~Wendigo~

_______________________

Sam jolted awake in the passenger seat of the impala.

Dean looked over at him.

August was playing with her feet in her car seat.

"You okay?" Dean asked his brother.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Sam glanced over at him, then back at the road.

"Another nightmare?" Dean asked.

Sam cleared his throat, not answering the question.

It was then quiet for a for short moment.

"You wanna drive for a while?" Dean asked making Sam look over at him and chuckle.

"In your whole life, you never once asked me that." He stated.

"Just thought you might want to. Never mind." Dean said, almost annoyed.

"Look, man, you're worried about me. I get it, and thank you. But I'm perfectly okay." Sam told him.

Dean just hummed, not wanting to argue.

Sam sighed and grabbed the map off the dash.

"Alright. Where are we?" He asked dean.

"We are just outside of grand junction." Dean told him.

August laughed making Dean look to her in the rearview mirror and smile.

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

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

"Got to find dad first." Sam finished his brother's sentence.

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

"It's weird, man. These coordinates he left us, this black water ridge..." Sam started.

"What about it?" Dean asked.

"There's nothing there." Sam said. "It's just woods." He put the map down into his lap. "Why is he sending us to the middle of nowhere?"

Dean looked over at him before speeding up down the road.

~~~

"So black water ridge is pretty remote." Sam said as he was looking at a big 3D map of the trail. "It's cut off by these canyons here— rough terrain, dense forest, abandoned silver and gold mines all over the place..."

"Dude, check out the size of this friggin' bear." Dean said as he was looking at a picture of a huge bear and a man standing behind it.

The baby harness was strapped to dean, august of course was in it. That's where she spent a majority of her time anyways.

It was just easier for the men to get around that way instead of carrying her around in their arms.

August made a noise that sounded like one of agreement to what Dean was saying about the bear in the picture.

"I know! It's ridiculous!" Dean said to her, shaking his head at the picture.

Sam lightly chuckled as he came over to them.

"And a dozen or more grizzlies in the area." Sam stated. "It's no nature hike, that's for sure."

"You boys aren't planning to go out near black water ridge, by any chance?"

The brothers turned to see a ranger standing behind them.

"Oh, no, sir. We're environmental-study majors from U.C. Boulder— just working on a paper." Sam told him.

Dean gently grasped onto August's wrists and raised one of her fists.

"Recycle, man." He chuckled.

"Bull."

Sam and Dean glanced at each other, immediately getting nervous.

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

Dean tilted his head slightly, then had an idea.

"Yes." He said. "Yes, we are, ranger..." he trailed off to read the mans name tag. "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?" The ranger stated.

Dean shook his head.

"Tell that girl to quit worrying. I'm sure her brothers just fine." The man said.

"We will." Dean nodded. "Well, that Hailey girls quite a pistol, huh?"

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

"Actually, you know what would help is if I could show her a copy of that backcountry permit. You know, so she could see her brothers return date." Dean said as he rested his hand against August's hand.

~~~

"Yeah, heh." Dean chuckled as they walked out of the building.

"What, are you cruising for a hookup or something?" Sam questioned his brother.

"What? No!" Dean furrowed his brows.

"The coordinates point to black water ridge. So what are we waiting for? Let's just go find dad." Sam told his brother. "I mean, why even talk to this girl?"

"Maybe we should know what we're walking into before we actually walk into it." Dean stated.

Sam then saw the look that dean was giving him.

"What?" He questioned him.

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

"Since now." Sam said just before getting into the car.

"Oh, really?"

Dean looked down at august who had her hand in her mouth.

~~~

Dean knocked on the door while Sam bounced Auggie in his arms.

The door opened revealing a girl that looked around Sams age.

"You must be Hailey Collins. I'm Dean, this is Sam, and August." Dean introduced the three of them. "We're rangers with the park service. Ranger Wilkinson sent us over. We wanted to ask you some questions about your brother Tommy." He told her.

"What about the baby?" Hailey crossed her arms over her chest.

"Babysitter canceled last minute." Dean stated.

Hailey looked them up and down.

"Let me see some I.D." She said.

Dean dug his fake I.d. out of his pocket, and showed it to her by pressing it up against the screen door.

"Come on in." Hailey opened the screen door for them, letting them into the house.

"Thanks." Dean smiled.

As she opened the door, the impala caught her eye.

"That yours?" She asked.

"Yeah." Dean nodded.

"Nice car." She told him.

Dean chuckled and followed her into the house, Sam and august right behind him.

