The Wendigo of Blackwater Ridge

| Warning! This is a fan-fictional remake! Please read without cruelty! | The second installment of my fan collection of Supernatural featuring my original character: Kamryn Leianne Montgomery.

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A

Supernatural

Fan-Fictional

Remake

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Written by

Kitty Kirkpatrick

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Original Creation by

Eric Kripke

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The

Wendigo

of

Blackwater Ridge

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Prologue

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Lost Creek, Colorado

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Blackwater Ridge

Lost Creek, Colorado

Two tents were set up near a fire ring. Crickets chirped. Inside one tent, two young men, Brad and Gary, were playing head-to-head handheld video games. Typical young males.

"Dude, you're cheating." Brad complained.

"No, you just suck." Gary stated.

Something growled outside.

In the other tent, a third young man, Tommy Collins, recorded a video message on his cell phone. "Hey Haley, day six, we're still out near Blackwater Ridge." Something dark flickered behind the tent wall behind Tommy, too fast to be identifiable as more than 'something dark'; the screen on Tommy's phone, displaying the video as Tommy recorded it, caught it. "We're fine, keeping safe, so don't worry, okay? Talk to you tomorrow." Tommy stopped recording and sent the message.

Inside the first tent, Brad closed his game system and tossed it aside. Gary stared at his system for a moment, then turned to look at Brad, who was getting up and unzipping the tent. "Hey, where ya goin'? My moment of victory." Gary was just too full of himself.

"Nature calls." Brad went outside and zipped up the tent behind him. He went to stand against the tree to relieve himself. The fire crackled. Something snapped a stick. Brad looked towards the sound and saw the trees rustling. Brad shook his head and returned his attention downward, then looked up sharply. Something growled.

Inside the second tent, Tommy, who was reading Joseph Campbell's 'The Hero With A Thousand Faces', heard Brad scream. Inside the first tent, Gary head the same and rolled over. "Brad?"

Tommy sat up. "Gary, what's goin' on?"

Gary opened the tent he was in and stuck his head out to look around. He saw nothing, then there was growling. He looked up. Something pulled Gary out of the tent. He screamed.

Tommy turned out the lantern he had on. Shadows moved very quickly around the outside of Tommy's tent. Tommy looked around, his eyes following the shadows and growling. Silence fell. Something slashed open Tommy's tent. Tommy screamed.

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Part 1

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Cemetery in Palo Alto, California

It was the middle of the day, the sun was shining in the sky, but not as brightly as you would think. The birds chirp and Sam Winchester, wearing a suit and tie and carrying a bouquet of various flowers excluding roses, walked through an otherwise deserted cemetery. Sam sighed and stopped next to a gravestone. It read "JESSICA LEE MOORE", "Beloved Daughter", "January 24th 1984 �" November 2nd 2005". There was a small picture of a grinning Jessica set into the stone above her name, a black-and-white picture of her leaning against the stone between a white teddy bear and a wooden box with a crucifix leaning on the picture, a small American flag next to the box and three candles standing on the gravestone; one is of the Virgin de Guadalupe. Sam looked between the gravestone and the flowers. “I, uh…” Sam laughed. “You always said roses were, were lame, so I brought you, uh....” Sam looked at the picture set into the gravestone, then looked away, choking back tears. He stepped closer to the gravestone. “Jess.... Oh God....” Sam knelt to set down the flowers. “I should have protected you. I should have told you the truth.” Sam leaned the flowers in front of the crucifix. An arm covered in dirt shot out of the ground and grabbed Sam by the wrist.

Sam jerked awake. November 10th, 2005. He was riding shotgun next to Dean Winchester, Foreigner's "Hot-Blooded" was playing and the cemetery visit was days behind them. Kamryn Montgomery sat in the back seat, she was reading a book, but upon seeing Sam’s sudden movement, she marked her place, put the book down and leaned forward, looking very concerned. Sam blinked and rubbed his eyes. Dean looked over, concerned as well. “You okay?”

Sam glanced over at Dean and then away. “Yeah, I'm fine.”

“Are you sure?” Kami asked concerned as she began to rub the back of Sam’s neck comfortingly.

“Yeah, I’m sure.” Sam said as he looked over at Kami for a moment.

Dean then nodded. “Another nightmare?” He asked as Kami kept rubbing Sam’s neck and Sam cleared his throat. “You wanna drive for a while?” Dean asked once again as Kami jerked her head toward him, her eyes wide with surprise.

Sam laughed. “Dean, your whole life you never once asked me that.”

“That is a bit strange.” Kami stated gently.

“Just thought you might want to. Never mind.” Dean darted his eyes back onto the road.

Kami smiled softly, still rubbing Sam’s neck gently. “Same old, same old.” She muttered to herself.

“Look, man, you're worried about me. I know you are too, Kami.” Sam stated as Dean looked over at him for a minute. “I get it and thank you, both, but I'm perfectly okay.”

“Are you sure, you’re okay? ‘Cause, to be perfectly honest, you don’t look okay. In fact you look completely exhausted.” Kami cringed softly.

“Mmhm.” Dean was staring at the road as he drove.

Sam moved and grabbed a map. Kami moved her hand away from his neck, placed her arms between the men on the seat’s back and leaned her head down onto her arms. “Alright, where are we?” Sam asked looking at the map and Kami began to feel very tired, but she willed herself not to fall asleep.

“We are just outside of Grand Junction.” Dean told Sam as Kami subconsciously moved closer to Dean without realizing it, like she was drawn to him, which she actually was drawn to him. The top of her head just barely touched his shoulder. He glanced down at her, but just smirked, shrugged his shoulders and kept driving.

Sam folded down the map, which was of Colorado and had a large red X labeled 35-111. “You know what?”

“What, Sam?” Kami asked quietly as she yawned softly, her eyes closing, her mind drifting off to sleep.

“Maybe we shouldn't have left Stanford so soon.” Sam finished, barely hearing Kami’s words.

“Sam, we dug around there for a week. We came up with nothing. If you wanna find the thing that killed Jessica....” Dean trailed when Sam interrupted him.

“We gotta find Dad first.” Sam finished Dean’s sentence.

“Dad disappearing and this thing showing up again after twenty-two years, it's no coincidence.” Dean stated as Kami moved closer to him without realizing it, her head was now leaning against his shoulder. “And uh, Kamryn, what are you doing?” He asked her as she sighed sleepily, not really hearing him. He shrugged, smirked again slightly and rolled his eyes. “Dad will have answers, Sam. He'll know what to do.” Dean said to Sam.

“It's weird, man.” Sam paused a moment, staring intensely at the map. “These coordinates he left us. This Blackwater Ridge.”

“What about it?” Dean asked as Kami’s hand subconsciously reached up to grab his jacket just under his right arm with her fingers. “Okay, why are you grabbing for my jacket now?” He demanded of a sleeping Kami, who didn’t wake up, her face was struck with pain and stress.

“Forget the jacket. Blackwater Ridge. There's nothing there. It's just woods.” Sam put down the map. “Why is he sending us to the middle of nowhere?” Sam seemed to ask him as they drove past the National Forest sign that said, 'Welcome to LOST CREEK COLORADO National Forest'.

Kami gripped onto Dean’s jacket tighter, her fingers slipping and grabbing; rinse, lather, repeat. Dean began to swerve slightly on the road from her grabbing onto his jacket so much. Her fingers still moved in that motion and it seemed like she was afraid, but Dean couldn’t figure out why, just that maybe she was sensing something. Sam was oblivious to the situation or at least he seemed like it. Dean turned to Sam for help with the Kami situation. “Okay, Sam, get her off me. She’s making it hard to drive here.”

Sam looked to Kami and gave a sigh. “Come here, Kami.” He moved her over to his shoulder, her fingers didn’t want to let go of Dean’s jacket and he moved his arm toward her as she pulled on him, her fingers sliding down his arm to his hand, but he kept one hand on the steering wheel. “You can lay your head on me. I’m not driving.” Sam told her as she finally let go of Dean, her fingers slowly sliding over the palm of his hand and his fingers and then they grabbed onto Sam’s jacket. “Kami.... What’s the matter?” Sam asked her, but she didn’t say a word, only grasped onto his jacket even tighter.

“What’s she doin’?” Dean asked slowly putting his free hand back onto the steering wheel. He was only able to catch glimpses of what she was doing for he needed to keep his eyes on the road at least half the time.

“I don’t know. She’s, she’s gripping onto my jacket, very intensely. Like she was with you, but tighter now. Maybe because I moved her. Something must be bothering her, she didn’t wanna let go of you, then she grabs onto me....” Sam shook his head, confused and curious at the same time as Kami subconsciously tugged on his jacket. “And now she’s tugging on me.”

“Well, why would she do that?” Dean wondered, genuinely concerned about her. “Does she look like she’s having a vision or something? Whatever it is that she does, 'cause I can't remember exactly what she does....” He asked curiously not really remembering what she called what it was she had or did.

“Maybe, I’m not sure....” Sam paused as he looked at her face.

He saw her eyelids were closed and her eyes were frantically moving from under her eyelids. Her face was a mixture of pain and fright. "Help me...." Kami's voice murmured, barely audible.

“Wait a minute, she’s asleep and apparently having a nightmare.” Sam realized that Kami was asleep and obviously having a nightmare; he just barely heard her call for help.

“She’s asleep? I didn’t even notice that she fell asleep.” Dean admitted gently, feeling bad for not remembering she had a tendency to fall asleep without him knowing from their high school years.

“Hold on. Let me wake her up.” Sam stated as he turned around in his seat. “Hey, hey, Kami, wake up, wake up. Kami?” He shook her shoulder, but all she did was let go of his jacket, due to her arm going limp. Her eyes stopped darting from side to side under her lids and her breathing slowed down. "Kamryn....?" Sam said her birth name gently, but there was no answer. Only now, did he begin to worry. “Uh, Dean.... Just, um, just keep, keep driving.” Sam stuttered to tell Dean as he turned Kami over onto her back and then wrapped his arms around her, underneath her arms, his hands on either side of her chest; he felt extremely awkward.

Dean's eyes grew wide, he was worried. “Uh, I am driving, but what are you gonna do? Why isn’t she waking up?” He asked very concerned as he kept darting his eyes from his companions to the road.

“Just keep driving.” Sam commanded as he pulled Kami over the seat, her a*s falling onto his left thigh with only her legs from her knees down dangling over the back of the seat. Sam pulled her legs down, sitting her feet on the seat beside Dean’s thigh, the toes of her fashionable black winter boots touched his jeans.

“Uh Sammy, what exactly are you doing?” Dean asked his eyes darting to Sam and Kami for a moment.

“Just keep driving! I’m handling this.” Sam told Dean as he pulled Kami up and sat her on his lap better. Her arms hung limp behind her and her head hung to the side, facing Dean, showing him her pain and fright struck face. “Kami, wake up.” Sam commanded Kami as he kept her torso suspended in the air with one arm around her, his hand on her ribs. He took her head by her chin, turned her face toward his own and then let go of her chin, but her head just fell to her right shoulder, right back where it was. “Kamryn, Goddamn it, wake up!” Sam snapped as he slapped her across the face, then he immediately cringed, feeling bad for slapping her.

“Sam, what the hell are you doing?!” Dean was confused, but upon Kami waking up abruptly, gasping loudly and screaming, he shut his mouth.

Kami was breathing hard and her hands frantically moved upward, she touched her cheek where Sam slapped her and then placed both of her hands on her cheeks. “Unh, what the hell did you do to me, Sammy?” She asked sleepily and tired like.

“I’m sorry, but I had to slap you.” Sam grumbled ashamed and embarrassed.

“What went wrong? I felt like I was trapped in that nightmare-land I’m always transported to when I fall asleep, only it was like the masters of that land were pulling me into the amusement park like place permanently....” Kami paused a moment, tears beginning to pool at her cheekbones. “B-B-But I couldn’t, couldn't have f-f-fallen asleep, c-c-could I?” She looked down and realized she’s on Sam’s lap. “And why the hell am I on your lap, Sam?!”  She demanded of Sam, curiously and tearfully.

“Uh, yeah, um, you fell asleep.... Uh, and I had to, to, pull you up here to get you to wake up.” Sam blushed very embarrassed.

“Oh.” Kami noticed his blush. “It’s okay.” She assured him as his blush lightened. “It’s okay....” She trailed as she frowned deeply, about to cry. Then she moved to embrace Sam, whimpering softly, her arms wrapping around his neck and her face planting itself into his neck on his left side.

“Uh, Kami....” Sam and Dean said in unison as she began to cry, ignoring the fact that Dean just called her by her shortened name.

“Baby, what’s wrong?” Dean asked in a very sweet, very concerned voice, unlike his normal tone of voice. Kami ignored the fact that he called her 'baby' and pretended that she was Francis Housemen from Dirty Dancing and that Dean was Johnny Castle and Sam was Johnny's cousin Billy Kostecki. “I can pull over to the side of the road, if you need me to, baby....” He said gently as Kami shook her head against Sam.

Sam slowly wrapped his arms around Kami the minute her body began to shake. “What’s the matter, Kamryn? You’re shaking like a leaf on a tree on a windy day....” He asked her, using her birth name as opposed to using 'baby' as a reference to Dirty Dancing afraid of both Dean's and Kami's reactions, more so Dean's reaction than Kami's reaction as he struggled to look at Dean from around Kami's head, Dean was just as confused as Sam was. Sam tried to soothe Kami, comfort her, rubbing her back and holding her tight.

“I hate falling asleep....” Kami whimpered, cries were working their way into her voice.

“Why, may I ask?” Dean said curiously as he kept his eyes on the road, trying to make sure he didn’t swerve off the road.

“Because, because I’m always transported to this, to this, this nightmare realm thing that resembles a haunted amusement park, with ghosts and ghouls working the haunted rides and booths, where, where everything good and beautiful in my, my miserable, pathetic, little life is destroyed and wh-where everyone and everything I care about dies in front of me and I’m always being....  A-Always b-being.... B-Be-Being.... R-R-Raped....” Kami explained softly, stuttering from crying and embarrassment.

The brothers looked to each other and shared a wide-eyed, forlorn look, remembering what that meant, what she meant by everyone and everything she cared about. Both were furious that she dreamed of being raped and they remembered the one time she was raped for she told them about the rape that occurred when she was nine years old. Dean was especially furious at the rape part of this for he hated it when she had been raped. He felt like it was his job to hunt down the thing that kept raping her. He shook his head, trying to calm his inner turmoil down just a enough to keep driving like a completely sane person or at least a sane person who liked to drive a little fast. “Do you, get any sleep? At, at all?” Dean asked her curiously to keep him from crashing the Impala.

