properly. Delaney never thought she would shoot a gun in her life. Then again, she also never thought demons and such were real. This family really knew how throw a curve ball at her any chance they got.

"Look, I know you guys are worried about me, but I'm fine. Thank you for caring, though," Delaney reassured her brothers, though it sounded more like she was trying to reassure herself more than the two brothers.

Dean hummed, clearly not believing a word that Delaney said.

Delaney leaned forward and looked down at the map that Sam had left on his seat when he climbed into back to wake Delaney up. "So where are we exactly?"

"We are just outside of Grand Juction," Dean replied, glancing down at the map to make sure he was going the right way still.

"I still don't think we should have left Stanford so soon," Delaney said, feeling like there could have been more to do there. It pained her to leave the campus, an empty space in her heart for not only losing all her college friends now, but also Will. 

Dean rolled his eyes, annoyed that Delaney brought this up for the thousandth time since they got in the car and started driving. "Della, we dug around there for an entire week. We came up with nothing. What else would you have liked to do?"

"Yeah and if we want to find the thing that killed Will, we got to find Dad first," Sam added. 

Delaney still didn't know how she felt about seeing her dad. The last time they were together they had a huge blowout about her going away for college. Now they only talked to each other if they desperately needed to. Thankfully, when she would go home for breaks he would be gone the entire time so she didn't have to run into him in the motel room or at their Uncle Bobby's house.

"Dad disappearing and this thing showing up again after twenty years? It's not a coincidence. Dad will know what we have to do," Dean said. 

Delaney peered at the map again and furrowed her eyebrows. "The coordinates he gave us for this Black Water Ridge? They lead to just woods. There's nothing there. Why would he send us to the middle of nowhere?"

Dean and Sam shared a look, silently asking the same thing. What was John Winchester up to?

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"So Black Water Ridge is pretty remote. It's cut off by these canyons here - rough terrain, dense forest, abandoned silver and gold mines all over the place," Sam explained as he looked over the layout on the table in front of them. The three Winchester siblings were in the Ranger's office that was located in a small cabin. It made Delaney feel like she was at sleep away camp again.

Delaney and Dean stood in front of a picture of an overly-sized bear with amused smiles on their faces. "Dude, check out the size of this friggin' bear."

"There is no way that this a real bear," Delaney said in disbelief. The bear made Godzilla look small.

Sam walked over and looked at the same picture his siblings were staring at. "And a dozen or more grizzlies in the area," he finished his explanation. "It's no nature that's for sure."

"You kids aren't planning to go out near Black Water Ridge, by any chance?" The Ranger asked, placing his coffee on his desk.

The three Winchester kids quickly spun around to face the Ranger who stared them down as if they did something wrong. "Oh, no, sir. My brother and I are environmental-study majors from U.C. Boulder. Our sister is here with us because she's really into nature and wanted to help us do our paper we have due next week."

"Recycle, man," Delaney cheered, throwing a fist in the air, causing Dean to chuckle.

"Bull. You're friends with that Hailey girl, right?" The Ranger asked.

Delaney glanced at her brothers before turning her attention back to the Ranger. "Uh, yes she's my best friend. Our families grew up together, Ranger...Wilkinson."

"Well, I will tell you exactly what I told her. Her brother filled out a backcountry permit saying he wouldn't be back from Black Water until the 24th. So it's not exactly a missing persons now, is it? Tell that girl to quit worrying. I'm sure her brother's just fine."

"We will," Dean assured Ranger Wilkinson with a charming smile. "That Hailey girl's quite a pistol, huh?"

"That is putting it lightly," Ranger Wilkinson agreed, chuckling softly.

Getting an idea, Dean moved away from his siblings and over to Ranger Wilkinson who was now standing by the exit. "Actually, you know what would help... is if I could show her a copy of that permit. You know, so she could see her brother's return date."

Thinking about it for a second, Ranger Wilkinson nodded and quickly made a copy of it before handing it to the Winchester siblings. Politely thanking the Ranger, the three exited the office as Dean grinned brightly. "Yeah!"