~~~

"So, if Tommy's not due back for a while, how do you know something wrong?" Sam asked as Hailey was putting food on the table for her and her other brother.

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

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

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

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

The boy at the table set his fork down and turned to look at Dean.

"He wouldn't do that." He stated to him.

Once dean looked over at him, the boy looked away.

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

"Can I see the pictures he sent you?" Sam asked her.

"Yeah." Hailey nodded.

She got her computer and brought it over to the table, opening it, and opening a file.

"That's Tommy." Hailey said as a picture of a man popped up.

She pressed a key on her keyboard and it went to another picture, then a video came up.

"This is his last message." She said just before playing the video.

As they were watching the video play, Sam caught something behind Tommy, outside the tent.

"We'll find your brother. We're heading out to black water ridge first thing." Dean told Hailey as August babbled against Sams chest.

"Then maybe I'll see you there." She brushed past them. "Look, I can't sit around here anymore, so I hired a guide. I'm heading out in the morning, and I'm gonna find Tommy myself." She told them.

"I think I know how you feel." Dean said.

"Hey, you mind forwarding these to me?" Sam asked.

"Sure." Hailey nodded.

~~~

"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 to dean as they sat at a roadhouse, August's sitting in the baby harness once again, but this time it was strapped to dean.

"Any before that?" Dean asked his brother.

"Yeah. In 1982, eight different people all vanished in the same year. The authorities said it was a grizzly attack. And, again, in 1959, and again, before that, in 1936–" Sam said then opened his laptop. "Every 23 years, just like clockwork."

Dean playfully gasped at August who was looking up at him. She giggled and reached up to him, he opened his mouth a pretended to bite her hand.

August laughed.

"Okay, watch this. Here's the clencher." Sam said as he brought up a file on his laptop. "I downloaded that guy Tommy's video to the laptop. Check this out." He tapped a key on his keyboard and three shots played, a big dark figure going by Tommy.

"Do it again." Dean told him as he held his hands in front of August, his palms up as she slapped her hands against them.

Sam played the frame again and Dean hummed.

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

Dean punched his brother in the arm.

"I told you something weird was going on." Dean said.

"Yeah. I got one more thing." Sam closed his laptop. "In '59, one camper survived the supposed grizzly attack, just a kid— barely crawled out of the woods alive." He told him.

"Is there a name?" Dean asked.

"Yeah." Sam nodded.

August laughed and reached for Sam who smiled and chuckled, Dean smiling as well.

"You wanna go to Uncle Sammy?" Dean asked her as he passed her over to Sam.

"Hey sweetheart." Sam chuckled and kissed her cheek.

August was smiling very widely as she reached up and started pulling sam hair. It was so mesmerizing to her, so pullable. She just couldn't resist.

"Whoa, hey, no, we don't pull Sammy's hair." Dean scolded her as he pulled her hands away from his brothers hair.

August gave Dean her bitchface, Sam busted out laughing as Dean raised his brows at the baby.

Sam never really saw Dean being a father, especially with the life they had, but he had to say he was glad to see it.

Dean was a good father, and Sam could see that as clear as day.

He liked seeing dean happy, and if he had August, there was no possible way he couldn't be happy.

Even just her smile could make your day.

~~~

August was asleep in the impala, so while Sam and Dean went into Mr. Shaws house, they just left her in the car to sleep.

"Look, ranger, I don't know why you're asking me about this. It's public record. I was a kid." Shaw told the brothers as he let them into the house. "My parents got mauled by a—"

"Grizzly? That's what attacked them?" Sam asked, cutting the man off.

He nodded and turned towards them.

"The other people that went missing that year— those beat attacks, too?" Dean questioned him. "What about all the people that went missing this year? Same thing?"

Shaw stayed quiet, not really knowing how to answer.

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

"I seriously doubt that." Shaw said as he took his cigarette out of his mouth. "Anyways, I don't see the difference it would make. You wouldn't believe me." He sat down in his chair. "Nobody ever did."

Sam took a few steps closer to him.

"Mr. Shaw..." he sat down across from the man. "What did you see?