“Not always, no....” Kami answered him as she removed her face her Sam’s neck and looked to Dean.

There were tears in her eyes, both pooling at her cheekbones and streaming down her cheeks. With her tiny size, Kami looked like a five year old girl, looking up at her big brothers. Even when Dean wasn’t like a brother to her at all and Sam was technically a little brother age wise. Dean was watching the road as they came into the  small town of Lost Creek just next to Blackwater Ridge, but he sighed and pulled over to the side of the road, in front of a small store. Just their good luck. Dean turned the ignition off and turned toward his brother and his companion. The three sat there and stared at each other for the longest time. Kami cried, Sam sighed and Dean just stared at Kami very intensely. She forlornly looked up at him, their eyes connected and more tears slid down her cheeks.

Finally, Sam tapped Kami’s back gently and moved her legs downward, sitting her on the seat between him and Dean. “I’m gonna go inside that store. Anything you guys need or want, I can get for you.” Sam offered.

The two slowly broke their stare and looked to Sam. Dean nodded. “Uh, yeah, sodas and chips. I don’t know what she wants though....” He trailed looking to Kami, concern was now etched into his face like a stone carving.

Kami just moved to hold onto Dean’s arm and curl up on the seat beside him. “I don’t care. If you remember what I like, fine. If you don’t, fine. I’ll deal with anything you can afford or can get, just because you’re getting it for me, just because you're thinking of me.... I just.... I don’t know why, but I just wanna cry like a teenage girl who's lost her father right now....” She had her eyes closed and her cheek was pressed into Dean’s shoulder. She was acting very childlike and it wasn't irritating either one of them one bit.

Dean looked to Sam as Sam frowned at Kami. “I think I remember. Dr. Pepper or one of its knock off versions. Or Sprite, 7Up, etc. Right....?” Sam asked sweetly as Kami nodded her head against Dean’s shoulder. “Okay. I think I remember the rest. I know what Dean likes too. I’ll be back. Dean, keep your eye on her and.... Hold her.” Sam told Dean as he shut the car door, leaving Dean wide-eyed.

Kami chuckled softly, not moving. “I know you don’t really wanna hold me, Dean. Just let me use your arm and your shoulder, it’ll be okay.” She told him gently.

Dean blinked at Kami. “How do you know what I want, Kamryn?” He asked her for he knew he wanted to hold her desperately, he was just surprised that his little brother told him to.

Kami chuckled once again. “I guess I don’t really know what you want. Maybe because I’m not reading your mind right now.”

Dean looked down at her, smirking just the slightest bit. “You can read minds? Like Jedi and Sith?” He placed his left hand on her head, smoothing her hair between his fingers. He'd forgotten she'd already told him she was telepathic.

Kami smiled, her tears subsiding slowly. “Yeah. I already told you this.” She moved her head to look up at Dean. “Just like a Jedi.” She smiled up at him, humoring him, a light blush creeping into her cheeks, giving them a rosy tint.

Dean subconsciously licked his lips, bit his lower lip, grinned at her, then bunched his lips to the side in his signature smirk that resembled Han Solo’s lopsided grin from Star Wars. “I never knew that.... Until a week ago....” He commented as he slowly slid his thumb over to her right temple.

A tear began it’s journey down Kami’s cheek and Dean moved his thumb over it, wiping it away from her skin. “That’s because I never told you.” Her face fell for a moment and she sighed, looking to her lap. “I couldn’t tell you....”

“Why not, baby?” Dean asks her, seeming to be content with calling her 'baby' from now on and sliding his thumb and fingers down to her chin to lift her face up. “Why couldn’t you tell me?” Slowly, Kami’s eyes shifted up to Dean’s.

Kami closed her eyes and sighed. “Because.... Because, I was too afraid of what you would think of me and that you would not want to have anything to do with me....” She admitted softly, almost embarrassed.

Dean grinned, chuckled and shook his head. “Oh, Kamryn. C'mere.” He moved to pull her to him. “C'mere.” He placed her face in his collarbone. “I would’ve been stoked to know this back then. I mean, I know a real life Jedi. How cool is that? You don't meet a real Jedi everyday.” He grinned as Kami gave a soft laugh. “Ah, I got a laugh out of ya. That’s gotta count for somethin'.” He pulled her closer. “But I meant every word.” He whispered to her.

Kami gave another soft, half-laugh, grabbing onto Dean’s shirt, pulling it toward her face. “I didn’t know that. If I had known that you wouldn’t have shunned me, I would’ve told you.” She told him grinning against his chest.

Dean leaned his head down toward her body, placing his chin on her left shoulder. “I’m sorry, Kamryn. I guess I should’ve told you that I wouldn’t have minded whatever you told me about yourself.” He said glumly, like this was all his fault.

Kami could hear the guilt she knew he must have felt at this time and it made her feel even worse for leaving him like she did and when she did. She shifted slightly, moving her lips closer to his neck. “You know, none of this is your fault." She whispered into his neck him, purposefully pausing at this point in her words. "I let myself fall asleep.... It’s all my fault.” She said guiltily as she moved to look up at him with her hazel eyes; smiling sweetly as she brought a hand up to his left cheek, smoothing her thumb over the apple of his cheek; Dean was a bit confused by her sudden touch. “If I hadn’t have fallen asleep, if I hadn't.... I hadn't have left, none of this would’ve happened.” Kami gave a sweet, tearful smile as she kept smoothing her thumb over Dean’s cheek; Dean's eyes closed fearfully on impulse at the memories. “So don’t blame yourself, for anything. It’s not your fault, it's not your fault....” With that last sentence, Kami leaned into his face, aiming and wanting to kiss his lips, but instead she softly kissed his cheek, her lips barely touching his skin; she slowly moved away from him, situating herself on the seat beside him, her left leg bent underneath her and her right leg hanging over the bench front seat. Dean’s arms didn’t move much as if he didn’t want her to pull away from him; his eyes had automatically opened when she pulled away and he jerked his head toward her to look at her. Kami shook her head with a soft smile of hesitant rejection; Dean nodded in disappointed acknowledgment as he brought his arms back toward himself and his hands went into his lap. Kami frowned at his expression; she moved over and situated herself where she could lean over to the side; her left leg still underneath her. She put her head on Dean’s shoulder and swept her head over his shoulder affectionately, apologetically, like a puppy does when it feels like it’s in trouble. Dean looked down at his shoulder and smirked as she settled her head against him and he leaned his head against her own.

Bravely, Dean moved his right hand toward Kami’s left thigh. The second his hand touched her thigh, Kami jumped in response and Dean quickly removed his hand, but not before she grabbed his wrist. Dean lifted his head to look at her. Slowly, she placed his hand back onto her thigh. Dean swallowed, embarrassed; his cheeks slowly beginning to flush. Kami kept her right hand on his right wrist, thus keeping his hand on her left thigh. This was the scene that Sam arrived to see, hands full with two bags. He put the handles of both bags into one hand to open the car door; Kami didn’t even flinch when the door clicked open. Dean immediately looked up at Sam with an innocent look and shrugged his left shoulder. Sam slid into the car beside Kami, but she still didn’t move. Sam just looked the two over, his eyes landing on their hands that were on her thigh. He blinked and shook his head, looking up at Dean, his eyes darting from Dean’s eyes to their hands. Dean shook his head confused and shrugged his left shoulder again. Sam shrugged and went to rummaging through the bags. He pulled out a bag of Doritos, Nacho Cheese flavor, then gave them to Dean, who took the chip bag into the fingers of his left hand, looking at them and then Kami, not knowing how he was gonna open them and keep Kami happy at the same time. Kami sighed gently as she slowly sat up straight, slowly moving away from Dean, moving her legs down from the seat, moving her feet to Sam’s side of the car. “Sorry.” She wiped her eyes with the back of her hand as she mumbled to Sam, who just shook his head.

“Not a problem. You were upset. I understand.” Sam told her as he pulled out a Mug Root Beer for Dean, ignoring his brother’s eye roll.

“Okay.” Kami said softly as Sam gently shoved a Dr. Pepper and a bag of Cool Ranch Doritos at her. “Thank you.” She thanked him, her voice still very soft.

"No problem. You need all the help you can get to stay awake. And I have an extra Dr. Pepper for you, when you're finished with that one. Don't rush, take your time." Sam told Kami gently as Dean opened his soda and his chips, intently thinking to himself.

"I don't like falling asleep...." Kami blurted suddenly and both brothers froze their actions, their eyes automatically darting to her. "I just, wish I could sleep, without all of those things happening, to me...." She frowned deeply as she pulled her legs up and hid her face in her arms that were wrapped around her knees, beginning to cry once more. Soda in one hand and chips in the other, her hair cascaded beautifully and majestically down her back and over her shoulders, concealing her face. As if on some kind of cue, Sam and Dean turned their bodies toward her for a better view of her body language. Then they looked to each other, two pairs of concerned eyes meeting. They looked to her once more, before Dean couldn't take her sadness any longer. He quickly capped his soda and abruptly moved to grab Kami's bag from the backseat. He began to rummage through it as Kami slowly looked up and sniffled at him. "Dean, wh-what are you doing?" She asked him curiously.

"I know you have those CDs and that CD/tape player adapter cord thing-a-ma-jig in here somewhere." Dean growled gently for he was getting frustrated.

"You mean, my cassette tape converter?" Kami asked curiously.

"Is that the thing where it has a cassette tape on one end and a phone jack at the other?" Dean asked her as he kept rummaging through her bag.

"Yeah...." Kami furrowed her brow at Dean's concerned behavior.

"That's the one I'm looking for." Dean told her, still looking for the damn thing, but only found her very new, pink 4GB iPod Nano 2nd Generation. He pulled that out and handed her the bag, dropping it in her lap. "Will ya find that damn cord of yours? Since I can't. Please?" Dean asked in a very frustrated and defeated tone.

"O-Okay...." Kami was confused and looked to Sam as she slowly handed him her soda and chips.

Sam took the bottle and bag very curiously for this was not how Dean usually acted. Kami looked through the bag and within minutes she found the cord. She pulled the entire cord out and looked to Dean as she handed the cord to him. He gave her the iPod and took the cord, gently pushing the tape end into the tape player in the Impala and pressed the button marked 'tape'. "Now plug in your iPod thing and play that song from Dirty Dancing or that one song from Grease or just something you like. I'll deal with it." Dean stated staring at Kami as her mouth and Sam's mouth dropped in shock.

"R-Really?" Kami asked breathlessly with a grin forming.

"Yeah." Dean shook his head as if she had lost her mind and didn't hear him.

Kami gasped happily and moved to hug Dean very girlishly. "Oh, thank you, Dean!" Was all she said as she held him for a moment longer, before letting go as not to piss him off.

"Yeah.... Sure, Kamryn...." Dean sighed invisibly to the other two as Kami plugged in the iPod.

Sam handed Kami her soda and chips, blindly when she reached for them. "Dean, have you gone soft all of a sudden?" He blurted out without being able to help himself, a wide grin spread across his face.

Dean gave his brother a short glare and rolled his eyes. "No." He tried to deny, but both Sam and Kami knew he was growing soft, but only with Kami and her alone.

"Who are you and what have you done with my brother?" Sam asked grinning and opening his chips and soda.

Dean ignored his brother as Kami grinned girlishly, placed her soda between her thighs and then placed her chips behind the bottle. She took the iPod into her fingers, holding it in her hands carefully, gracefully moving her thumb over the buttons. She found her favorite playlist of Dirty Dancing and Grease songs and played it. The first song to play was the main love theme of Dirty Dancing, the 4:50 version of '(I've Had) The Time of My Life' performed by Bill Medley and Jennifer Warnes. She set the iPod down between her thigh and Dean's thigh as she slowly looked up at him, hoping he wouldn't go crazy with her playing this kind of music for she knew he didn't really like it as much as he did his rock n' roll.

At first Dean screwed up his face in a sort of pained expression as if he was already getting tired of the music, but then he cringed, feeling ashamed of himself for acting this way when the one woman whom he had loved more than anything, still loved more than anything, whether he wanted to admit it all the time or not, was in so much pain and needed, deserved happiness more than he did. Kami saw the display of mixed emotions that played over Dean's face and she knew he was having trouble listening to this kind of music. Kami sat a gentle hand on his thigh, her fingertips on his knee. "Dean." She said his name softly. "I can turn my music off and turn on your music if this kind of music is too much for you." She said gently, understandingly as 'You're the One I Want' performed by John Travolta and Olivia Newton-John from Grease began to play.

"No. Leave it." Dean shook his head and moved to start the car, but he froze, remembering this song very well. 'I got chills, they're multiplyin' and I'm losin' control, 'cause the power, you're supplyin', it's electrifyin'.' John sang and it echoed throughout the car. There was a short pause. 'You better shape up, 'cause I need a man and my heart is set on you, you better shape up, you better understand, to my heart I must to be true' Olivia sang and kept vocalizing the long, high note. 'Nothing left, nothing left for me to do.' John sang as Olivia finished vocalizing and Dean closed his eyes tightly.

The music kept playing as Sam tried not to interfere with this new exchange between his brother and his companion. He wanted the two to get back to together, but he didn't want to force them, he wanted them to come together on their own and he knew that if he were to say something now, this moment between Kami and Dean would abruptly end and everything would go south. Dean struggled to listen to this song for this was the song that made him fall deeply and madly in love with Kami back in 1995. It was Kami's sophomore year in high school, his junior year. She sang this song as a double duet with his sister, Cat's boyfriend at the time and another young man in the Carter Academy Choir. He cringed in pain, started the car and the Impala roared to life as the chorus began to play for the second time and Kami frowned at Dean's behavior. Yes, it touched her heart and made her feel like Dean still cared about her and that there was still a sliver of hope that he still loved her as much as he did back then, but she didn't want to make him feel as if he should never be happy himself just to make her happy. She sighed forlornly; she wanted them to both be happy, not one or the other.