"What, are you cruising for a hookup or something?" Delaney asked, slapping her brother in the arm.

"What do you mean?" Dean questioned, clearly confused by his sister's accusation.

"The coordinates point to Black Water Ridge. So what are we waiting for? Let's just go find Dad," Delaney argued and Sam seemingly agreed when he nodded along with her. "Why even talk to this girl?"

Dean scoffed and tossed the copy of the permit into the open window of the Impala. "Maybe we should know what we're walking into before we actually walk into it."

"What?" Delaney questioned when Dean gave her a questioning look.

"Since when do you jumping to a solution before actually looking into a situation?" Dean snapped at his baby sister. It was odd to see her just wanting to shoot instead of question first and get all the facts. It actually worried him slightly that she was being reckless.

"Since now," Delaney responded, quickly ending the conversation and getting into the car.

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Dean rang the doorbell to Hailey's house and few seconds later a beautiful girl with short, curly brown hair and brown eyes opened the door. 

"May I help you?" Hailey asked, looking between the three siblings in front of her.

"Hi you must be Hailey Collins. I'm Dean and this is Sam and Delaney. We're Rangers with the Park Service. Ranger Wilkinson sent us over. We were wondering if we could ask you a few questions," Dean explained, smiling softly at the girl.

Hailey seemed to give Delaney a once over before looking back at Dean. "She looks a little young to be a Ranger. Can I see some ID first before I let strangers into my house?" Hailey asked and the three Winchesters flashed their fake Ranger IDs at her.

Seeming to believe the fake IDs, Hailey pushed open the screen door for the Winchesters. "Come on in."

"Thanks," Delaney said, stepping inside before her brothers.

Hailey looked behind Dean and Sam who were about to follow their sister inside. "That yours?"

Dean looked behind him at the Impala before looking back at Hailey. "Uh, yeah."

"Nice car," Hailey complimented with a smile before walking into the house, Dean and Sam following after her into the dining room. In the dining room, sat a boy around Delaney's age who looked just like Hailey except his hair was slightly darker than hers. Other than that, it was obvious the two were siblings.

"So if Tommy's not due back for a while, how do you know something's wrong?" Sam asked, watching as Hailey finished bringing the rest of her and her brother's dinner out from the kitchen connected to the dining room.

Placing the last bowl onto the table, Hailey stood back up and placed a hand on her hip. "He checks in every day by cell. He emails photos, stupid little videos. We haven't heard anything in over three days now."

"Well, maybe he can't get cell reception," Delaney suggested. It would make the most sense considering the kid was in the woods with two of his friends. It was normal for someone to lose service when venturing into the woods.

"He's got a satellite phone, too," Hailey said, shaking her head.

"Could it be he's just having fun and forgot to check in?" Dean offered.

The boy at the table slammed down his fork. "He wouldn't do that."

"Our parents are gone. It's just my brothers and I now.  We all keep pretty close tabs on each other," Hailey explained her brother's outburst.

Sam rubbed his hands together as an idea popped into his head. "Can I see the pictures he sent you?"

"Oh sure," Hailey replied, walking over to the computer across from the dining room table. She clicked on the Photos icon and it opened, showing dozens of pictures of a brown haired, bright eyed kid. He looked to be between Sam and Dean's age. 

Hailey clicked on the video that was last on the list of photos and videos. "That's Tommy. This is his last message."

Tommy smiled brightly at the camera as he said, "Hey, Hailey. Day Six. We're still out near Black Water Ridge. We're fine, keeping safe. Don't worry okay? Talk to you tomorrow."

Delaney and Sam shared a look with each other, clearly seeing the same thing as the other. A shadow had passed by Tommy's tent as he was making his video, unbeknownst to the boy. 

"We'll find your brother. We're heading out to Black Water Ridge first thing," Dean assured Hailey.

"Then maybe I'll see you there," Hailey said, walking back over to the dining room table where her little brother still sat eating dinner. "Look, I can't sit around anymore okay? So I hired a guide and I'm going to find him myself."