The man sighed.

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

"It came at night?" Sam asked.

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." The man told them. "Do you know of a bear that could do something like that? I didn't even wake up until I heard my parents screaming."

"It killed them?" Sam asked.

"Dragged them off into the night. Why it left me alive— I've been asking myself that ever since." He said. "Did leave me this, though."

Shaw pulled his shirt down, revealing three huge scars on his chest.

Sam and Dean glanced at each other.

"There's something evil in those woods. It was some sort of a demon." Shaw told them.

~~~

"Spirits and demons don't have to unlock doors if they want inside. They just go through the walls." Dean stated as they walked down the hallway.

"So it's probably something else— something corporeal." Sam said.

"Corporeal?" Dean questioned. "Excuse me, professor."

"Shut up. So, what do you think?"

"The claws, the speed that it moves— it could be a skinwalker, maybe a black dog." Dean said.

He looked up as he heard a baby crying from one of the apartments. He hoped August was okay. Dean picked up the pace, and Sam noticed.

"Whatever we're talking about, we're talking about a creature, and it's corporeal, which means we can kill it." Dean stated.

~~~

As Dean approached the impala, he looked into the back window, seeing August was still asleep.

He smiled a little a her before pulling away from the window and going to the trunk. He opened the trunk, then the Arsenal and started packing a duffel bag full of weapons.

"We cannot let that Hailey girl go out there." Sam said as he came up beside his brother.

"What are we gonna tell her— she can't go into the woods because of a big, scary monster?" Dean questioned.

"Yeah." Sam looked Dean dead in the eye.

"Her brothers missing, Sam. She's not just gonna sit this out. No, we go with her, we protect her, and we keep our eyes peeled for our fuzzy predator friend." Dean stated.

"So finding dad's not enough?" Sam asked then closed the trunk. "Now we got to babysit, too?"

Dean stared at his brother.

"What?"

"Nothing." Dean shook his head just before throwing the duffel bag at sam.

Dean went to get into the drivers seat, but he stopped when he heard August crying. He sighed lightly, and opened the back door, sliding into the backseat beside his daughter.

"Hey, sweetheart, it's okay." Dean told her as he put his hand in her grasp. "What's the matter? Hm?" He asked her. "Are you hungry?"

Dean grabbed August's diaper bag out of the floor, and pulled it up into the seat. He got into the bag and pulled out a jar of baby food.

This one was Carrots and Potatoes.

Dean popped the lid off the jar and grabbed a spoon out of the pocket of the bag, and scooped up a little onto it.

"You want it?" Dean asked as he held up the spoon to the baby.

August had started calming down when she saw the food, and gladly opened her mouth, letting Dean feed it to her.

Dean smiled and chuckled as August started reaching for the jar in deans hands.

Dean got another small spoonful and fed it to her just as Sam got into the passenger seat.

"Oh look, Auggie! It's mister grumpy pants!" Dean gasped at the baby making her smile as he used his baby voice with her.

Sam rolled his eyes at his brother.

~~~

Dean pulled the impala in front of Hailey, Ben, and some other guy before parking the impala and cutting the engine.

The brothers got out and Sam opened the back door to get august.

"You guys got room for three more?" Dean asked before looking over to Sam and August, august was now in the baby harness strapped to Sam. "Well, two and a half?"

"You want to come with us?" Hailey questioned.

"Who are these guys?" The man asked.

"Apparently, this is all the park service could muster up for a search and rescue." Hailey said.

"You're rangers?" The guy asked.

"That's right." Dean nodded.

"And you're hiking out in biker boots and jeans, with a baby?" Hailey questioned.

"Well sweetheart, first of all, I don't do shorts. And second, I don't have a babysitter." Dean brushed past her going towards Sam, Ben, and Auggie.

"Oh, you think this is funny?" The guy asked. "It's dangerous backcountry out there, and definitely no place for a baby. Her brother might be hurt."

"Believe me, I know how dangerous it can be. We just want to help them find their brother. That's all." Dean told him

August laughed and stretched her hands towards dean as he approached them.

Dean playfully gasped at her and cupped her tiny face, kissing her nose. August scrunched her nose up and laughed, Sam chuckled as Dean smiled.

~~~

As the small group was walking through the woods, Sam playing around with August to keep her occupied, Dean spoke up.