At this moment in time 'You're the One I Want' was fading out and 'We Go Together', the end finale from Grease just barely began to play as Dean looked down at his right thigh, surprised to see that there was still a hand on him. Kami's left hand was still sitting on it, her thumb was moving slightly, rubbing his thigh through his jeans. He studied the hand for a long time, specifically the third finger. There, on Kami's left ring finger, was the first engagement ring Dean had given her the day after her senior graduation. A diamond set in gold. It took all of his paycheck just to buy her that ring and with the screaming argument they had that last summer morning, he thought that she would never wear it, but there it was plain as day on the proper left finger, where he always wanted it to be and they weren't even married now. He had caught a glimpse of it before, in the library in Jericho, lots of times there in Jericho, but he thought he was dreaming. After a moment more of intensely staring at her finger, Dean abruptly and vigorously shook his head. At this action of his, Kami affectionately squeezed his thigh into her hand; he stomped his right foot on the gas pedal. Kami removed her hand from his thigh and the Impala accelerated forward. She sighed forlornly once again as she turned her attention to her soda and her chips. Picking up the soda, unscrewing the cap, taking it off the bottle and then sipping the dark liquid. After she drank, Kami capped and screwed the bottle shut, placing the bottle back between her thighs. She took the chip bag and opened it, the loud Pop! from the concealed air being let loose vibrated the car for a second while the music kept playing. She cringed at the sound, but neither Dean nor Sam said anything to her. She let out a soft, almost inaudible breath and took a few chips out of the bag and slowly ate them, feeling very self-conscious at the moment.

As she finished eating the few chips she had pulled out of the bag, 'We Go Together' ended and 'Cry To Me' from Dirty Dancing slowly started to play. Kami placed the bag back onto her lap, behind her soda that was still between her thighs and she carelessly wiped her fingers on her jeans. When she realized which song had come on, without even thinking or realizing what she was doing, Kami began to subconsciously twirl the ring that she had completely forgotten was on her left hand. This song always made her feel self-conscious, especially when Dean was around her. To Kami, it felt normal to have Dean's ring on her finger, even when they weren't married and with her mind on more important things, she had just forgotten that it was there, except on the cold, lonely nights before she found Dean and Sam, when she was in bed, crying and thinking she would never find the Winchester brothers. She twirled it and twirled it, catching Sam's attention immediately and then Dean's attention slowly followed. Dean only glanced at her actions, but Sam just stared at her actions. Since it was still night and around two in the morning when they finally decided that Dean needed a place to sleep for the night, Kami and the Winchesters rented a motel room for the night. Although, Kami was the first to fall asleep; she'd laid down on the motel room's only bed, curling up on top of the covers, her iPod still playing her playlist, now on 'Hungry Eyes' from Dirty Dancing, but she had put her earphones into her ears. She was completely tired from the long car ride. Dean intently watched her curl up onto the bed, seeing she was so small that he and Sam could both fit on the bed with her, but Sam wasn't in the mood to sleep. He'd gotten enough sleep on the car ride to Lost Creek. He motioned for Dean to go lay down beside Kami and get some sleep, that he'd watch over and work on the clues.

At first, Dean was hesitant about this idea, but soon he agreed with his little brother, knowing that he needed some sleep from driving all day and long into the night and knowing that Kami would eventually need one of them beside her as she slept, to make sure she knew she wasn't alone and make sure that what happened earlier wouldn't happen again; something Dean never wanted her to experience again, he wanted to protect her from it, oddly enough. Dean sat on the end of the bed and began to unlace his black biker boots, one right after the other. Sam sat down all of the paper and John's journal onto the work table in the room. He happened to glance over at Kami; she didn't have the covers over her and her boots were still on her feet. Sam smiled at her and shook his head, walking over to her. One by one, he unzipped her boots and took them off, setting them down on the floor by her side of the bed. Kami stirred, letting out a soft, sleepily moan. "Thank you...." She whispered in her sleep as she stretched her legs and then curled back into a catlike position.

Sam sweetly smiled at her, stepped closer to her top half and leaned down over her. "You're welcome." He whispered in her ear, kissed her temple and moved away.

Kami smiled in her sleep as Dean turned to see Sam sit himself in a chair beside the work table and start to read through the information they already had on hand. His brow furrowed and his shoulders shrugged, Dean slid his feet out of his boots and moved to place them in front of the bedside table on the right side of the bed. Then he pulled back the covers on his side, but paused; Kami was laying on the covers on her side. Dean walked around the bed, reaching her side and carefully lifted her legs up, pulled the sheet and comforter out from under her. Then he gently sat her legs back down on the bed and covered her up with the covers; Dean lowered himself closer to her, thoughtfully sweeping his right thumb over her temple. "You're so beautiful when you sleep...." He whispered as he gently pressure kissed her cheek.

Kami sighed sleepily, her face a distortion of pain and sadness mixed with a pinch of happiness when he was near her; she removed her left arm from under the covers, finding his left hand, touching his skin, holding his fingers, bringing his hand up to her cheek, making him touch her with his semi-calloused fingertips. "I miss your touch...." She murmured barely audible, her arm abruptly going limp and his fingers pressing into her cheek as her fingers let go of his own.

Dean slowly pulled his hand and fingers away from her cheek. His brow was furrowed, his full lips were frowning and his green eyes were curious. "I've missed your touch, too...." He whispered to himself as he wondered if Kami was feeling alright physically or if that nightmare-land visit she just had was slowly taking it's toll on her; although he knew their eventful night of Jessica's death was taking it's toll on him and it was making him go crazy with the feelings that were screaming at him to let them out so they can mingle with her feelings that are so obviously trying to surface.

Sam thoughtfully ignored his brother's actions and their companion's actions as he studied the map and read through John's journal again; although he did hear everything and see everything out of the corner of his eye. Dean could see that Kami had fallen into a deep sleep and to him she looked just like an angel. He smiled sweetly at her as he walked back around the foot of the bed and slid under the covers next to her. She stirred at this a bit and turned over onto her left side, but she had clearly moved closer to him, seeming to be inviting him to hold her if he so wished to. Dean gave a confused look at this for a long moment, but soon he shrugged and shook his head, closing his eyes and soon falling asleep with her; although he made no attempt to hold her, that was a little too far over the invisible line they had drawn between them at the moment, even when they already crossed that invisible line once.

After Dean had been asleep for a couple of hours, Kami once again stirred in her sleep, the nightmares she'd had as a child were trying to resurface again, like they always did, every two years, like a short time span of clockwork; these were the nightmares about Xenomorphs and about that one time when she was five and was almost killed by a real one out in space. She began to whimper about wanting the Xenomorphs to go away, alerting Sam, who was still sitting in the chair he was before Dean fell asleep. "Go away.... Leave me alone.... Go away, go away.... Daddy? Daddy, where are you....? Make them go away, make the aliens go away.... Dean? Dean, make the aliens go away.... Sam, Dean, please.... Make the aliens go away...." Kami cried sleepily as Dean twitched in his sleep.

Not able to listen to her cries and not wanting to wake Dean, Sam got up from the chair and walked over to Kami. Upon reaching her side of the bed near the lower half of her body, Sam gently laid a hand on her knee, patting her gently. "It's alright, it's okay, shh, Sam's here, Dean's here." Sam whispered soothingly to Kami as he started to rub the side of her thigh softly. As 'She's Like the Wind' by Patrick Swayze from Dirty Dancing softly began to play in her ears and as Sam's words finally drifted into her ears, Kami turned back onto her right side, now facing Dean once again. Sam removed his hand from her leg as Kami moved closer to Dean's body, needing his warmth for she felt like she was freezing to death. Sam slowly walked back over to the chair, listening. He sat back down in the chair and went back to work, keeping an eye on them and an ear open.

A softly whimpering Kami snuggled herself up against a loudly snoring Dean. At this, Dean, snoring softer now, even in sleep, could feel something cold, turning warm, cuddling him. He subconsciously moved to wrap his arms around the body that was pressing itself against his own, all the while still asleep and softly snoring. Feeling him wrap his arms around her, Kami just snuggled herself deeper into his arms, her arms pressed into her chest and against his chest, her elbows against his ribs, her face completely hidden in his chest. This was in fact a very new display of emotions the two were showing, even if it was only in their sleep and Sam took great notice of this scene. As he watched the affectionate scene play out, he couldn't help, but to smile brotherly and sweetly. He was hoping, praying that his brother and their companion would get back together soon and it seemed sweet to see them together like they were now with Kami snuggling herself into Dean's chest and his arms wrapped around her. It was like they needed each other to sleep, like they needed each other period. Sam hoped they would figure that out soon and get back together, but for now, he worked long and hard all through the wee hours of the night.

******

Part 2

******

A few hours later, at about 10:30, Dean's eyes slowly opened. He moved a bit, but it became apparent that it was difficult. There was something in his arms, pressing up against his body. He furrowed his brow, confused; he looked down and saw Kami, fast asleep in his arms, the only movement out of her was her breathing. His eyes widened at this; he didn't realize that this had happened or at least he thought this hadn't happened, but as it was, it happened. He looked over at the work table and could see that Sam was still working, thoughtfully ignoring them. Dean contemplated getting up, but her face was just too priceless, too beautiful to wake her up just yet. A sweet smirk slowly crept it's way into Dean's lips, he couldn't help it, Kami just had that affect on him. As a matter of fact, she had that affect on everyone she met or at least most everyone she met. Dean still had his arms around her; Kami still had her face pressed against his chest. He removed his right arm from around her, but only to bring his hand to her head, softly caressing her temple with his fingertips.

At these actions, Kami stirred in her sleep, her left hand reaching up to her face; she delicately swiped at her nose, then placed the hand under her cheek. She moaned softly, barely audible; Dean could just barely hear her. He smiled at her and kept caressing her temple. Sam saw this, smirked to himself, quietly stood up and left the motel room; he went outside for a minute. Dean just barely glimpsed him walking out the door; he was slightly perplexed, but ultimately decided that this was a good time to wake Kami. He never ceased his caressing though, that he kept doing. The human hunter turned his attention to the vampire princess in his arms, looking down at her, all the while smiling at her. "Hey, Kamryn...." Dean spoke gently, trying to gradually wake her up. "Kamryn. Hey, wake up." He placed his hand on her cheek and slowly moved his hand, gently jiggling her cheek; a wide grin spread across her face at that action.

Kami couldn't help, but to start giggling herself awake. "Dean....!" She mocked irritation as she gently pulled out her earbuds. "What are you doing to me?" She turned off her iPod and moved backward, onto her back. "Was I really just there, pressed up against you?" Kami suddenly asked very curious.

"Yep. And I was just trying to get you to wake up." Dean pulled her back to him, he wasn't exactly ready to let her go just yet. "Come back here." He commanded her playfully as she gently knocked back into his chest.

Kami squealed softly. "Okay, this is new." She placed her hands on his cheeks. "What's gotten into you, Dean?" She asked curiously. "Not that I'm complaining, of course." She grinned.

Dean shook his head, then placed it against her upper chest; this was definitely knew, but she wasn't complaining one little bit. "I just wanna hold you, for a minute." He finally admitted.

"A minute, huh?" Kami giggled good-naturedly and wrapped her arms around his head, cradling his head to her chest. "Sure. I'll let you hold me for a minute." She told him as she placed her cheek onto his head. "You know, this is really different. What's making you act like this? Just curious." She stated curiously.

Dean shook his head against her chest. "I dunno. But this'll probably not last for very long. I dunno about that either." He said truthfully and Kami could hear the truth within his tone and words.

"Alright. I'll be prepared." She told him as she held onto him for dear life, she may never get another chance to do this, so she soaked up this moment and bathed in his affection.

Soon, Dean was pulling away from her and loosening his grip on her. Kami took that as he was ready to push her away again and she started to leave his arms completely. That's when he pulled her back to him, just enough to get a small lip kiss from her. Then he promptly let her go entirely. Kami was completely confused, but she moved to get out of the covers and slip her feet into her boots and zip them up. Dean moved to do the same, but he laced his boots. Sam decided to come back in now and he saw them getting their boots on. "I take it you got her to wake up?" He asked his brother.

Dean looked up, playing dumb. "Oh, you're back in. I don't know what you're talking about. She woke up on her own." He looked away, grinning. He knew that was a lie, but he couldn't help it.

Kami burst out laughing at this, she couldn't help it, she had to laugh at this. "Yeah. You could say that." She kept laughing and had to cover her mouth to try and stifle the laughs as Dean began to laugh with her.

Sam just rolled his eyes at the two. "Yeah, uh huh, sure. Whatever. Are we ready to head over to the ranger station or not?" Grinning, he asked the two, who seemed content in laughing like the Joker from Batman.

"Yes, of course." Kami shot up like a bullet to her feet, still stifling her giggles. "I'm sorry. I can't help it." She turned away from them both and tried to calm herself down.

"Dean, what did you do to her?" Sam asked his brother in mock panic.

Dean, stifling his own laughs, shook his head and threw his arms up in the air. "I don't know what's gotten into her. She's the weird one, remember." He stated as he stood up, visibly grinning.

Sam looked from his brother to his companion, repeating the process a few times; he vigorously shook his head and smacked his forehead. "I'm stuck with a couple of maniacs here.... Oh the joy." He laughed briefly before he grabbed up the bag with John's journal. "Let's go, Joker, Harley." He said sarcastically calling them 'Joker' and 'Harley' as a reference to the sort-of-iconic couple from the Batman franchise; Sam left the motel room and thus left Dean and Kami alone once again.

The couple look at each other with wide grins on their faces as Dean grabbed his keys and his wallet; he rounded the bed and immediately came over to Kami. She stood for a moment while he wrapped his arms around her, kissing her temple. "Apparently we're Joker and Harley Quinn now. I didn't know that." Dean told Kami as he pulled away from her.

"Neither did I, but we were laughing like them a minute ago." Kami stated as she stood on her toes to kiss his cheek; she walked toward the door and exited the motel room.

"Yeah, we were." Dean replied as he followed her out of the motel room.

Sam was waiting patiently at the car. Dean and Kami came out and reached their side of the Impala. All three opened their doors and slid into their seats. Dean put the keys in the ignition and turned it, the engine roared to life. He placed his foot on the gas pedal and the Impala accelerated forward.

Later, the Impala was parked next to a sign that said 'RANGER STATION Lost Creek Trail, Lost Creek National Forest'. "So Blackwater Ridge is pretty remote." Sam looked at a 3-D map of the national forest, paying particular attention to the ridge labeled 'BLACKWATER RIDGE'. Dean looked at the decorations, while Kami stood next to him, her arms loosely crossed over her chest and her eyesight trained on the floor. "It's cut off by these canyons here, rough terrain, dense forest, abandoned silver and gold mines all over the place." Sam continued.

"Dude, check out the size of this freaking bear." Dean said as Sam looked over. Dean was looking at a framed photo of a man standing behind a much larger bear. Sam came to stand next to Kami, who was standing next to Dean; she looked up at the picture of the bear. They all stood in their respective, normal places, each man flanking the woman on either side of her.

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

A forest ranger, Ranger Wilkinson, walked up behind them; when he spoke, Dean and Sam whipped around, startled and Kami slowly turned around between them. "You boys aren't planning on taking this girl out near Blackwater Ridge by any chance, are you?" The ranger asked.