Dean stared at Hailey for a moment, a quiet understanding laying between them. "I think I know how you feel," he said, causing both Delaney and Sam to look at him. He was clearly talking about their Dad.

"Hey, you mind forwarding these to me?" Delaney asked and Hailey nodded in response.

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"So, Black Water 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," Sam explained, flipping through their Dad's journal. The three Winchesters were sat together in a booth located in a bar & grill place. Around them people were drinking, laughing and playing Pool.

"Any before that?" Dean asked, leaning back in the booth next to Delaney who was the only Winchester child left to finish eating their food. So she just sat there listening to her two brothers discuss the case.

Sam pulled out an article from their dad's journal and handed it to Dean. "Yeah. In 1982, eight different people all vanished in the same year. Authorities said it was a grizzly attack," Sam began, grabbing his laptop from the bag on the floor and placing it on the table. "And again in 1959, and again, before that, in 1936 - every twenty-three years just like clockwork."

Sam pulled up the video Hailey had emailed to Delaney a few minutes ago. "Okay, watch this. Here's the clincher. I downloaded that guy Tommy's video to the laptop. Check this out," he said, moving to the video to where he wanted his siblings to see. He showed Dean the shadow moving behind Tommy. Delaney guessed Dean really hadn't seen what her and Sam had seen when they watched it the first time at Hailey's house. 

"Do it again," Dean said, now fully focused and interested in what was happening.

Sam played the same part of the video over before pausing the video so he could talk to his brother properly. "That's three frames. It's a fraction of a second. Whatever that thing is, it can move."

Dean nudged Delaney in the side with a smirk, earning him an eyeroll from Delaney. "Told you something weird was going on."

Leave it to Dean to give the big  I told you so.

"I have something else. In '59, one camper survived the supposed grizzly attack. Just a kid - barely crawled out of the woods alive."

Delaney picked the article up and started looking it over. Her food now forgotten as her own interest was now piqued. "Is there a name?"

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The three Winchester siblings followed Mr. Shaw into his small home, if you could even call it one. It was set up more like a hotel room with the bed and kitchen in the same space, and the bathroom the only thing behind a door. 

"Look, Ranger, I don't know why you're asking me about this. It's public record and I was a kid. My parents got mauled by a - " Mr. Shaw was saying before he got cut off by Sam.

"Grizzly? That's what attacked them?" Delaney questioned, knowing fully well that the man didn't actually believe what everyone else did.

Mr. Shaw froze where he stood, as if he knew that Sam, Dean and Delaney knew what he did. He slowly pulled the cigarette from his lips and turned to face the siblings. He slowly nodded, trying to convince them but it wasn't working.

"The other people that went missing that year - those bear attacks too?" Dean inquired, staring Mr. Shaw down. It was the same exact look that Dean would give Delaney when he knew she was trying to lie to him. "What about all the people that went missing this year? Same thing?"

"If we knew what we were dealing with, we might be able to stop it," Delaney added, trying to help her brother out.

Mr. Shaw laughed humorlessly and shook his head. "I seriously doubt that. Anyways, I don't see the difference it would make. You wouldn't believe me. Nobody ever did," he said, lowering himself down into the beanbag chair next to the window.

Delaney glanced at her brothers, silently asking if she could try to convince Mr. Shaw to give some information. They both gave her nod and she turned back to the old man in the beanbag chair. He looked troubled just having to think about what happened all those years ago. Delaney sat on the bed that was by the beanbag Mr. Shaw had sat down in. "Mr. Shaw, you would be surprised at what the three of us would believe. So if you could tell us what you saw, we can make this whole thing disappear. No one would have to go missing ever again. You just have to help us out by giving us information."

Mr. Shaw sighed as he stared up at Delaney. His walls immediately fell down, realizing the three people in front of him were willing to listen to him. "I didn't see anything. It moved too fast to see. It hid too well. I heard it, though," he began slowly, hoping they wouldn't judge him like everyone else did when he told this story. "A roar... like no man or animal I ever heard."