"Roy, you said you did a little hunting."

"Yeah, more than a little" Roy nodded.

"Uh-huh. What kind of furry critters do you hunt?" Dean asked.

"Mostly buck. Sometimes bear." Roy stated.

"Tell me, uh, Bambi or yogi ever hunt you back?" Dean questioned.

Just then, Roy grabbed deans jacket, and jerked him back. Dean furrowed his brows as everyone else stopped.

"What you doing, Roy?" Dean asked.

Roy bent down and picked up a stick, then put it in the bear trap Dean almost stepped in. The trap snapped the stick in half.

"You should watch where you're stepping...Ranger." Roy started walking again.

Dean nodded, very much annoyed.

He then chuckled and turned back to the rest of the group.

"It's a bear trap." He informed them before walking after Roy.

Sam laid his hand on August's head as she put her hand in her mouth.

"You didn't pack any provisions." Hailey stated to Dean. "You guys are carrying a duffel bag, and a baby. You're not rangers, so who the hell are you?" She grabbed Dean jacket, making him stop.

Ben passed them, but Sam looked to dean who nodded for him to go ahead.

Dean sighed.

"Sam and I are brothers, August is my daughter, and we're looking for our father, Auggie's grandfather. He might be here. We don't know. I just figured that you and me, we're in the same boat." Dean explained to her.

"Why didn't you just tell me that from the start?" Hailey questioned him.

"I'm telling you now. Besides, it's probably the most honest I've ever been with a woman ever, except for Delilah." Dean looked down at the dirt.

"Who's Delilah?" Hailey asked.

"August's mom." Dean lightly chuckled as he looked back up.

"Where is she?" Hailey asked him.

Dean hesitated.

"She, uh...she died." He said, ignoring the stinging feeling in his eyes. "Pulmonary embolism. Twenty hours after Auggie was born." He said.

"I'm so sorry." Hailey shook her head a little.

"Yeah." Dean sniffled. "So, we okay?" He inhaled deeply.

"Yeah, okay." Hailey nodded.

"And what do you mean I didn't pack provisions?" Dean questioned as he pulled out a family sized bag of M&M's.

Hailey chuckled as Dean turned and headed towards the rest of the group, going to August and Sam.

"Here, Auggie." Dean held out an m&m to her.

"Dean!" Sam said.

"What? They're the milk chocolate ones, she can have it!" Dean stated as he put it in August mouth.

August clapped her hands as she grinned.

"You like it?" Dean chuckled. "You want another one?" He held up another m&m to her.