Kami shook her head at the man. "No, sir. Of course not." She stated calmly, even when her brain was freaking out at what the ranger was thinking. "These boys ain't the type. We were just looking at this photo here. That's all, sir." She nonchalantly looked up at Dean, who saw the panic in her eyes and he could only guess what the ranger had been thinking; he slowly moved his left hand toward her right hand, she immediately grabbed his fingers, allowing him to take her tiny hand into his large hand, allowing him to hold her hand within his own.

"Oh, no, sir, we're environmental study majors from UC Boulder, just working on a paper." Sam explained further as he laughed a little.

Dean grinned and raised his free, right fist. "Recycle, man."

"Bull." The ranger didn't believe him. Sam's eyes flickered to Kami, hers flickered to his, then they both flickered their eyes to Dean, who didn't move. "You're friends with that Haley girl, right?"

Dean considered this. "Yes. Yes, we are, Ranger�"" Dean checked the ranger's name tag. "Wilkinson."

"Well I will tell you exactly what we told her. Her brother filled out a back-country permit saying he wouldn't be back from Blackwater until the twenty-fourth, so it's not exactly a missing persons now, is it?" The ranger stated; Dean shook his head as Kami studied the man intently. "You tell that girl to quit worrying, I'm sure her brother's just fine." Ranger Wilkinson told them.

Kami nodded. "Sure. We can do that. Don't worry about it." She told the ranger.

"We will." Dean said pausing for a minute. "Well that Haley girl's quite a pistol, huh?" He stated with a grin as Kami shot him an irritated glare.

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

There was a short pause; Dean let go of Kami's hand. "Actually you know what would help is if I could show her a copy of that back-country permit. You know, so she could see her brother's return date." Dean said as the ranger eyed him. Dean raised his eyebrows.

Dean, Kami and Sam left the ranger station. Dean was holding a piece of paper and laughing.

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

"Of course he is. He's always wanting a hookup." Kami grumbled to Sam.

"What do you mean?" Dean asked Sam, ignoring Kami entirely.

"Oh, so, you're gonna ignore me now, like I don't exist, like last night never happen, like this morning never happened.... Right." She understood this, but she was hurt by the fact Dean was ignoring her now.

"The coordinates point to Blackwater Ridge, so what are we waiting for? Let's just go find Dad. I mean, why even talk to this girl?" Sam stated.

"That would be a wonderful idea, if only Dean would agree." Kami commented irritably.

Dean and Sam stopped on opposite sides of the Impala. Kami was on Sam's side this time. "I don't know, maybe we should know what we're walking into before we actually walk into it?" Dean stated.

There was a pause. "What?" Sam demanded.

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

Kami glanced at Sam. "Since now." Sam said as he turned away.

Sam and Kami got into the car at the same time. "Really?" Dean said as he got inside the car.

Dean, Kami and Sam were standing at the door to a house. The door opened to reveal Haley Collins. "You must be Haley Collins. I'm Dean, this is Sam and that's Kamryn, we're, ah, we're rangers with the Park Service. Ranger Wilkinson sent us over. He wanted us to ask a few questions about your brother Tommy."

Haley hesitated. "Lemme see some ID." Dean pulled out a fake ID with the name 'Samuel Cole' and held it up so she could see it. Haley looked at it, then at Dean, who smiled. Haley opened the door. "Come on in."

"Thanks." Dean said.

The door swung open; Haley caught sight of the Impala. "That yours?" She asked Dean.

"Yeah." Dean nodded.

Sam looked back at the Impala. Kami glanced back at the car for a moment.

"Nice car." Haley said as she turned to lead Dean, Kami and Sam into the kitchen, where Ben Collins was sitting at the table on a laptop.

Dean turned his head to mouth something to Sam and thus Kami; Sam rolled his eyes as Kami purposefully went crossed eyed and stuck out her tongue, her arms crossed over her chest.

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

Haley came back into the room with a bowl she placed on the table. "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." Sam stated.

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

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

"He wouldn't do that." Ben said as he turned to Dean.

Dean eyed Ben, Kami eyed Haley. Ben looked away. Haley put more food on the table. "Our parents are gone. It's just my two brothers and me. We all keep pretty close tabs on each other." Haley said.

"Like Cat and I do...." Dean muttered to himself.

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

"Yeah." Haley nodded.

On a laptop, Haley pulled up pictures. "That's Tommy." Haley pointed at her brother, clicked twice and another picture came up, then the still frame opening the latest video.

"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." Tommy said in the video.

Sam spotted the shadow flicking past, so did Kami, she narrowed her eyes at the flickering shadow. "Well, we'll find your brother. We're heading out to Blackwater Ridge first thing." Dean stated.

"Then maybe I'll see you there." Haley said.

"What?" Kami demanded suddenly.

"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." Haley clarified for Kami.

"I think I know how you feel." Dean eyed Haley; Kami eyed him, a bit of hurt, that he's paying so much attention to this new girl and a lot of jealousy, that is completely pointless, in her eyes.

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

Dean could feel eyes on him, so he turn toward the direction of the eyes that were burning the skin on his face. Kami abruptly looked away from Dean the second his eyes met hers and moved away to exit the room; she needed to cool down. Dean furrowed his brow at her, he was confused, but more than anything, he was concerned about her.

"Sure." Haley nodded as she watched Kami, wondering what was wrong with the angry woman, wondering if it had something to do with her.

In a bar, someone broke a game of pool. A waitress went past carrying beer. Sam and Dean sat down at a table. Kami was walking back from the bathroom, feeling a little more refreshed then when she had inside Haley's home. A man came up to her, placing his hands on her hips and sliding them up and down her thighs and her a*s, asking her out; he was obviously drunker than a dog. "Uh, um, I'm with them, I gotta, get back them, before they, start to worry...." Kami tried to push him away, nodding and pointing at Dean and Sam, who weren't paying any attention at the moment, ~Figures.~, Kami thought to herself. The guy shook his head and pulled her into him, his hands clutching onto her a*s. "I'm serious, let go. I belong to them. They own me. So you better let go of me, before the tough one comes after me and beats your a*s." Kami warned him, but the guy didn't let go and people were starting to stare. "Look, I'll be straight with you, I don't wanna hurt you, but I will if you don't let go of me." She warned him once again that she didn't want to have to hurt him, but he still wouldn't budge. "Okay." She sighed. "I just don't have time for any of this." Kami, frustrated, kneed the man in the groin and shoved him away from her; he fell to the floor clutching himself. The music kept playing, but everyone turned to look at her, including her companions. She gave an embarrassed grin as she turned to walk over to Dean and Sam in a very embarrassed way, a hand on her cheek. "Awkward...." Everyone watched her walk away, then went back to whatever they were doing.

"You b***h!" The man shouted out as she walked away. "You little b***h! This could've been the best night of your life." The guy growled loudly as a bouncer came over to him, roughly picked him up, showed him the door and tossed him out of the bar.

Kami chuckled nervously to herself as she walked. "Heh, not likely...." Grimacing in disgust, she sat down in front of her two male companions as they stared at her. She had been staring at the table top when she sat down, but feeling eyes on her, she looked up. "What? Why are you staring at me like that? What did I do?" She instantly became defensive.

"You wanna tell us what happened?" Dean asked first.

Kami could hear the protective jealousy in Dean's voice. "No, not really, no." She stated as she shook her head slowly.

"That guy back there, he was messing with you, wasn't he?" Sam asked next.

Kami could hear the brotherly protectiveness in Sam's voice. "Yes, yes, he was." She stated as she nodded slowly.

"Alright." The brothers looked to each other and nodded at one another.

Kami's eyes darted from one brother to the other several times. She began to shake her head at them. "What?" She prompted. "Why are you guys acting like this?" Kami was confused and curious.

"We just want to know what that guy wanted with you." Sam stated plainly.

Dean glared at the table top.

Kami looked at them, then sighed and looked at the table top, defeated. "He put his hands on me and tried to ask me out to his place. I refused, indicating that I had a previous engagement with you two. He wouldn't let go, just pulled me into him. I warned him, if he didn't let go, I was gonna have to hurt him and he didn't believe me. So I had to knee him in the groin and then I pushed him away from me. Then I came over here and sat down and you know the rest." She stated softly.

Dean twitched, his jealousy making him angry as Sam nodded, he understood. "Okay." The younger said as he shrugged.

Dean said nothing, just opened and closed his right fist that was on the table as Kami glanced at his face, then his hand. She was sitting close enough to him that she could reach out and touch his hand. Which she did, softly placing her fingers on his hand at the next moment his fingers uncurled. "It's okay, Dean. I can take care of myself, when it comes to men like that." She stated softly as he gently curled his fingers over her own. "I've had to do it many times in the past." Kami added as he uncurled his fingers, sighing in the process.

"Anyway, 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." Seeing as a change of subject was needed, Sam changed the subject and opened John's journal as Kami slowly removed her fingers from Dean's open palm.

"Any before that?" Dean asked his younger brother, happy for a change of subject, anything to calm the inner turmoil and the angry jealousy down.

Kami looked away from the brothers, put her hands together and placed them in her lap, between her thighs as Sam pulled out newspaper articles to show Dean. "Yeah, in 1982, eight different people all vanished in the same year. Authorities said it was a grizzly attack." Sam answered Dean.

Dean read the headline in The Lost Creek Gazette:

'GRIZZLY BEAR ATTACKS!

UP TO EIGHT HIKERS VANISH IN LOST CREEK AREA

HIKERS DISAPPEARANCE BAFFLE AUTHORITIES'

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

Sam pulled out his laptop. "And again in 1959 and again before that in 1936." He opened the laptop, which already had a window open to Tommy's video. "Every twenty-three years, just like clockwork. Okay. Watch this. Here's a clincher. I downloaded that guy Tommy's video to the laptop. Check this out." Sam pulled up the video and went through three frames of the video one at a time. A shadow crossed the screen.

"Do it again." Dean said and Sam repeated the frames.

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

Dean hit Sam in the shoulder, Sam looked up at his brother's face. "Told you something weird was going on." Dean said as he glanced at Kami. She wasn't paying any attention to the brothers, her eyes staring at the tabletop, she was staring off into space. "Kamryn...." Dean moved to place a hand on her thigh, beside her arm. This time she did not jump, which was not normal. He removed his hand, feeling disappointed, he liked seeing her body jolt when he touched her.

"Yeah." Sam said snapping Dean out of his thoughts as he closed the laptop. "I got one more thing." Sam handed over another newspaper article. "In 'fifty-nine one camper survived this supposed grizzly attack. Just a kid. Barely crawled out of the woods alive."

Kami looked up at this; Dean looked at The Lost Creek Gazette. "Is there a name?" They asked Sam in chorus.

An old man, Mr. Shaw, talked to Sam, Kami and Dean while leading them inside his house. Shaw had a cigarette in his mouth. "Look, ranger, I don't know why you're asking me about this. It's public record. I was a kid. My parents got mauled by a�""

Sam interrupted. "Grizzly? That's what attacked them?"

Shaw took a puff of his cigarette, took it out and quickly nodded.

"The other people that went missing that year, those bear attacks too?" Dean asked the man.

There was a long pause, Kami began to intensely study the old man.

"What about all the people that went missing this year? Same thing?" Dean asked Shaw again.

There was a longer pause, Kami curiously lifted an eyebrow at the man.

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

"I seriously doubt that. Anyways, I don't see what difference it would make." Shaw sat down, difficultly. "You wouldn't believe me. Nobody ever did." He stated as he blew air out of his mouth.

"Pardon me for saying, but how do you know, sir? We could believe you. I would believe you." Kami said sincerely and politely just as she was taught; the man looked at her, beginning to study her intently. "In a heartbeat." She added softly as he blinked, beginning to give in.

Sam had sat down across from Shaw as Kami spoke and she had sat down beside him. "Mr. Shaw, what did you see?" Sam asked the old man.

Shaw paused to shake his head at Sam's question. "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." He explained.

"It came at night?" Sam asked as 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." There was one second pause and Kami gasped softly. "Do you know of a bear that could do something like that? I didn't even wake up till I heard my parents screaming." Shaw explained once again.

"It killed them?" Sam prompted.

"Dragged them off into the night." Shaw shook his head. "Why it left me alive.... Been asking myself that ever since." There was another pause, short. Shaw's hands went to the collar of his shirt. "Did leave me this, though." Shaw opened his collar to reveal three long scars.

Claw marks.

Sam, Kami and Dean took a look at them.

Kami gasped again, a little louder this time and held her hands up to her mouth. Dean came over to her and sat a comforting hand on her shoulder, squeezing gently; Kami gradually let her hands and fingers slide down her face to her lap, but she kept her bottom lip down an inch.

"There's something evil in those woods. It was some sort of a demon." Mr. Shaw continued as he moved to put his cigarette out.

Later that evening, Dean, Kami and Sam walked the length of a corridor with rooms on either side. "Spirits and demons don't have to unlock doors. If they want inside, they just go through the walls." Dean said.

"Unless, their demons like me with other bloodlines in their DNA that make it impossible for them to go through walls." Kami stated very formally, almost like a Wikipedia page.

"So it's probably something else, something corporeal." Sam said after Kami spoke, respectfully letting her finish.

"Corporeal? Excuse me, professor." Dean turned to his brother, becoming sarcastic.

"Shut up. So what do you think?" Sam rolled his eyes, prompted his brother.

"The claws, the speed that it moves.... Could be a skinwalker, 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." Dean smirked.

Dean opened the trunk of the Impala, then the weapons box and propped it open with a shotgun; he put some guns in a duffel bag. Sam leaned in beside his older brother. Kami stayed upright behind them, not able to stop herself from glancing at Dean's a*s, which ultimately with the situation, was pissing herself off.

"We cannot let that Haley girl go out there." Sam stated.

"Oh yeah? What are we gonna tell her? That she can't go into the woods because of a big scary monster?" Dean asked.

"Yeah." Sam answered.

Dean looked at Sam. "Her brother's missing, Sam. She's not gonna just sit this out. Now we go with her, we protect her and we keep our eyes peeled for our fuzzy predator friend." Dean picked up the duffel.

"You just want her attention, Dean." Kami crossed her arms and scowled down at the damp, dark ground.

"So, finding Dad's not enough?" Sam slammed the weapons box shut, then the trunk. "Now we gotta babysit too?" Dean just stared at his brother. "What?" Sam demanded.

"Nothing." Dean threw the duffel bag at Sam and walked off; Sam stared after him.

