Wendigo.

CHAPTER FOUR , WENDIGO

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Flashback

Heavy footsteps approached the 7-year-old girl. Her breathing gets caught in her throat and her eyes start to burn. Out of the corner of Athena's eye, she spots the ice pack her father was holding out for her. She looks up at him and he shakes the ice pack, growing impatient. Athena can see the disappointment in his eyes.

She hated disappointing her father.

Athena grabs the ice pack and places it against her swollen lip.

"You wanna tell me what happened?"

Athena looks at the ground.

John inhales a breath. "Look me in the eye, when I'm talking to you."

Athena swallows and forces herself to look her father in the eyes.

"What happened?" his usual cold voice, now filled with agitation.

Athena shifts in her spot on the bed and clears her throat. "Uh..." her voice cracks. "This guy he...called me a Dyke." her eyes trail off to the wall behind John, too scared to see his reaction.

Silence settles into the room. All Athena can hear is her heartbeat echoing through her ears and the clock ticking behind her. Her breathing heavies and she rubs one of her hands against her jeans.

"I-I just got angry and...I hit him then he hit me back. I didn't mean to get in troub—"

"Was he right?"

Athena stops rubbing her leg and freezes. She looks back at John, his expression completely stoic. But she could see the anger in his eyes.

John wasn't worried about her well being. Only her sexuality. And Athena knew that if she answered this question the way she really wanted to, he would turn this whole room upside down.

So, Athena swallows the large lump in her throat.

"N-No."

"What was that?" John cranes his neck forward.

Athena rolls her lips into her mouth and corrects herself. "No, sir." her tone was firm but respectable.

The ends of John's mouth twitches. "Good." he lightly touches her chin.

"Now, get your coat and meet me at the car." John walks out of her motel room.

John doesn't bother to close the door. Athena hears his footsteps dispart. The door shuts and Athena's lips start to tremble. She inhales a soft breath, but she fails to hide her cries and a sob escapes her lips. Athena throws the icepack across the room and it hits the wall. She covers her eyes and her sobs intensify. An intense pain starts in her chest and she grips at her shirt. Athena looks to the side and sees Sam standing at the door. She wipes her tears and clears her throat. She stands up, grabs her jacket, and walks over to the door.

"Athy--"

"I have to meet dad outside." Athen quickly brushes past Sam.

He follows her down the hall, "Hang on."

Athena stops and turns to Sam. She keeps her eyes on the ground, gnawing on her lower lip. Sam didn't know how to approach the situation. He rubs his arm.

"You know...there's nothing wrong with you liking gir--"

"I don't." Athena immediately says, her eyes were now on Sam.

Sam's jaw goes slack when he sees the hatred in her eyes. He's never seen her like this before. There would be times Sam would hear her cry through the cheap Motel walls when she thought everyone was sleeping. Or when John would trap her into the small closets. But he's never seen her breakdown like this. She was such a bright person, everyone loved her because she was kind, and now she had a certain hatred in her eyes. Sam knew she was forcing it.

"Athena, come on--"

"I don't want you talking to me about this anymore," Athena says, her voice having an unfamiliar darkness to it.

Athena blinks away her tears. She felt like she had to stay strong. She felt like she had to say this. Athena wanted Sam to know not to talk about it anymore. If John ever heard him say this. Both of them would be in trouble.

"Because...I'm not a freak, all right?" Athena forces out, her voice starting to shake. "I'm NOT."

Athena turns and walks down the hall.

Present

The auburn-haired girl squints her eyes at the reflection of herself in the mirror. She folds her arms and rolls her lips into her mouth.

Still ugly.

She turns around and inspects her stomach.

Still fat.

Athena faces the mirror and tangles her hands in her hair.

Still not perfect.

"I know." Athena whispers. "Believe me. I know." an unstable chuckle leaves her lips. She grabs her toothbrush and toothpaste from her jacket pocket and starts to brush her teeth. The entire time she brushes her teeth, Athena was crying. She hated trying to be perfect, but she had nothing else. Her entire life, everyone has seen her as the half-blooded mistake. But when she was perfect, she was...apart of the family. That's all she's ever wanted.

Athena wipes her mouth and stuffs her toothbrush and toothpaste back into her pocket. "You're fine." she shrugs and a sputter leaves her lips. She walks out of the bathroom and gets into the Impala.

"You sure took your time." Dean voices.

Athena folds her arms over her stomach. "Yeah--sorry." she looks out the window.