"It came at night?" Sam asked and Mr. Shaw nodded. "Got inside your tent?"

"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," Mr. Shaw replied. This caused the three siblings to all look at each other oddly. Delaney hasn't be in this life for long but she knew no demon would unlock a door to get in. What were they dealing with?

"Do you know of a bear that could do something like that?" Mr. Shaw continued. "I didn't even wake up until I heard my parents screaming."

"It killed them?" Delaney asked, feeling her heart break for the old man. She couldn't imagine her parents dying right in front of her face like that. It was one thing to lose either one of your parents but losing them right in front of your face has to be the most torturous thing to ever see.

Mr. Shaw shook his head. "Dragged them off into the night. Why it left me alive - I've been asking myself that ever since."

Sam hung his head and Dean looked frustrated because he couldn't figure out what this thing could be. 

"It did leave me this though," Mr. Shaw pulled his thank top down a bit to show four long, raised bumps on his skin going from his shoulder to the middle of his chest. It was if something had slashed him across the chest. "There is something evil in those woods. It was some sort of demon."

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The three Winchester siblings exited Mr. Shaw's place and began their walk back over to the Impala. "Spirits don't have to unlock doors. If they want in, they just go through the walls," Dean said once they were outside.

"So it's probably something else - something corporeal," Delaney noted, causing Dean to stop and look at her.

"Corporeal?" Dean chuckled at his sister's choice of words. "Excuse me, Professor Winchester."

"Shut up," Delaney snapped, annoyed her brother was making jokes when they were in the middle of something important. She knew next to nothing of this life so she couldn't exactly give her two cents. This was the most she could come up with on the fly with her lack of knowledge. "So, what do you think?"

"The claws, the speed that it moves - it could be a skin walker, maybe a black dog. Whatever we're talking about, we're talking about a creature, and it's corporeal, which means we can kill it," Sam informed, using Delaney's term to lightly tease her about it like his brother. It only earned him a playful shove from his sister.

Dean walked over to the trunk with his siblings following and propped it open with one of the guns. He pulled out a duffle bag and started filling it with guns that they could use on whatever it was they were fighting. 

"We cannot let that Hailey girl go out there," Sam said, helping Dean fill the bag with weapons.

Dean chuckled at his brother's suggestion. "What are we gonna tell her - she can't go into the woods because of a big, scary monster?" He sarcastically remarked.

"Uh, yeah?" Sam said as if it were obvious. Even Delaney knew that was a dumb idea. What was Sam thinking?

"Her brother's missing, you know. She's not just gonna sit this out. I know I wouldn't if I were in her place," Delaney argued which caused both Dean and Sam to look at her. "What? You're both unbelievably annoying, but that doesn't mean I want you dead."

Dean turned his attention back to Sam. "No, we go with her, we protect her and we keep our eyes peeled for our fuzzy predator friend."

"So finding Dad's not enough?" Sam asked and watched Dean pulled the duffle bag out. He slammed the trunk closed and scoffed. "We gotta babysit now, too?"

"He's kind of right. If we want to find Dad, then babysitting Hailey is going to set us back. We should tell her something is in the woods to keep her out," Delaney added, crossing her arms. 

Sam crossed his arms when he noticed Dean glaring daggers at the two of them. "What? Say it."

"Nothing," Dean said shortly, throwing the duffle bag at Sam who had caught it with no problems. "And stay out of it, Delaney. Get in the car," Dean ordered before walking over to the front and getting in, slamming the door behind him.

Delaney glanced back at Sam who looked like he wanted to murder Dean. Rolling her eyes, Delaney decided to just listen to Dean and get in the car. It would only make matters worse if either one of them went against what Dean wanted to do. Dean was just stubborn in that way, especially when it came to the both of them.

Tomorrow was going to be a long day.

ORIGINALLY POSTED: DECEMBER 1ST, 2017

EDITED: JULY 27TH, 2019