Kami was still scowling at the damp, dark ground. Her arms were still crossed over her chest. She could just strangle those two sometimes, especially Dean. "Oh! I could strangle those two." She muttered under her breath as she began to scowl at the boots on her feet.

******

Part 3

******

A man, Roy, talked to Haley, who was wearing shorts and Ben while checking a shotgun. They were all carrying full backpacks. "I'll tell you again, I don't think Ben should come."

"Roy�"" Haley began to protest.

"Look, you're paying me good money to keep everybody safe. I think Ben's safest at home." Roy explained.

The Impala pulled up interrupting the conversation. Roy, Haley and Ben began to stare. Haley shook her head at the familiar vehicle. Sam and Dean got out of the car at the same time, Kami was a little slower what with a duffle bag on her lap along with her own backpack. Sam moved to the back door of the Impala on his side; Kami scooted over toward it as he opened the door. Kami grabbed the duffle bag and held it out to him; Sam grabbed the duffel bag from Kami and pulled it out. He placed the duffle over his shoulder and helped Kami out of the car like a gentleman.

"You guys got room for two more?" Dean stated, forgetting about Kami.

"Three, hot shot." Kami muttered out loud as she pulled out her backpack from the back seat, slipped her arms through the straps and then put the straps on her shoulders.

"Wait, you want to come with us?" Haley asked.

"Who are these people?" Roy demanded.

"Apparently this is all the park service could muster up for the search and rescue." Haley said sarcastically.

Sam headed past everyone with Kami slowly following behind him. "Apparently so." She sarcastically muttered out loud as she past Haley, who lifted an eyebrow at Kami.

"You're rangers?" Roy wasn't buying this.

"Actually, I'm a not-so-undercover detective from the west, working for a very powerful shaman. I'm looking for a certain specimen for experimentation with his magical creatures studies. Yeah." Kami's humor was dry and irritated. She had a sarcastic grin upon her face for moment as she passed Roy, then she rolled her eyes and scowled.

"Undercover detective? Shaman? Humph." Roy rolled his eyes back. "What would a woman like yourself know about these woods?"

Kami froze dead in her tracks, appalled by the way this man was treating her. She slowly and methodically turned around to face Roy. "You might want to refrain from speaking to me in that fashion." Kami warned the man with an angry glare as Sam came up behind her and took her by the upper arms.

"Calm down, Kamryn." Sam whispered in her ear as she let out a snort of breath, sounding like Trusty from Walt Disney's Lady and the Tramp and turned to move passed Sam.

With a short glare directed at Roy, Sam turned and followed Kami to where she had stopped to cross her arms. He stood beside her as they waited for their lagging companion, who rolled his eyes at Kami, knowing she was jealous already, but when Dean saw the uneasy exchange she and Roy had, his expression became stony. "That's right. We're rangers. And I'd take Miss Raven's advice if I were you, Roy." He answered Roy and then suggested what he would do.

"So you're hiking out in biker boots and jeans?" Haley asked Dean, looking at his clothes.

Dean looked down at himself. "Well, sweetheart, I don't do shorts." He shook his head and headed past Haley.

Kami heard this and she looked at Sam with an irritated grimace. Sam rolled his eyes and sat a comforting hand on her shoulder. She calmed herself down by breathing. He nodded at her with a faint smile on his lips that did not reach his eyes, his eyes were showing irritation, mainly with Roy.

"What, you think this is funny? It's dangerous back country out there. Her brother might be hurt." Roy was getting frustrated and it was angering Kami further.

Sam and Kami turned to Roy at this, Kami glaring evilly at the man. Dean shot her a 'calm down now' look, before turning back toward Roy himself. "Believe me, I know how dangerous it can be. We just wanna help them find their brother, that's all." Dean headed past Sam and Kami, who then glared at Dean as he passed. He furrowed his brow at her and she looked away, snorting like Trusty again. This time her glare was a hurt glare. Dean looked to Sam for help, but Sam shook his head and held up his hands defensively.

A mine shaft let in light. Tommy and Gary were hanging by their wrists from the ceiling. There were assorted corpses with them. Growling was heard. Gary spotted a tall, skinny shape and started yelling. Tommy did his best to turn away and did close his eyes tightly as Gary yelled and then finally screamed.

The group hiked through the forest with Roy first as the leader, then Dean, Haley, Ben, Sam and then finally Kami bringing up the rear as the caboose. "Roy, you said you did a little hunting." Dean started a conversation with Roy.

"Yeah, more than a little." Roy replied.

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

"Mostly buck, sometimes bear." Roy answered.

Dean passed Roy. "Tell me, uh, Bambi or Yogi ever hunt you back?" Dean asked with a slight smirk as Roy grabbed Dean. Sam looked on as Kami's mouth dropped in surprise, her eyes filled with worry. "What'cha doin', Roy?" Dean asked again as Roy grabbed a stick and poked the bear trap Dean had almost stepped in. Haley looked annoyed with the reveal of the fact Dean hadn't notice the bear trap, Kami looked relieved that Roy saved Dean from pain as she let out a relieved sigh of breath.

"You should watch where you're stepping. Ranger." Roy dropped the stick and retook the lead.

"It's a bear trap." Dean tried to laugh this off, scratching the back of his head.

They hiked on; Haley caught up to Dean. "You didn't pack any provisions. You guys are carrying a duffel bag and one of you is carrying what looks like a military pack. You're not rangers." Haley grabbed Dean's arm, irritating Kami even more than she already was. "So who the hell are you?" Haley demanded.

Ben went past Haley and Dean. Sam looked at Dean, who indicated with his expression that Sam was to go on by; Sam obeyed. Dean gave Kami the same expression and she reluctantly obeyed, only when Sam gave her an expression telling her to come over to him. Dean watched the two go for a moment. "Sam and I are brothers, Kamryn is our best friend and we're looking for our father. He might be here, we don't know. We need his help in finding our missing sister. I just figured that you and me, we're in the same boat." Dean finally answered.

"Why didn't you just tell me that from the start?" Haley asked.

"I'm telling you now. Besides, it's probably the most honest I've ever been with a woman other than Kamryn or our sisters.... Ever. So we okay?" Dean stated.

There was a pause. "Yeah, okay." Haley nodded, glancing at Kami, who gave a resigned look back, her eyes meeting Haley's, but then her eyes slowly looked away. Haley gave a frown, not knowing why the woman resented her so much, but she had a very good idea of why.

"And what do you mean I didn't pack provisions?" Dean pulled out a big bag of peanut M&Ms from his jacket pocket and stuck his hand in the bag as he grinned at Haley and hiked on.

Haley smiled knowingly, then the smile faded. Kami rolled her eyes and moved out of Dean's way as he came closer, he furrowed his brow at her and kept hiking. Haley waited a moment, then she followed Dean.

Roy lead the way, followed by Sam, Kami, Ben, Haley and Dean. "This is it. Blackwater Ridge." Roy stated.

Sam headed past Roy. "What coordinates are we at?" Sam asked as Kami came up beside him.

Roy pulled out a GPS, which reads N 35 degrees 45.383, W 111 degrees 00.55. "Thirty-five and minus one-eleven."

Dean came up to Sam and Kami; they all listened.

"You hear that?" Dean asked.

"Yeah. Not even crickets." Sam answered.

"I have a bad feeling about this." Kami whispered nervously; she'd finally decided enough was a enough and slowly moved to grab onto Dean's jacket sleeve, he gave a worried look to her and her hand.

"I'm gonna go take a look around." Roy stated.

"You shouldn't go off by yourself." Sam replied to that statement, looking back at the older man and then back at the trees.

"That's sweet. Don't worry about me." Roy was sarcastic and mean.

"He's not worried about you so much as he's just trying to save your damn life." Kami commented.

"You shouldn't be talkin', witch." Roy snapped at her as she just looked up Dean with an expression asking him 'you're just gonna put up with this?', she mouthed the words along with her expression. Roy waved his gun and pushed Kami out of the way, making her stumble back and then he pushed between Dean and Sam to retake the lead, both brothers glared at Roy as Kami took back her place between the brothers.

Dean turned back to the others as Ben and Haley caught up. "Alright, everybody stays together. Let's go."

Sam, Kami, Dean, Ben and Haley were looking around near a large rock. "Haley! Over here!" Roy called.

Haley ran towards Roy's voice, followed closely by the others. They came to a halt. "Oh my God." Haley said softly.

The tents were torn open and bloody and all the supplies were scattered about the campsite. "Looks like a grizzly." Roy stated looking around at the mess.

"We don't know anything yet." Kami stated herself as she looked up at Sam.

Dean and Haley looked around. "Tommy?" Haley took off her backpack and went through the campsite. "Tommy!"

Sam moved to catch up with Haley. "Shh."

"Tommy!" Haley called again.

"Shh-hh-hh!" Sam shushed her urgently.

"Why?" Haley asked.

"Something might still be out there." Sam told her.

"Sam! Kamryn!" Dean called as Sam and Kami met up and went over to Dean, snapping sticks, both crouched next to him. "The bodies were dragged from the campsite. But here, the tracks just vanish. That's weird." Dean, Kami and Sam stood up simultaneously. "I'll tell you what, that's no skinwalker or black dog." Dean stated to the two beside him.

"I think it's something worse." Kami admitted staring at the ground intensely.

Dean went back to the campsite, Sam followed with Kami slowly following, more like lagging behind. Haley picked up Tommy's cell phone; it was bloody. She cried as she turned the phone over, the back was open. Dean crouched next to her. "Hey, he could still be alive." He assured her as Haley gave him a look.

Kami had been lagging behind Sam, barely picking up her feet, barely moving. She was thinking intently and trying to use her senses to pick up anything strange or paranormal. As she slowly came to a stop, she could feel something terrible, her chest began to ache. Her left hand shot up to clutch her chest, she began to choke, small sounds, barely audible, slipped through her lips. "D-D-De-ean.... S-S-Sa-am...." She tried to call for Dean or Sam, but her pain was too much and her words barely made it through her lips, barely audible, she could barely hear her own gasping whispers. She staggered a bit as she felt someone or something breathing on the back of her neck. She completely froze and furrowed her brow as she heard a low growl. Her eyes grew wide as her breathing became erratic. She gasped and her breathing practically stopped.

Dean moved away from Haley to speak with Sam, wondering where Kami was, he looked around for her. "Dude, where's Kamryn?" He asked his brother.

"What do you mean, where's Kamryn, she's right behind-" Sam turned to look behind him, but Kami wasn't behind him. He spun around to face his brother, wide eyed. "Oh, s**t! Where'd she go?" He was beginning to worry.

"You lost the Jedi girl?! Sam!" Dean was shocked.

Kami slowly turned around, still clutching onto her chest with her left hand. Her eyes gradually looked up, straight into golden, soulless eyes, the eyes of the hunter, the eyes of the wendigo. She lost control of all her senses then, her voice returning in full force, screaming bloody murder, sounding almost like Amanda Kirby in the 2001 installment of the Jurassic Park franchise. Her voice-box amplified her screamed and it filtered through the forest straight to Dean and Sam's ears. The two whirled around, trying to find out where the scream was coming from; the brothers turned to each other, they're eyes wide. "S**t!" They raced toward the scream as Roy, Haley and Ben followed close behind them.

Kami kept screaming in terror, even when the wendigo had already disappeared and left her. She had tried to run away from the supernatural creature, but she ended up tripping and falling onto her right leg, her fall abruptly altered her screaming. "Aah, oof, unh...." With difficulty, she turned onto her backside, leaning on her elbows, she was breathing hard and she frantically looked around for the creature she had just seen, but it had already disappeared from sight. Next, Kami tried to get up, but a pain in her right leg prevented her from moving. She knew she'd sprained her ankle at least, if not broken it. She huffed a sigh of defeat and fell back onto her side, hiding her face in her arms; she began to cry from the pain in her ankle.

"Kamryn?! Kamryn!" The brothers called for her and she could hear them clearly, but she could not move toward them.

"Dean! Sam! I'm over here!" Kami was finally able to speak and she spoke clearly. The brothers found where she had fallen, reaching her, both immediately dropping to their knees at her sides as she slowly sat up onto her hip, grunting and groaning in pain. Dean immediately gathered her up into his arms, holding her close to him, holding her protectively. Both were asking her question after question, confusing her; Dean was confusing her even more by holding onto her so tightly, so protectively. "Okay, okay, shut up. I just can't keep up with your questions. Let go, please." Kami gently shoved Dean away and he let her sit back down on her a*s onto the forest floor. She hid her face in her hands, trying to breath.

"Okay, okay. One simple question. What happened?" Sam asked slowly and clearly, gently and brotherly.

"Well, I was following you, Sam, but then I got started thinking about what's going on here, I was trying to get a feel on what's happening here, you know. And suddenly, out of nowhere, my chest began to hurt, like a chestburster pain, you know, something pushing against my rib-cage, trying to push through, it was a throbbing kind of pain, too." Looking from one brother to the other, depending on her words, Kami explained as she subconsciously put her hand on her chest, between her breasts, rubbing her chest like Ripley did in Aliens after the second nightmare the character had in the movie. "Then, I started to feel something breath on me from behind, like on the back of my neck and when I turned around, I was met by golden, soulless eyes. I didn't know what else to do, I panicked." Slowly, tears began to stream down her cheeks and she leaned toward Dean, her forehead leaning against his chest, then she moved to place her cheek against his upper chest and her left hand lifted to touch his chest beside her face; Dean placed his right hand on her left affectionately.

Sam and Dean exchanged a look, then Sam looked at Kami's leg. "Can you move at all?" He asked her as she slowly turned to face him and Dean slowly released her hand.

"I-I don't know.... I think I at least sprained my ankle...." Kami moved to clutch onto her right leg.

"Well, try to stand on it and I'm here to help you. Sam's here to help you, too, if you need us." Dean told her as she nodded, her tears streaming slowly.

Kami carefully began to stand up, cringing in pain. Once she put pressure on her right leg, she stumbled and fell back onto her a*s. "Ow!" She exclaimed like Idgie did after she'd jumped out of the train in Fried Green Tomatoes. She began to cry again. "S**t!" She punched the ground like Idgie.

"Great! Something else to hold us back. Lovely." Roy was getting impatient and extremely rude.

"Hey. Back off." Dean barked at Roy, standing as he took Kami by the underarms and stood her up onto her feet. "Come on, Kamryn. On your feet. You've got this. You're strong, you can walk. At least limp, that's still walking, just very slowly." He told Kami out loud. "I know you can do it, baby...." Dean whispered into Kami's ear and his hands slid down to her waist; his voice so low, Sam could barely hear him.