Dean looks at Athena in the rearview mirror, noticing her blank expression. She usually had an explanation when he took a playful jab at her. Or she usually made a quick joke as well. This time was different. It made Dean feel uneasy. He didn't blame her for being quiet. He and Athena have been worried about Sam ever since Jessica died. They spent an entire week at Stanford looking for any type of clues that could lead them to the thing that killed Jessica and the boy's mom. Sadly, they found nothing.

"Hey, you okay?"

Athena blinks and meets Dean's eyes in the mirror. She forces out a soft chuckle, "Yeah, I'm good." she shrugs. "Just hungry."

"Well, that's a first," Dean says.

A sad smile spreads across Athena's lips.

☆

Athena looks down at the bag of chips in her hands and she inhales a shaky breath. She ate. But anytime she did eat, she felt like others were watching her. John always watched her eat and he always had something to say about it. She has just grown used to his constant judgment that even with him gone. It's like there's this voice in her head that tells her everything that John has told her in her past.

Athena sets the bag of chips to the side and chews on the inside of her cheek. Sam jolts awake, catching both Athena and Dean's attention. Sam rubs his eyes and blinks a couple of times.

"You okay, Sam?" Athena asks.

Sam slightly looks back at the young girl. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"Another nightmare?" Dean questions.

Sam doesn't answer. Athena gnaws on her lower lip, worry spreading through her.

"Want to drive for a while?" Dean asks.

Sam chuckles with disbelief and looks at his brother. "Dean, your whole life, you never once asked me that," he says.

"Just thought you might want to. Never mind." Dean shrugs.

"When are you going to teach me how to drive?" Athena asks.

Dean chuckles, "Honestly with that big brain of yours. I would've thought you already knew how."

Athena sinks into her seat, "Well, I don't. So, when are you going to teach me?"

"How old are you?" Dean asks.

"10."

"Oh, then--never."

Athena's mouth hangs open and Sam chuckles softly.

"She's gonna have to learn, Dean," Sam says.

"And she will...in another car. That's not this one." Dean shrugs a shoulder and Athena squints her eyes.

"Look, guys, you're worried about me," Sam says. "I get it, and thank you, but I'm perfectly okay."

Liar.

Dean slowly nods and quietly hums.

"All right. Where are we?" Sam asks, grabbing the map.

"We are just outside the Grand Junction." Dean answers.

Athena leans forward, catching sight of the map. She pulls her brows together, her eyes skimming it.

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

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

"We gotta find dad first." Sam finishes.

"Dad disappearing, and this thing showing up again after 20 years? It's no coincidence." Dean states. "Dad will have answers. He'll know what to do."

"Huh."

Sam turns to Athena, "What's wrong?"

"It's weird..." she bites the inside of her cheek. "The coordinates he left us, this Blackwater Ridge..." she slowly starts to shake her head.

"What about it?" Dean asks.

"There's nothing there." Athena states. "It's just woods."

Sam looks back at the map, noticing as well. "Why is he sending us to the middle of nowhere?"

As soon as they got to the Ranger Station, Sam was intent on finding any clue about their dad, and Athena was going to do whatever she had to in order to help. Dean was looking at the different pictures on the wall.

"Black Water Ridge is pretty remote." Athena states, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose.

Sam walks over to his little sister, who was examining the different maps across the table. She points her Hello Kitty bandaid wrapped finger at the trail on the map.

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

"Guys, check out the size of this friggin' bear."

Sam and Athena walk over to Dean and look at the picture that him so freaked out.

"...and a dozen or more Grizzlies in the area." Sam adds.

"Yes. That too." Athena inhales a shaky breath, her eyes skimming the picture of the large Grizzly bear.

"It's no nature hike, that's for sure." Sam huffs.

"And yet, people still choose to go out there." Athena stuffs her hands into her pockets. "Scary."

"You boys aren't planning to go out near Black Water Ridge, by any chance?"

They all turn to the ranger.

"Especially with a young child." The man adds.

"I'm 10."

"Exactly my point."

Athena frowns.

"Uh--we're not, sir." Sam speaks. "We're enviornmental-study majors from U.C. Boulder, just working on a paper. And our baby sister here..." he wraps an arm around Athena and pulls her into his side, she grunts. "...was interested in what we do."

Athena presses her lips together.

"Recycle, man." Dean says, pumping his fist into the air.

"Bull."

The siblings all tense.

"You're friends with that Hailey girl, right?" The ranger questions.