Sam lightly sighed.

~~~

"This is it— black water ridge." Roy spoke up as they had been walking for a while.

"What coordinates are we at?" Sam asked him.

"35 and minus 111." Roy said after looking at a small device in his pocket.

Dean came up beside Sam as he looked around.

"You hear that?" Dean asked.

"Yeah. Not even crickets." He stated.

"I'm gonna take a look around." Roy said.

"You shouldn't go off by yourself." Sam told him.

"That's sweet." Roy chuckled. "Don't worry about me." He brushed between the brothers.

"Alright, everybody stays together." Dean told the rest of the group. "Let's go."

They then started through the woods.

After a short while of walking, they heard Roy call out.

"Hailey! Over here!"

The group then rushed towards Roy's voice.

They stopped when they saw a bloody and torn up campsite.

"Oh, my god." Hailey said.

"Looks like a grizzly." Roy stated.

They started walking through the campsite.

"Tommy?" Hailey asked as she unbuckled her book bag, letting it fall to the ground. "Tommy!" She called out. "Tommy!"

"Shh! Shh!" Sam rushed to her.

"Why?" Hailey asked.

"Something might still be out there." Sam stated.

"Sam."

Sam turned his head as he heard his brother call out to him.

He found dean crouched down on the ground around a few trees from the campsite.

Sam crouched down beside his brother, August stretched her arms towards Dean who smiled at her.

"Hey, sweetheart." He smiled and lifted her out of the harness, bringing her to his chest.

"The bodies were dragged from the campsite." Dean told his brother. "But here, the tracks just vanish. It's weird." He stood up, bouncing the baby in his arms. "I tell you what. It's no skinwalker or black dog." He turned and headed back to the group and the campsite.

Sam followed after him.

As they approached the site, Dean saw Hailey pick up a crushed phone on the ground. She was crying.

Dean crouched down to her, August still in his arms.

"Hey, he could still be alive." Dean told her.

Hailey looked over at him.

"Help!"

They stood up and turned as they heard a male voice cry out.

"Please! Somebody help me!"

Dean grabbed his gun out of his waistband and tossed it to Sam just before they started rushing towards the voice, dean holding August's head against his chest.

"Help!" The voice cried.

The rushed towards the voice until they got to a bigger open space in the woods.

"It seemed like it was coming from around here, didn't it?" Hailey said.

"Everybody back to camp." Sam said.

Everyone then rushed back to the campsite, but then realized they're book bags were gone.

"Our packs!" Hailey exclaimed.

"So much for my gps and my satellite phone." Roy muttered to himself.

"What the hells going on?" Hailey questioned.

"It's smart." Sam stated. "It wants to cut us off so we can't call for help."

"You mean someone— some nut job out there just stole all our gear." Roy said.

"I need to speak with you...in private." Sam told his brother before brushing past him.

Dean followed after him, gently bouncing august in his arms.

Sam stopped a short distance from the rest of the group before turning to Dean.

"Okay, let me see dads journal." Sam said.

Dean pulled Johns journal from the inside of his jacket before handing it to his little brother.

Sam opened it and started looking through it.

"Alright. Check that out." Sam gave the book back to Dean, tapping the page.

"Oh, come on." Dean said. "Wendigos are in the Minnesota woods or northern Michigan." He stated, holding the book out as August was trying to grab it. "I've never even heard of one this far west."

"Think about it, dean— the claws, the way it can mimic a human voice." Sam said.

"Great." Dean said sarcastically. "Well, then that's useless." He said, gesturing to his gun in Sams hand.

Sam gave him the gun back before brushing past him, but then he turned back to dean.

"We got to get these people to safety." He stated, then headed back to the camp.

"Alright, listen up. It's time to go." Sam told the group. "Things have gotten more complicated."

"What?" Hailey questioned.

"Kid, don't worry. Whatever's out there, I think I can handle it." Roy told him.

"It's not me I'm worried about. If you shoot this thing, you're just gonna make it mad. We have to leave now." Sam stated.

"One, you're talking nonsense, two, you're in no position to give anybody orders." Roy said.

"Relax." Dean warned Roy.

"We never should have let you come out in the first place." Sam said. "I'm trying to protect you."

"You protect me?" Roy questioned him as he stepped closer to him. "I was hunting these woods when your mommy was still kissing you goodnight."

"Yeah? It's a damn-near-perfect hunter. It's smarter than you." Sam told him. "And it's gonna hunt you down and eat you alive unless we get your stupid sorry ass out of here."

Roy laughed.

"You know you're crazy, right?" He grabbed Sams jacket.

"Yeah? You ever hunt a wen—"

"Chill out." Dean pushed his brother, stepping between the two men.

"Stop it. Everybody just stop." Hailey came between them as well.

Sam and Dean looked at her, august had started whining.

"Look, Tommy might still be alive. And I'm not leaving here without him." Hailey told them.

Dean looked to Sam who looked back at him.

"It's getting late." Dean looked back at Hailey as he gently rubbed August's back.

She was getting tired.

"This thing is a good hunter in the day, but an unbelievable hunter at night." Dean told them. "We'll never beat it— not in the dark. We need to settle in and protect ourselves." He brushed between them.

"How?" Hailey asked.

~~~

"One more time. That's...?" Hailey trailed off in question.

"Anasazi symbols. It's for protection." Dean said as he was drawing them in the dirt with a stick. "The wendigo can't cross over them."

Roy laughed.

"Nobody likes a skeptic, Roy." Dean stated.

He got up and walked over to Sam who was gently rocking August to sleep.

"You want to tell me what's going on in that freaky head of yours?"

"Dean..."

"No, you're not fine." Dean cut him short. "You're like a powder keg, man. It's not like you. I'm supposed to be the belligerent one, remember?"

"Dads not here." Sam said. "I mean, that much we know for sure, right? We would have left us a message, a sign, right?"

"Yeah, you're probably right." Dean nodded. "To tell you the truth, I don't think dads ever been to lost creek." He looked over at his brother.