Kami cringed and grimaced in pain, but she nodded in agreement. "Okay, I got this...." There was a short pause as she started to lose balance and her hands automatically shot out toward Sam for help; his automatically grasping her wrists. Dean kept his hands firmly on her waist, keeping her steady. "I think...." She began to move, Dean slowly let go of her waist, Sam slowly let go of her wrists; she was limping, so that was a good start at least.

"Help! Help!" Someone shouted. Roy lead the way as everyone ran to the aid of the shouter. Kami limping as the caboose. "Help! Somebody!" They found no one.

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

They all listened. "Sam...." There was a warning in Kami's worry-laced voice.

"Everybody back to camp." Sam stated.

Back at the campsite, all the supplies were missing, save the one that was on Kami's back. "Our packs!" Haley exclaimed.

"Don't worry! I have enough food and water in my backpack to feed and water a whole American army." Kami assured Haley.

"So much for my GPS and my satellite phone." Roy sounded disappointed

"What the hell is going on?" Haley demanded.

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

"You mean someone, some nut-job out there just stole all our gear." Roy stated to Sam.

Sam went to Dean. "I need to speak with you and Kamryn. In private." The Winchester brothers went to retrieve Kami and then they all headed a little ways away from the group. "Good. Let me see Dad's journal." Sam said to Dean, who handed it over. Sam opened it and flipped through until he found a particular page. "Alright, check that out." Sam pointed to a First Nations�"style drawing of a figure.

"Oh come on Sam, wendigos were in the Minnesota woods or, or northern Michigan. I've never even heard of one this far west." Dean wasn't so sure.

"Think about it, Dean, the claws, the way it can mimic a human voice." Sam explained.

Kami took a step closer to Dean, her hands quickly found his right arm; she held onto him tightly. Her left wrapping around his fingers and the right on his wrist. "Dean, I saw a wendigo. I saw one. It was what made me scream. A wendigo was, was...." It became a little difficult for her to speak. "That is what was breathing on me...." She stared at him as he stared back at her intensely, Kami bit her lip with a terrified expression on her face and Dean squeezed her hand comfortingly with an unsure expression.

"Well, great." Dean took out his pistol. "So this is useless then." He looked down at the ground as he put the gun away.

Sam gave back John's journal and Dean took it, Sam headed past Dean, stopping for a moment; Kami turned her attention to Sam and watched him as her right hand slid up to Dean's forearm and her right arm wrapped around it, subconsciously pulling it closer to her body. "We gotta get these people to safety." Sam said as he moved away from the two.

Kami slowly looked up at Dean with her terrified expression still on her face and in her eyes. Her hands were still on him; the left wrapped up in his right hand, the right on his right forearm. "Dean, I'm scared...." She admitted softly, sounding a lot like Newt from Aliens when she and Ripley were trapped in the med lab with the Facehuggers. Kami moved closer to Dean, staring at him wide eyed and terrified. "Hold me...." She sounded like a combination of Kelly in Jurassic Park 2: Lost World when said 'carry me' to Ian and Leia from Return of the Jedi when Han apologized to her after Luke left to surrender to Vader. "Like you used to do back home in Kansas...." She now sounded a little like Padme in Revenge of the Sith when Anakin told her he wouldn't lose her and she was talking about back when there was no politics or war. "When there was no pain, no heartbreak, no unforgivable mistakes...." Her eyes involuntarily dropped to her boots at her last sentence.

Dean frowned at her fright; he never wanted her to be scared. "Come here, come here." He tugged her to his body and gathered her up into his arms; her arms immediately wrapped around his torso, under his leather jacket. Kami hid her face in his torso and she clutched onto his shirt that laid beneath his jacket. She was crying, her tears seeping into his shirt. "Shh, shh, shh. It's okay. I'm here with you. You don't have to cry. Don't cry." Dean's tone of voice was mono, like there was no life to his voice, like he wasn't afraid, like he didn't really want to be holding Kami; his eyes staring off into the woods, almost glaring at the trees. Although, Dean was afraid himself, he just disguised it very well and he wanted to hold Kami in his arms forever, but he knew forever had to wait.

Even when she could hear the conflict in his tone and the slow coming desire in the way his heart skipped a beat, Dean's words were soothing to Kami nonetheless. Kami's trembling fingers tightened their grip on Dean's helpless shirt. "I'm so scared...." She whispered, meaning her words. "There are very few things that can scare me like this.... I can name them all on one hand...." She admitted this reluctantly.

Dean nodded, only barely paying attention, his arms were constrict around her and he almost wanted to just stand there and hold her forever, but he knew he had to let her go to get back to the camp and he did, slowly. "Come on. We gotta get back." Dean told Kami as he gently unglued her from his torso; her arms slowly dropped to her sides. He placed his warm hands against her cold cheeks, wiped her tears away with his thumbs, gently clutching onto her cheeks. "You okay?" He asked her.

Kami's head slowly began to nod and he gradually let go of her cheeks, his fingers lingering. "I'm fine." She sighed softly, but visibly and audibly as she turned on her left heel and walked back toward the camp. "Ow, ow, ow...." She whimpered as she limped toward the campsite.

Dean reached her side in a matter of minutes, his hands on her body; the right on her waist, the left on her elbow, he helped her walk without falling over like a complete idiot. "I'm still here. Don't worry." He told her as he helped her walk back to the campsite.

Back at the campsite, Sam addressed the group. "Alright, listen up, it's time to go. Things have gotten.... More complicated." He wasn't all too sure how to word his thoughts, but he did get the point across, at least he hoped he did.

"What?" Haley was surprised.

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

"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 told Roy.

"One, you're talking nonsense. Two, you're in no position to give anybody orders." Roy barked back.

"Relax." Dean stated as he came into the campsite, helping a limping, grimacing Kami along

"Sam's right. Just listen to him." Using her calm, collected diplomat tone of voice, Kami tried to reason with Roy for what it was worth.

"And I don't need some feisty chihuahua of a witch telling me what to do." Roy barked at Kami, angering Dean.

"Hey, just leave the all knowing Jedi girl alone, Roy. You don't wanna mess with her, you don't wanna make her mad. Trust me." Dean nonchalantly moved in front of Kami, hiding her almost completely, protecting her from Roy; she reacted to this by moving her arms to gently take his biceps into her fingers, gently tugging on him, tugging him closer to her chest.

"We never should have let you come out here in the first place, alright? I'm trying to protect you." Sam stated to Roy, catching the older man's attention immediately.

Roy stepped right into Sam's space, he was angry. "You protect me? 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 and it's gonna hunt you down and eat you alive unless we get your stupid sorry a*s out of here." Sam stated.

Roy laughed. "You know you're crazy, right?" He told Sam, angering Kami to the point of rage.

"Stop treating him like that!" Kami squealed from behind Dean.

"Kamryn...." Dean's voice was stern, a warning.

Kami staggered around Dean and over to Sam's side, getting into Roy's face. "Stop treating my brother like a damn mental patient, you Goddamn a*****e!" She was in her protective older sister mode and nothing could stop her when she was in her protective modes.

"You're crazy, too, witch." Roy growled as he pushed Kami by her shoulder, sending her balance off track.

"Roy!" Haley snapped as Kami staggered backward and fell onto her right hip.

"Yeah, Roy? You ever hunt a wen�"" Sam was cut off by Dean pushing him back by the chest as Kami jerked her head up to glare at Roy.

Dean bent over, roughly grabbed Kami by the underarms and jerking her to her feet before shoving her back toward Sam, who immediately took her by the upper arms. "Chill out. All of you." Dean roughly snapped at Sam, Kami and Roy. "Kamryn, you should not have engaged at all." He glanced behind him to give her short glare.

Kami just glared back, shaking her head, indicating with her eyes that if Roy hadn't been so rude to Sam, she wouldn't have said or done anything. "If Roy hadn't gotten in Sam's face, I might have kept my mouth shut." She told Dean. "No one messes with my little brother without hearing from me." Kami glared at Roy now as Sam squeezed her arms affectionately; he appreciated the fact she was so protective of him, it made him feel like he did when he was a kid, when they were in Breckenridge Academy.

"Stop. Stop it. Everybody just stop." Haley commanded everyone.

"I will, if he will...." Kami growled through clenched teeth, glaring at Roy.

"Look. Tommy might still be alive. And I'm not leaving here without him." Haley stated.

There was a long pause. Roy glared at Kami and the Winchesters. Kami glared at Roy as she took Dean by the upper arm once again. Sam's arms dropped to his sides for a moment, but they took Kami by the shoulders, he didn't know what else to do. The two women shared a very long stare, incomprehensible to any of the men, but the women knew it was a mutual look of 'everyone needs to calm down, including Roy'.

"It's getting late. This thing is a good hunter in the day, but an unbelievable hunter at night. We'll never beat it, not in the dark. We need to settle in and protect ourselves." Dean stated plainly as he took Kami's hand, not caring who saw it and not caring what her reaction would be.

"How?" Was all Haley asked.

******

Part 4

******

The group had built a campfire. Dean drew something in the dirt around the campsite while Haley poked at the fire. "One more time, that's...." Haley began.

"Anasazi symbols. It's for protection. The wendigo can't cross over them." Dean told Haley again as Roy laughed, gun over his shoulder. "Nobody likes a skeptic, Roy." Dean threw over his shoulder at the older man and headed over to sit next to Sam, who was at the edge of the campsite. "You wanna tell me what's going on in that freaky head of yours?" Dean stated and sat down as Kami sat down on the other side of Sam, groaning as she did and stretching her right leg out; she let out a heaving sigh of relief, the pain had subsided in the smallest amount.

"Dean�"" Sam began.

"No, you're not fine. You're like a powder keg, man, it's not like you. Shaina and I are supposed to be the belligerent ones, remember?" Dean interrupted.

"We're all in strung out shape here, Dean. Like Roy said, I'm like a feisty chihuahua right now...." There was a short pause. "Which isn't like me at all...." Kami stated in a tired tone of voice, trailing as she slowly slumped over toward Sam, her head laying down onto his shoulder as she let out another sigh.

There was a long pause after this comment of Kami's; Sam made no attempt to push Kami away from him, all in all, her touch was soothing, like it had been back when they were all kids. "Dad's not here. I mean, that much we know for sure, right? He would have left us a message, a sign, right?" He spoke to Dean.

"Yeah, you're probably right. Tell you the truth, I don't think Dad's ever been to Lost Creek." Dean agreed.

"Then let's get these people back to town and let's hit the road. Go find Dad. I mean, why are we still even here?" Sam moved suddenly, wiping at his eyes.

Kami had to sit back up, cringing as she moved.

"This is why." Dean came around to Sam and Kami's front and held up John's journal. "This book. This is Dad's 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...." Dean paused to look at Kami, who met his gaze for a moment, before she had to look to her boots; his stare was making her desire rise in the slightest inch. "And with Kamryn helping us, we might actually be able to find Cat, like Kamryn said, she's useful and helpful. Then when we find Cat, Shaina and Demi can help us too."

Sam shook his head. "That makes no sense. Why doesn't Dad just, call us? Why doesn't he, tell us what he wants, tell us where he is?"

"I dunno, but the way I see it, Dad's giving us a job to do and I intend to do it no matter what." Dean's statement was determined.

"Huh. Such loyalty." Kami murmured to herself, sighing softly, almost inaudibly. Dean heard her and looked at her with a curious expression. She smiled an embarrassed smile and looked away, her eyesight on the ground on the other side of her right leg, frowning at the ground. Dean slowly and hesitantly tore his gaze away from her face and glued his eyes to his brother's face. "I wish you were that loyal to me...." She murmured once again, this time her voice was just barely considered to be audible and she thought she only said it in her mind or at the very least just mouthed the words.

"Dean.... No. I gotta find Dad. I gotta find Jessica's killer. It's the only thing I can think about." Sam shook his head at his brother.

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

Sam looked down, then back up. "How do you do it? How does Cath do it? How does Shaina do it? How does Dad do it?"

Dean looked over at Haley and Ben. "Well for one, them." Sam and Kami looked over at Haley and Ben. "I mean, I figure our family's so screwed to hell, maybe we can help some others. Makes things a little bit more bearable. Shaina feels the same as I do on that, dunno 'bout Cat, though. I presume the same." Dean paused as he looked back at Sam. "And I'll tell you what else helps." Sam looked back at Dean and so did Kami. "Killing as many evil sons of b*****s as I possibly can." Dean gave a small grin.

Sam smiled. Kami saw this and smirked. "Hey, Dean got a smile outta ya, Sam. That's gotta count for somethin', right?" She gave a soft chuckle as the brothers turned their smiles toward her. Their smiles were warm and affectionate, something she never thought that Dean could be toward her. Her face faltered for a moment, the surprise showing, but then she smiled sweetly and affectionately back at them.

Suddenly, a twig snapped. "Help me! Please!" Someone, presumably the wendigo, shouted as Kami immediately gasped and Sam took her left wrist.

"Sam...." The vampire whispered worried as the younger brother glanced down at his wrist. Dean stood and readied his gun, automatically Kami's right hand shot out like a speeding bullet toward Dean, she was frightened and she wanted Dean beside her, but she knew that he couldn't be beside her all the time. "Dean....!" She couldn't help, but call his name and after a moment, Kami brought her right hand up to her lips, gently leaning her curled fingers against them.

"Help!" The wendigo shouted once again.

Sam stood himself and turned toward a frantic looking Kami. "Kami....?" Sam held his hand down to her, offering to help her up to her feet. "Kamryn!" He said her name roughly as she looked up, she saw this action of his and she took his hand, he helped her to stand. "Come on." Sam shined a flashlight about.

"He's trying to draw us out. Just stay cool, stay put." Dean stated.

"Inside the magic circle?" Roy sarcastically asked.

"Stop it, Roy." Haley barked a warning to her original guide.

"Help! Help me!" The wendigo shouted again as it growled.

"Now do you believe us?" In very terrified voice, Kami commented to Roy.

Roy pointed his gun at the sound. "Okay, that's no grizzly." He admitted.

"It's okay. You'll be alright, I promise." Haley told Ben.

Something rushed past and the almost solid figure made the women shrieked. "It's here." Sam stated.

"I could've told you that....!" Kami whimpered to him as she frantically searched for Dean. "Dean...." She said softly.

Dean came up to the left side her and took her by the waist, his right hand on her hip and his left hand holding his pistol. "I'm here, Kamryn." He assured her that he was right there, that he wasn't going to leave her alone.

Roy shot at the rustling, then again; at each gun shot, Kami jerked, making Dean's hand slip and slide all over her waist and hip on her right side. "I hit it!" Roy shouted as he went to see what he hit.