Dean purses his lips, "Yes. Yes, we are, Ranger...Wilkinson."

"Well, I will tell you exactly what I told her." Wilkinson starts. "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?"

Athena shakes her head along with Dean.

"Tell that girl to quit worrying." The ranger says, waving his hand. "I'm sure her brother's just fine."

"We will." Dean says as Wilkinson starts to walk away.
Well, that Hailey Girl's quite a pistol, huh?"

"That is putting it mildly." The ranger huffs.

"Actually, you know what would help is if I could show her a copy of that Backcountry permit." Dean states. "You know, so she could see her brother's return date."

After Dean got the permit, they all made their way back to the car.

"What, are you cruising for a hookup or something?" Sam asks.

"What do you mean?" Dean look at Sam.

"The coordinates point to Black Water Ridge." Sam states. "So what are we waiting for? Let's just go find dad. I mean why even talk to this girl?"

Athena pulls her brows together, sensing Sam's frustration. "Well...we should know what we're walking into before we actually walk into it." she voices.

Sam looks at Athena and she quickly looks away from him, her eyes on the ground. She didn't want to have any confrontation. Sam looks at Dean who had an incredulous expression across his face.

"What?"

"Since when are you all 'shoot first, ask questions later' anyway?" Dean questions.

"Since now." Sam's answer was quick and laced with coldness. He gets into the car.

Dean chuckles with disbelief, but Athena swallows with fear. She knew that look and tone of impatience all too well. Their father acted the same way when he was with them. In all honesty, Athena couldn't handle going through that again. Every second of her day filled with fear, anger, and revenge. Every night she would go to sleep with bruises on her wrists or even some of her finger nails bleeding; from scratching at the locked closets she was forced into. A voice in her head asks a question that strikes guilt in Athena.

Do you even want to find your father?

☆

"You must be Hailey Collins. I'm Dean, this is Sam, and this right here is Athena. We're Rangers with the Park Service."

Hailey pulls her brows together and looks at the young girl. "Her too?"

"Oh, no. She was just interested in what I do." Dean pulls Athena into his side and she grunts. "Kids, am I right?"

Athena presses her lips into a tight smile. "Hello." she waves a welcoming smile.

Hailey's face relaxes at the young girl's welcoming aura.

"Ranger Wilkinson sent us over." Dean continues. "We wanted to ask you some questions about your brother Tommy."

Hailey looks back at a Dean, a stern expression returning to her face once again. "Let me see some I.D."

Dean releases Athena and grabs the I.D. from his pocket. He reveals it to Hailey and she examines it through the screen door. Hailey looks at Dean and he sends her a cheeky smile. "Come on in." she opens the door for them.

"That yours?" Hailey asks, motioning to the car.

Dean slightly raises her brows, Athena looks at Sam and he looks at her. Both of them thinking the same.

"Yeah." Dean starts to smile.

"Nice car." Hailey says, walking through the house.

Dean looks at Sam, mouthing the words, "Oh My God..."

Sam rolls his eyes and Athena sighs. They follow Hailey throughout the house and make it to the kitchen.

"So, if Tommy's not due back for a while, how do you know Something's wrong?" Sam asks.

"He checks in every day by cell." Hailey states. "He E-mails photos, stupid little videos. But we haven't heard anything in over three days now."

"Well, maybe he can't get cell reception." Sam suggests.

"He's got a satellite phone, too." Hailey replies.

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

"He wouldn't do that."

Everyone looks at Ben, sitting at the table.

"Our parents are gone." Hailey informs. "It's just my two brothers and me. We all keep pretty close tabs on each other."

Athena tugs on Sam's sleeve and he looks at her. She motions her head to Hailey's computer and he understands. "Can I see the pictures he sent you?"

"Yeah."

They walk over to Hailey's laptop and she opens it, revealing the photos. "That's Tommy."

She clicks on a video. "This is his last message."

As the video plays, Athena pushes her glasses up and examines the screen. She catches the black figure quickly passing behind Tommy in the video and she raises her brows.

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

"Then maybe I'll see you there." Hailey speaks.

They all look at her. "Look, I can't sit around here anymore, so I hired a guide." Hailey informs them. "I'm heading out int he morning, and I'm gonna find Tommy myself."

Dean slowly nods his head, "I think I know how you feel."

Sam looks at Athena who rewatched the video. He could tell by the way Athena was quietly muttering to herself, and her brows were pinched together; she found something.

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