"Then let's get these people back to town, and let's hit the road...go find dad." Sam looked over at him. "I mean, why are we still even here?"

Dean sighed before getting up and crouching down in front of Sam as he grabbed johns journal out of his jacket.

"This is why." He showed it to his brother. "This book." He pointed at it. "This is dads single most valuable possession. Everything he knows about every evil thing is in here. And he's passed it on to us. I think he wants us to pick up where he left off— you know, saving people, hunting things...the family business."

"That makes no sense. Why— why doesn't he just call us?" Sam questioned. "Why doesn't he just tell us what he wants, tell us where he is?"

"I don't know." Dean lightly shook his head. "But the way I see it, dads given us a job to do, and I intend to do it."

"Dean...no." Sam shook his head as his eyes watered a little. "I gotta find dad. I gotta find Jessica's killer. It's the only thing I can think about." He told him.

"Okay. Alright. Sam, we'll find them. I promise." Dean promised his little brother. "Listen to me. You've got to prepare yourself. I mean, this search could take a while. And all that anger, you can't keep it burning over the long haul. It's gonna kill you. You got to have patience, man." Dean told him.

"How do you do it?" Sam tearfully chuckled. "How does dad do it?

"Well, for one..." Dean trailed off as he looked down at the sleeping baby in Sams arms. "For two, them." He looked towards Hailey and Ben who were huddled up together by the fire. "I mean, I figure our family's so screwed to hell, maybe we can help some others. It makes things a bit more bearable. And I'll tell you what else helps..."

Sam looked back at his brother.

"Killing as many evil sons of bitches as I possibly can." Dean told him then smirked making Sam smile a little.

"Help me!"

Sam and Dean both stood up as they heard the voice again. Sam held august close to him as they came over to the group.

"Help!"

Dean grabbed his gun and cocked it as Sam held up a flashlight, shining it around. Roy held up his gun while Ben and Hailey grasped onto each other.

"It's trying to draw us out. Just stay cool. Stay put." Dean told everybody.

"Inside the magic circle?" Roy questioned.

Dean glared back at him.

"Help! Help me!"

They heard growling as the trees and bushes around them were rustling.

"Okay, that's no grizzly." Roy stated.

"It's okay." Hailey told her little brother. "We'll be alright. I promise."

It was then quiet just before Hailey screamed when the wendigo rushed by.

It ran by again, and Roy shot at it.

The heard it again somewhere behind them, and Roy shot again, it cried out.

"I hit it!" Roy said and rushed into the woods.

"Roy, no!" Dean yelled. "Roy!"

He then turned and looked back at Hailey and Ben.

"Don't move." He told them.

Sam gave august to Hailey before rushing into the woods with his brother.

August started getting whiny as she started waking up.

"Hey, it's okay, it's alright." Hailey gently shushed her.

Sam and Dean rushed after Roy

"It's over here!" Roy yelled. "It's in the tree!"

"Roy!" Dean called out. "Roy?!"

They ran around but they couldn't find him. The brothers stopped and looked at each other.

~~~

Sam sat by a tree stump, playing with the chain on Johns journal.

"I don't...I mean, these types of things— they aren't supposed to be real." Hailey said as Dean walked around with August in the baby harness strapped to him.

"I wish I could tell you different." Dean sighed.

"How do we know it's not out there watching us?" Hailey questioned as Dean came and sat down with them.

"We don't." He stated. "But we're safe for now."

"How do you know about this stuff?" Hailey asked him.

"It's kind of runs in the family." Dean shrugged a little as he played with the little bit of fuzzy brown hair on August's head.

He kissed her head before getting up with her. Sam came over to them.

"Hey." Sam said. "So, we've got half a chance in the daylight." He told them. "And I, for one...want to kill this evil son of a Bitch."

"Well, hell, you know I'm in." Dean smirked.

~~~

"Wendigo is a Cree Indian word. It means, 'Evil that devours.'" Sam told Hailey and Ben ad he showed them their fathers journal.

"They're hundreds of years old. Each one was once a man, sometimes an Indian or other times a frontiersman or a miner or hunter." Dean spoke up as he walked past them.

"How's a man turn into one of those things?" Hailey questioned.