Kami looked up at Dean with wide eyes as he released her and started after the stubborn middle aged man. "Roy, no! Roy!" He called after Roy as he turned to Haley and Ben. "Don't move." Dean ordered the two.

Nodding in acknowledgement, Haley was holding a stick, burning at one end, as a weapon. "Got it." She replied obediently.

"Haley...." Ben was standing right behind her, holding onto her jacket sleeves.

Dean and Sam ran after Roy. Kami saw them leave. "Sam? Dean!" She limped forward, shooting herself toward the brothers, following them or at least trying to with her bad leg.

Sam happened to look back for a second and see her following. "Hey, Kami, I'm here." He slowed down until she was right beside him, but she almost raced past him; she was able to run at the moment. Adrenaline, fear and worry were consuming her motor skills.

"It's over here! It's in the tree!" The wendigo reached down from the tree and brutally snapped Roy's neck.

"Roy!" Dean shouted out as he completely disappeared from Kami's eyesight.

"Dean!" Kami screamed, her voice panicked; she couldn't see him at all. "I can't see him, I can't see him!" She screamed, speaking to Sam, sounding like Amanda Kirby again, copying her words when the pterodactyl took off with Eric Kirby. "Dean!" She called for Dean again as Sam shined the flashlight around.

Suddenly, Kami knocked right into a large, speaking shape. "Kamryn!" There was a pause as Kami groaned. "Oh, God, Kamryn. There you are! I was looking all over for you, I could hear you calling for me." It was Dean and he confirmed that he could hear her and stated that he'd been looking all over for her. "I'm here, I'm here...." He had a good hold on Kami, his arms wrapped tightly around her, his arms underneath her own that were just hanging limp over his. She was breathing hard and her face was in his chest, her pearly white teeth leaning against his shirt, her breath dampening the cloth. Kami whimpered softly as her arms quickly moved upward and her hands grabbed onto his biceps, holding them tightly. "I'm here, I'm here, I'm here...." Dean assured her as another large shadowy figure approached; it was Sam, the flashlight gave him away. The brother's shared a long look.

The next day, Sam was sitting against a hollow tree stump, holding John's journal and playing with a lanyard attached to it. Kami was leaning up against a tree for balance, looking a lot like Ariel when she was left behind at the fake marriage of Eric and 'Vanessa' at the end of The Little Mermaid. Her leg was hurting bad and her lungs were hurting too, her asthma was acting up, making it difficult for her to breathe. She forced herself to breathe, slow and steady. The jump scare she had last night, not being able to see Dean, it was really taking a toll on her, making her asthma worse. Other than protecting Sam and Dean, breathing was the most important thing on Kami's to do list right now. Dean, Haley and Ben were all among the tents.

"I don't.... I mean, these types of things, they aren't supposed to be real." Haley said shaking her head.

"I wish I could tell you different." Dean told her.

"How do we know it's not out there watching us?" Haley asked.

"We don't. But we're safe for now." Dean answered her honestly.

"You guys don't, but I do." Kami stated nearby, chuckling nervously.

"How, Kamryn?" Haley looked to her, considering her words.

Kami gave another chuckle. "You don't really wanna know. It would frighten you even more than you already are. I don't wanna do that to you." Kami paused a moment, glancing at Ben. "Or your brother. I can't do that to you guys. I'm sorry." She turned her head away.

Haley considered Kami's words once more, then she turned to Dean. "So, how do you know about this stuff?" She asked him.

There was a pause while Dean considered this, he glanced in Kami's direction and their eyes met, she just shrugged her shoulders and shook her head lightly with lips pursed in an 'answer your own way, I can't answer for you' way. She was non-verbally telling him to answer however he wanted. "Kind of runs in the family." Dean finally answered Haley.

Sam came over. "Hey." He said as Haley stood up and Kami slowly limped over to the group. "So we've got half a chance in the daylight. And I for one want to kill this evil son of a b***h." Sam stated.

"Well, hell, you know I'm in." Dean said in enthusiastic agreement as Kami grinned shortly.

Sam showed the wendigo page of John's journal to Haley and Ben. "Now, 'wendigo' is a Cree Indian word. It means 'evil that devours'." Sam explained.

"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 explained further.

"How does a man turn into one of those things?" Haley asked almost horrified in hearing the answer to her question.

"You're not really gonna like how...." Kami stated as Dean picked a couple things up off the ground.

"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." Dean explained more.

"Like the Donner Party." Ben commented.

"Cultures all over the world believe that eating human flesh gives a person certain abilities. Speed, strength, immortality." Sam explained further.

"I, for one, believe that this is true, but that's just me." Kami stated. "And it's not something I happen to like very much." She gave a shiver, remembering when she came face to face with the wendigo here.

"If you eat enough human flesh, over years, you become this less than human thing. You're always hungry." Dean explained more of what Sam explained.

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

Dean glanced at Kami. "You're not gonna like it." Dean glanced at Sam this time, then back to Haley.

"Tell me." Haley commanded.

"More than anything, a wendigo knows how to last long winters without food. It hibernates for years at a time, but when it's awake it keeps its victims alive. It, uh, it stores them, so it can feed whenever it wants. If your brother's alive, it's keeping him somewhere dark, hidden and safe. We gotta track it back there." Dean told her.

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

"Well, guns are useless, so are knives. Basically...." Dean held up the can of lighter fluid, the beer bottle and the white cloth he'd picked up. "We gotta torch the sucker."

Dean lead the way through the woods, Molotov cocktail in hand. Haley followed, then Ben, then Sam and then Kami limping as the caboose again. They passed trees with claw marks and blood. Soon, they weren't the only things with blood on them for Kami took another step forward and her boot landed on a twig and as she snapped the thin wood, she took a tumble, landing face first onto the ground. Her clumsiness made her wonder if her balance was going away entirely. She let out a shrill squeal as she fell to the ground. Sam and Dean, alerted by her squeal, immediately turned back toward her. "Kamryn?!" They shouted.

The vampire tried to get up, but when she saw her jeans were sliced open and her leg was gushing blood, she sat back down on her a*s, mortified. There was a twig stuck in her shin; on impulse, Kami grabbed it and pulled it out, exclaiming in pain as she did. "Ow! Sam! Dean!" Her jaw dropped open and she started to scream bloody murder. Kami began to sob loudly. "Oh, my God, I'm bleeding everywhere." She said to herself, sounding a little like Janette from Millennium in the episode titled 'In Acadia Ego'; she had never had to deal with this before, she'd never been hurt this bad and when she had, she healed faster than she could blink. "Dean! I'm bleeding everywhere!" Kami screamed, clutching onto her gushing leg.

The brothers reached her and immediately gasped. "What the hell?!" They both shouted.

Kami was crying, the brothers dropped to their knees. Dean ripped her jean leg up to just under her knee, ripped the piece off and then wrapped it around her bleeding leg. "Ow!" She whimpered at the pain as she bit down on her jacket covered wrist. This wasn't going to work at all, the blood was just seeping through and the piece of jean wasn't covering her wound in the least. Within seconds, Kami was frantically pushing Dean's hands away from her leg. "Don't. Please. It hurts, it hurts." She cried as she leaned her head down and her hair covered her face.

"Well, what else am I supposed to do?!" Dean growled at her.

"Don't you start yelling at me!" Kami snapped back at him.

Sam huffed, moved behind Kami, opened her backpack on her back and found a first aid kit. He handed it to Dean. "Here. This'll help better." He told his brother.

Dean ripped open the box, almost tearing the lid off it's plastic hinges. Sam took Kami by the upper arms and squeezed them, trying to comfort her. Haley and Ben stood off to the side; Ben's face was in his sister's shoulder blade, Haley's face was a mask of disgusted understanding. Cat was the medical 'officer', not Dean or John, so it was a little hard for Dean to deal with this kind of thing. Sam saw that Dean didn't really know how to do this, so did Kami; she started to help him.

"I got it." Dean barked at her.

"Don't you start that s**t with me, mister. Now let me help you. It is my leg we're dealing with here." Kami bombarded his hands with her own, helping him anyway.

Dean didn't say another word; he knew better than to piss her off. "Okay, okay, okay."

Working together, the two were able to get her leg cleaned up to a degree and then patched up, but she just bled right though the gauze. They had to wrap a significant amount of the stuff around her leg to get the bleeding to stop temporally. "Oh, God! I'm gonna look like a damn mummy when this is all over." Kami groaned sarcastically.

"At least you'll stop bleeding for a while." Sam stated looking to the positive.

"Would ya stop complaining so much?" Dean barked at her.

"Well, excuse me, happy hunter, I'm the one who's bleeding here." Kami barked right back at him.

They had finished with her leg and Sam had put all of the supplies in her backpack; Kami wasn't going to be able to move anytime soon and Dean could see that. "Well, since you can't move, you and Sam are gonna stay here. Sam, don't let her out of your sight." Dean stated to Kami, then ordered Sam.

"Ben should stay with them. He'll be safer." Haley told Dean.

"Exactly." Dean agreed with Haley.

"Dean...." Sam knew Kami wasn't going to go for this idea.

"Haley!" Ben gave his sister a look.

"Bullshit!" Kami snapped.

"Kamryn, don't argue with me." Dean told her.

"I am not just gonna sit pretty, here, like some damsel in distress with a Goddamn bodyguard and babysit. You can't put me in an imaginary castle tower and expect me to wait for you like some long haired princess, Dean." Kami stated feeling like a black haired Rapunzel as the uneasy couple began to glare at each other. "Not to mention, my backpack is the one with the first aid kit, food and water, mind you." She added.

Dean huffed an irritated sigh and snorted like Trusty at her. "We'll be so slow, extremely easy prey for the wendigo, you not being able to run at all. Not to mention the wendigo will probably come after you first. You being the weakest and not able to run, like I mentioned a few seconds ago." He told her, looking down at her with that insistent look of 'I want you safe, I wanna protect you' that almost made Kami give in, but the tiny voice in her heart screamed 'No!'.

"I'll have you, and Sam, and if necessary one of you would throw me over your shoulder and carry me. I know you guys would; I don't weigh that much." Kami retorted.

Dean huffed again. "You have an answer for everything, don't you?" He was getting mad, but he was more worried about her then he was angry with her.

"Not everything. Just most." Kami gave him a straight face. "I'm not gonna be your damsel in distress. Not this time." She told him sternly.

The two glared at each other for the longest time before Dean gave in. "Alright, fine. Stick close to me and you'll be fine. Sam, stay close to her." He ordered as he stood up.

"Yes, Dean." Sam replied.

"Dean?" Kami held her hands out toward him.

Dean rolled his eyes and took her hands as Sam stood up himself, his hands under Kami's arms; the Winchesters helped Kami to stand up on her feet. "Alright. We move." Dean told Haley and Ben.

Kami limped behind Dean with Sam close to her. "Come on, Kamryn." Sam stayed by her side, making sure she was still moving.

Haley and Ben followed close behind the three, very close.

Later, Sam was leading the group. "Dean. Kami." He called as Dean caught up with Kami trailing at his heels.

"What is it?" Dean asked.

"What, Sam?" Kami asked gently as she finally reached them.

Sam, Kami and Dean looked around at the trees. There were bloody claw marks and broken branches everywhere. "You know, I was thinking, those claw prints, so clear and distinct. They were almost too easy to follow." Sam stated staring up at the treetops as Dean looked over at him.

Kami was studying the trees from between the two men. "It's watching us, guys...." She said softly from between the men, sounding a lot like one of the puppies in Walt Disney's 101 Dalmatians when they had rolled in the soot to sneak past Cruella De Vil. There was growling. Sam and Dean whipped around, Kami gasped as she hobbled to turn around. The trees rustled all around them. Kami whimpered, grabbing for Dean. He grabbed her by the upper arms and pulled her to his chest. She didn't hesitate to hide her face in his chest, her arms were bent upward and leaning against Dean's torso, her elbows were against his waist. "I told you it was watching us...." She told him.

Haley was standing under a tree. Blood dripped onto her jacket. She took notice and looked up, her brow furrowed, then she leaped out of the way; Roy's corpse landed where she had been standing. She screamed as Kami looked up at Dean and he let her go. She turned to Sam, who automatically helped her follow Dean as he examined Roy's body. Sam steadied Kami on her feet near Dean, then let go of her and went over to Haley. "You okay? You got it?" Sam asked Haley.

"Dean?" There was caution in Kami's voice.

"His neck's broke." Dean stated.

"Oh my God, oh my God.... My God, oh God, oh God...." Kami began to whimper again, staggering and starting to turn around.

Dean stood, looking over at her; he immediately rushed to her side, before she could stagger to her knees. "It's alright. I'm not gonna let anything happen to you." Dean wrapped Kami up in his arms, holding her like Johnny held Penny in Dirty Dancing, he was smoothing her hair and he even sounded like him, too. Sam helped Haley up to her feet as more growls sounded and Kami whimpered again, beginning to cry. "Okay, run, run, run, run, go, go, go!" Dean pushed Kami to get her going.

Everybody took off. Ben fell and Sam hurried back to help him up, dividing the group two and three. "Come on, I gotcha, I gotcha." Sam told Ben.

Kami, Dean and Haley stopped short for the wendigo was in front of them. Haley immediately screamed. The wendigo dared to take a swing at Kami, it's arm whacking her in the stomach, sending her flying backwards. "Kamryn! No!" Dean yelled; Kami screamed as she flew backwards and fell over onto her side, then her stomach. Terrified, she hid her face in her arms.

A few minutes later, when she looked back up, Dean and Haley were gone. She began to shake her head. "No.... No.... No....! Dean!" She cried as she tried to move up onto her hip, but her ankle and her shin were giving her trouble.

"Haley?" Ben called for his sister.

Sam stopped running and picked up Dean's Molotov cocktail, the bottle broken. There were agonized cries coming from just off to the right of him. "Kami?" He called as he spotted her on the ground, trying to get up and trying to crawl over toward him.

"Sam....!" Kami cried as Sam reached her.

"Kami." Sam helped her up to her feet as Ben came up to their sides. Sam looked around. "Dean?" Sam shouted curiously as Kami buried her crying face into his chest, her fingers clutching onto his jacket at his shoulders. Sam had his arms loosely wrapped around her; he dropped the broken bottle of the Molotov cocktail. "Dean!"

Later, Ben, Sam and Kami were walking along, trying to find Dean and Haley. Kami was still in tears from Dean being taken away from her. Sam was helping her along the way, making sure she didn't fall. "If it keeps its victims alive, why would it kill Roy?" Ben asked.