"Well, it's always the same. During some harsh winter, a guy finds himself starving cut off from supplies or help— becomes a cannibal to survive, eating other members of his tribe or camp."

"Like the donner party." Ben stated.

"That's right." Sam nodded. "Cultures all over the world believe that eating human flesh gives a person certain abilities— speed, strength, immortality."

"If you eat enough of it, over years, you become this less-than-human thing." Dean said as August once again had her hand in her mouth. "You're always hungry."

"So, if that's true, how can Tommy still be alive?" Hailey asked.

Sam and Dean looked at each other.

"You're not gonna like it." Dean said.

"Tell me."

"More than anything, a Wendigo knows how to last long winters without food. It hibernates for years at a time. When it's awake, it keeps its victims alive. It stores them so it can feed whenever it wants." Dean explained to them. "If your brothers alive, it's keeping him somewhere dark, hidden, and safe. And we got to track it back there."

"And then how do we stop it?" Hailey asked.

"Well, guns are useless— so are knives." Dean said. "Basically...we gotta torch the sucker." He held up some items.

He saw august reaching them so he pulled them away from her.

"You can't have that." He told her.

~~~

The now group of four and half walked through the woods, August now being in the baby harness strapped to Sam.

After a while of walking, Sam spoke up.

"Dean."

Dean came over to his brother who was looking up at the trees.

"What is it?" Dean asked.

It was quiet for a moment as Sam saw all the claw marks on the trees.

"You know, I was thinking that those claw prints, so clear and distinct..." Sam chuckled. "They were almost to easy to follow."

They then heard the Wendigo growl somewhere around them. They looked around as they saw the trees move around them.

Hailey then heard something hitting her jacket. She looked at it and saw blood was dripping onto her shoulder.

She looked up just before letting out a scream. She moved out of the way just in time as Roy's dead body fell right where she was standing.

"You okay?" Sam rushed to help her as Dean rushed to Roy.

"His necks broken." Dean stated. "Run, run! Go, go, go!" They all got up and started running away from where they heard the Wendigo growling.

The four were sprinting through the woods, Sam was sure to have a tight grip on August to keep her from shaking as much as he ran.

As they ran, Ben tripped over a tree root and Sam went back to help him up.

"Come on. I got you. I got you." He helped him.

They kept running as Hailey and Dean had went off another way. Sam and Ben heard Hailey scream.

"Hailey!" Ben yelled as they ran towards her scream, but when they got there, both Hailey and Dean were gone.

"Dean!" Sam yelled.

~~~

"If it keeps its victims alive, why would it kill Roy?" Ben asked Sam.

"Honestly? I think because Roy shot at it, he pissed it off." Sam stated.

Ben walked around for a moment before he saw something on the ground, he bent down and picked it up. It was a m&m.

There was a trail of them.

"They went this way." Ben called out to sam.

Sam came over to him, his hand on August's chest. Ben showed the m&m to sam.

"It's better than bread crumbs." Sam chuckled before throwing the candy aside.

Ben chuckled before they followed the trail.

~~~

They followed the trail to an old abandoned mine. Ben and Sam looked at each other before heading in.

They walked through the tunnel, sam had a flashlight in his hand, thought it didn't help much.

They heard the Wendigo growl, sam grabbed Ben and pulled him back a little against the wall.

Once it was clear, they moved and continued down the tunnel. They stepped over a wooden platform and it squeaked, but then it broke and they fell through the floor.

Sam luckily managed to fall onto his back, his arms protectively wrapped around august who started whining.

"Shh! Hey, you're okay! I got you, it's okay." He gently shushed her as he got off the ground.

Ben got up and coughed.

Sam looked around just before his eyes landed on Hailey and Dean who were both unconscious, hanging by their wrists.

"Dean." Sam said as he rushed to his brother.

Ben rushed to Hailey.

"Hailey, wake up." Ben said to his sister.

"Dean." Sam shook his brother who woke up and hummed, or it was more of a groan of pain.

"Hey. You okay?" Sam asked him.

"Yeah." Dean nodded just a little.

"Hailey...Hailey." Ben gently shook his sister. "Wake up."

"Gotcha." Sam said as he cut dean down, holding him up by his arm.

He helped his brother over to the wall and set him up against it. Dean groaned in pain, trying to push through it.

"You sure you're alright?" Sam asked him.

"Yeah, yeah." Dean nodded just before his eyes landed on August who was grinning at him, her hands stretched towards him. "Hey, sweetheart." He smiled a little at her. "Where is it?" He asked his brother as he took August's little hand, her fingers wrapping around his thumb.

"It's gone for now." Sam told him.

Ben had got Hailey down as she was now awake. She looked around and saw Tommy hanging up by his wrists.

Ben helped her up and they made their way to their brother. Hailey was crying.

"Tommy." She cried. "Tommy." She cupped his face.

Tommy then gasped awake making hailey gasp and back away for a second.

Sam came over to them as Dean looked up.

"Cut him down." Hailey told Sam.

Sam cut Tommy down and his siblings caught him before he could hit the ground.

Dean looked over and saw their bags from earlier, he dug into them and pulled out some flare guns. He chuckled to himself before standing up against the wall.

"Check it out." He said and held them up, showing them to the rest of the group.

"Flare guns." Sam said. "Those will work." He chuckled.

Dean smirked.

~~~

The group made their way through the tunnels, Ben and Hailey helping Tommy.

They heard the Wendigo growling, so they stopped for a moment.

"Look like someone's home for supper." Dean stated.

"We'll never outrun it." Hailey spoke up making Dean look back at her.

The brothers then looked at each other.

"You thinking what I'm thinking?" Dean asked.

"Yeah, I think so." Sam nodded.

"Alright, listen to me. Stay with sam. He's gonna get you out of here." Dean told the three siblings.

"What are you gonna do?" Hailey asked.

Dean glanced at her before going off down the tunnel.

"It's chow time, you freaky bastard! Yeah, that's right! Bring it on, baby! I taste good!" Dean yelled as he went down the tunnel.

August started whining, Sam gently shushed her and placed his hand against her chest.

"Right over here!" Dean yelled in the distance.

"Alright, come on. Hurry!" Sam said to the siblings once he checked to see if it was clear.

They rushed down the tunnel.

"Hey! Hey, you want some white meat, bitch?!" Dean yelled. "I'm right here!"

Sam took the group to a two way tunnel just before turning to them.

"Get him out of here. Take her with you." Sam said as he took August out of the baby harness, giving her to Ben.

"Sam, no." Hailey shook her head.

"Go. Go!" Sam told them.

The group turned and went the opposite way of Sam.

Not even a few seconds later, the group heard a gunshot, then Sam came running to them.

"Sam!" Hailey yelled.

"Come on! Hurry, hurry, hurry! Go!" Sam rushed them to keep going.

The Wendigo was right behind them, Hailey was screaming, and August was now crying, feeling the panic around her.

The group came to a dead end.

"Get behind me." Sam told them.

Sam came around in front of them, watching the Wendigo come closer to them.

Just as the Wendigo roared, Dean yelled.

"Hey!"

The Wendigo turned and Dean immediately shot it. It went up in flames and fell to ground, burning to a pile of ash.

"Not bad, huh?" Dean said to his brother.

Sam chuckled.

~~~

Dean gently rocked his sleeping baby in his arms, walking with Hailey.

"So, really, I don't know how to thank you." Hailey said.

Dean gave a cheezy grin.

"Must you cheapen the moment?" Hailey questioned him.

"Yeah!" Dean nodded.

"You riding with your brother?" A paramedic asked as she came up to Hailey.

"Yeah." Hailey nodded. "Let's go." She said to Ben who came over with Sam.

Hailey turned back to dean and gave him a small smile.

"I hope you find your father." She told him.

Dean nodded and glanced down at August.

She then turned, and wrapped her arm around Ben.

"Thanks, Sam." Hailey said as they walked past him.

They brothers leaned against the impala.

"Man, I hate camping." Dean stated.

"Me too." Sam nodded.

"Sam, you know we're gonna find dad, right?" Dean told his little brother.

"Yeah, I know." Sam sighed. "But in the meantime...I'm driving." He looked over at dean, holding his hand out.

Dean threw the keys up and Sam caught them. Dean took august around to the back of the impala.

Sam got into the drivers seat as Dean strapped the baby into the car seat, then he closed the back door and came around to the passenger seat, getting in and buckling himself up.

Sam started up the impala, and pulled away from the rangers station, heading out onto the road.

Thank you so much for reading!