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

Soon, Ben found a trail of peanut M&Ms and picked one up. "They went this way."

"Which way?!" Kami squealed with hope.

Sam caught up to Ben, who handed over the M&M. Sam laughed as he showed Kami, she laughed with him, tearfully. "It's better than breadcrumbs." Sam tossed the M&M away.

"Dean.... He must have deliberately done this or the opened end of the bag was hanging out of his pocket.... Either way, at least we can find him and your sister." Kami looked to Ben as she finished speaking; she was smiling for the first time in a few days, and this made Sam very happy.

Sam, Kami and Ben followed the trail. They came to a mine entrance marked with a sign that said WARNING! DANGER! DO NOT ENTER EXTREMELY TOXIC MATERIAL. Sam looked at Ben and Kami, shrugged his shoulders and went inside. Ben followed with Kami limping behind him. Above the entrance was a larger sign that said KEEP OUT NO ADMITTANCE. Sam shined the flashlight ahead of them. There was growling; Sam quickly shut off the light and pulled Ben against the wall. Kami was already behind them and moved to stand beside them. The wendigo came toward them. Sam covered Ben's mouth before he could scream. The wendigo took a different tunnel at the crossing. Sam, Kami and Ben kept going. The floorboards creaked, Ben and Sam fell through the floor. Kami squealed and with a flash of light, she shape-shifted into her raven form. They landed in a pile of bones, she landed on her feet with another flash of light, transformed back into her human form without anyone noticing. There was another pile of skulls nearby. Ben spotted them and leaped backward right into Sam.

"Hey, it's okay, it's okay, it's okay." Sam told the boy.

Sam and Ben looked up; Dean and Haley were hanging by their wrists from the ceiling. Kami saw them too and whimpered softly as she immediately rushed over to Dean. Sam ran to Dean, Ben to Haley. "Dean!" Sam said to Dean, but there was no answer.

"I'm here, Dean, I'm here...." Kami touched his cheek, but still nothing.

"Haley, wake up!" Ben tried to wake his sister up.

Sam grabbed Dean and shook him. "Dean!"

"Dean, wake up!" Kami ordered shakily, her mouth dropped an inch in terrified concerned as she gently smoothed her thumb over his cheek. "Open your eyes, Dean, open your eyes." She pleaded as firmly as she possibly could given the fact that she was softly crying.

"Wha....!" Dean obeyed her and opened his eyes. "Kamryn...." He sighed her name in relief.

"Oh, God." Kami sighed in relief, her mouth and eyes closing, her eyes only for a moment.

"Hey, you okay, Dean?" Sam asked concerned.

Dean winced. "Yeah." His wince turned into a grimace. "Kamryn...." He seemed to whimper her name.

"Hey, it's okay, I'm here, Dean." Kami assured him as Sam started to cut Dean down.

"Haley, Haley, wake up, wake up!" Ben was still getting Haley to wake up and she finally awakened; Ben took care of Haley.

Sam and Kami helped Dean over to an empty patch of floor; Ben helped Haley over to the same empty patch of floor.

Dean made pained noises as his brother and ex-lover gently sat him down on the ground; Kami whimpered in concern as she knelt down beside him. "Dean...." Her voice was a mixture of caution, concern and relief.

"You sure you're alright?" Sam asked again, sounding like he was probing his brother for a real answer.

Dean grimaced a moment. "Yeah. Yep. Where is he?" He asked Sam

Kami slowly moved to gently touch the left side of his rib-cage; Dean winced at her touch. "Kamryn, don't." He tried to bark at her, but his voice was too tired to sound like a bark. Kami sighed as she looked up at Sam, faintly smiling and shaking her head, telling Sam that Dean was in more pain that he was letting on. "Kamryn." Dean reached out and slowly pulled Kami to him; he just wanted her close to him. Confused and a lot more concerned, Kami carefully and gently leaned into his chest and held onto him, laying her head on his left shoulder.

"He's gone for now." Sam answered as Dean pulled Kami to his chest; Sam's right eyebrow lifted in confused concern.

Haley had divested herself of rope during the small during the brief exchange of actions and few words that Kami and the Winchesters made. She stood up and spotted Tommy still hanging from the ceiling a little ways away; Haley immediately started crying as she stepped over to him. "Tommy...." She said his name as she touched Tommy's cheek.

Instantly, Tommy's head jerked up as he gasped for air.

Startled, Haley jumped back, shrieking, then she turned to Sam. "Cut him down!"

Sam obeyed her and cut Tommy down. "Haley, Ben...." Tommy repeated over and over again.

"We're gonna get you home." Haley assured Tommy as soon as Sam had cut him down.

The stolen supplies were piled in the corner. Dean saw them. He needed to see what he could use as a weapon against the wendigo, but in order to do that, he had to let go of Kami, which was something he actually didn't want to do, but it was something he had to do. Dean gently nudged her ribs, Kami moved away so he could move and he moved to pick up flare guns. "Check it out." He said to catch Sam's attention.

"Flare guns. Those'll work." Sam grinned.

Dean laughed and twirled the guns; Kami smiled for a moment.

They headed down a tunnel, Dean and Sam in the lead with the flare guns, Kami limping at their heels and then Haley and Ben supporting Tommy, who was also limping. There was growling. "Looks like someone's home for supper." Dean commented in a serious joking way.

"This is not the time to be making jokes, Dean." Kami stated nervously.

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

"No, you won't." Kami agreed.

Dean looked back at the others, then at Sam. "You thinking what I'm thinking?" He said to Sam.

"Yeah, I think so." Sam said back.

"Dean...." Kami was unsure about this, knowing what was on his mind.

Dean turned to Kami. "You'll be coming with me. I'm keeping you in my sights at all times, Jedi girl." He assured her she would be with him, grinning at her as he spoke. Then he turned to the Collinses. "Alright, listen to me. Stay with Sam. He's gonna get you out of here."

"What are you gonna do?" Haley asked.

"What he's good at." Kami grinned up at Dean.

Dean winked at Haley and started walking away, yelling as he went; Kami followed right behind him at his tail.

"Chow time, you freaky b*****d! Yeah, that's right, bring it on, baby, I taste good." Dean motioned for the others to go as he disappeared.

"Come and get me, you b*****d! I'm right here in the open! Come on!" Kami yelled out, copying Dean to a degree.

The rest of their words were indistinct. Sam waited until Dean and Kami were a safe distance away. "Alright, come on! Hurry!" Sam stated as the Collinses followed him down the tunnel.

Dean and Kami were still trying to lure the wendigo to them with little success and it was just what Kami was fearing.

"Hey, you want some white meat, b***h! I'm right here!" Dean shouted.

"Okay, I think you're going a little too far now. I don't even think it's around here." Kami told Dean as she moved to take him by the arm, gently as not to hurt him.

Dean turned to her. "What do you mean?"

Kami shook her head. "I don't know. I just don't feel it over here. I think it's going after Sam and the Collinses anyway." She feared the worse.

"Is that your Jedi like powers telling you that or is that your gut telling you that?" Dean asked. "Or is it both?"

"Both...." Kami said softly.

Dean seemed to glare at her, but when a tear fell down her cheek, he turned to gather her up into his arms. "It's alright. It's okay. I promise I won't let anything happen to you." He paused a moment, gulping. "I just got you back into my life, I really don't want to allow anything to take you back out of it just yet." He paused once more. "You're kinda fun to be around, in a sweet, annoying sort of way." Dean was actually being kind, in his own sarcastic way.

This shocked Kami and pleased her at the same time. She chuckled at his choice of words and from the scene in her favorite romance movie he kept reminding her of and kept playing her mind. "You keep reminding me of good ol' protective Johnny Castle from my favorite movie in the whole world." She stated softly, her face in Dean's shoulder.

"I do? I really remind you of Patrick Swayze?" Dean asked surprised.

"When you tell me you won't let anything happen to me, you sound like Patrick did when he shot the scene with Cynthia Rhodes as Penny when she was hiding in the kitchen and Baby brought Johnny and Billy to her." Kami told him.

Dean smirked. "I remember that scene." Was all he said as he squeezed her into him, kissed her head and then he pulled away.

The two shared a long, distant look. "Dean, I...." Kami paused a moment, looking away and catching her breath, then she looked back up at a curious Dean. "I'm really sorry.... For everything.... I wasn't thinking back then.... And I was young and naive. I should've handled it differently...." She couldn't help, but to cry again.

Dean moved to wiped away her tears and pressure kiss her forehead. "Hey. It's okay. Don't cry. Let's just take care of this freaky b*****d and then you and I can sit down and talk about this. Okay? I'm willing to actually sit down and talk." He said to her as she nodded, drying her tears with her fingertips. He kissed her forehead again, took her by the hand and they moved on.

Sam, Ben, Haley and Tommy hurried down a tunnel. There was growling once again. Sam pointed the gun at it, then lowered the gun and turned to the Collinses. "Get him outta here." Sam ordered.

"Sam, no." Haley was crying from fear.

"Go! Go! Go!" Sam shouted.

"Come on, Haley!" Ben said to his sister as he and Haley helped Tommy along the mine tunnel.

Sam held the flare gun ready to shoot, looking down the tunnel. "Come on. Come on." There was more growling. Sam turned, the wendigo was right in his face. Sam shot and missed, then ran after the Collinses.

"Sam!" Haley shouted.

Sam caught up. "Come on, hurry, hurry, hurry."

They ran to the end of the tunnel, the wendigo right behind them. "Get behind me." With his height and body mass, Sam was large enough to hide all three of the Collinses.

The wendigo approached, taking its sweet ol' time. Dean and Kami came up behind the wendigo. "Hey!" Dean shouted as the wendigo turned. Dean shot it in the stomach. The flare went off and the wendigo went up in flames, dropping to the ground. "Not bad, huh?" Dean said grinning as Kami chuckled gently; Sam grinned back at his brother as Haley did the same. Dean turned to the woman beside him and took her hand. Kami smiled as she held his hand back, but neither moved to link their fingers together.

******

Epilogue

******

Mission Complete

******

At the ranger station, it was dark, an ambulance loaded up Tommy. Two police officers interviewed Ben; Sam stood behind Ben. "And the bear came back again after you yelled at it?" One officer asked.

"That's when it circled the campsite. I mean, this grizzly must have weighed eight hundred, nine hundred pounds." Ben explained as Sam nodded.

"Alright, we'll go after it first thing." The officer stated.

Kami was already at the Impala, leaning against the hood, thinking to herself, her ankle was in fact sprained and she was just hallucinating that it was anything worse. She was relieved to find out that her ankle wasn't broken, but she had opened a large gash in her shin when she tripped the second time, something she already knew. A young male paramedic fixed her leg up for her, he was overly sweet to her and she suspected that was because he thought she was hot and wanted to be on her good side. Although, she thought it was very sweet, her heart belonged to Dean and she indirectly told the paramedic this; she just kinda pointed at Dean and he got the picture. Once he had left after saying his goodbyes, she limped over to the front of the Impala. Now, she was thinking of other things. Her friends, her family, her own father, wondering, if she was ever going to see them again or if the demons took them away from her for good.

Haley was talking to Dean; both had already been patched up. They walked toward the Impala, reaching the trunk. "So I don't know how to thank you." Haley stated as Dean, sitting on the trunk, smirked lasciviously. Haley smiled despite herself. "Must you cheapen the moment?"

"Yeah." Dean was still smirking.

A paramedic came up to Haley. "You riding with your brother?"

"Yeah." Haley said a the paramedic headed back to the ambulance. Haley turned to Ben. "Let's go."

Kami came limping around the Impala, coming up to Sam's left side, she looked up at him with a bittersweet, sorrowful look as she did. Sam and Ben nodded at each other, then Sam looked down at Kami, smiling brotherly at her. Haley kissed Dean on the cheek. Kami made an 'of course' look, mouthing the same words, grinning to herself. She was of course jealous, but she knew that it was gonna happen sooner or later, so she wasn't at all that angry. Haley saw this behavior from Kami and when their eyes met, Haley apologized in her gaze, but Kami just smiled, shaking her head slightly. Haley nodded slightly and turned to Dean. "I hope you find your father. And your sister." Haley and Ben headed for the ambulance. "Thanks, Sam. Thanks, Kamryn." She nodded at them in turn. Haley and Ben climbed into the ambulance with Tommy, who was shirtless and bandaged.

Sam sat on the Impala's hood with Dean, who motioned for Kami to come over to him. She obeyed, cautiously, very curiously, facing him with a confused sort of expression on her face. He just smirked at her, put his hands on her hips and spun her around, pulling her toward him. Kami, of course, lost balance and landed on his lap, right where he wanted her to be. Dean wrapped his arms around her middle, squeezing her in his arms, affectionately rubbing his cheek on her back. Feeling all of this, Kami looked to Sam with a confused, yet shocked, sort of expression on her face. Sam shook his head at her with a grin spreading across his face. Dean then placed his chin on Kami's right shoulder. Kami slowly began to smile as she put her hands on his arms, holding them in place on her stomach.

"Close her up." Another paramedic said as a third paramedic closed the ambulance doors.

Dean turned his head to his brother and squeezed Kami's waist. "Man, I hate camping." He stated.

"Me too." Sam agreed, grinning.

"Me three." Kami agreed, giving a soft chuckle.

Noises of the ambulance driving away, sirens on.

"Sam, you know we're gonna find Dad, right?" Dean asked his brother to make sure as he and Kami turned their heads toward Sam. "And you know we're gonna find Cat, too, right?" There was a pause. "And we're gonna reunited our sister with our twins, right?"

"Yeah, I know." Sam shifted, sighing and nodding his head. "But in the meantime?" Then he settled, beginning to smirk. "I'm driving." Sam turned to Dean with his smirk.

Dean considered this a moment, smirking with his brother. He pulled out the keys to the Impala and tossed them at Sam. Dean sighed as his forehead bounced on the back of Kami's neck, he squeezed her waist, then unwrapped his arms from around her and tapped her hips with his fingers before pushing her up onto her feet. She gave a nervous chuckle as she turned around, but all the while grinning. She playfully and gently punched Dean in the shoulder as Sam laughed at them, Dean laughed too. Sam, Kami and Dean moved to get in the car, slamming the doors almost in sync and grinning happily. The car started and drove off. The Impala drove along.

Author's Note

Again, this is a fan-fictional remake, please do not criticize me for posting this. It is my choice, and I would like constructive criticism on the story itself, not for it being a fan-fictional remake of the episode. I do give the credit to Eric Kripke for creating the popular and longest running TV show of the 2000's and 2010's. I appreciate his hard work, more than you may think.