Wasting Them

No one got any sleep that night, especially Sam. Every time that McKenly woke up, she saw him, sitting on his bed with his dad’s journal in his lap, trying to make sense of it. She would tell him to go to sleep, he would grumble in response, and Dean would pull her back under the covers.

It had been a week since the fire at Sam’s apartment and California was far behind in the Impala’s rear view mirror. McKenly sat in the front seat, playing navigator with the map in her lap.

Sam jerked awake in the back seat, taking a sharp inhale of breath. He blinked a few times and rubbed his eyes.

“You okay?” Dean asked, looking back at him in the rearview mirror.

Sam met his eyes through the glass and looked back out the window. “Yeah, I’m fine.” he responded.

Dean nodded, unconvinced.

“Another nightmare?” McKenly asked, face buried in the map.

Sam didn’t answer her question, but he didn’t need to. The others already knew what the answer would be.

“You wanna drive for a while?” Dean asked.

McKenly furrowed her brow, and looked from the map to Dean.

Sam laughed. “In your whole life you have never once asked me that.”

Dean shrugged. “Just thought that you might want to. Never mind then.”

“Look, guys, you’re worried about me. I get it, and thank you. Really, but I’m perfectly okay.” Sam insisted.

McKenly looked back at him, opening her mouth to say something, but Sam shook his head to stop her from saying anything.

“McKenly, I’m fine.” He eyed her, knowing that she wouldn’t give up, even if she was mad at him still. Sam took the map from the blonde’s lap. “Alright. Where are we?” he asked.

“Just outside of Grand Junction.”

Sam folded the map in his lap, looking over the spot that was marked on it. “You know what? Maybe we shouldn’t have left Stanford so soon.”

McKenly sighed. “Sam, we dug around there for a week. Ran the place dry and came up with nothing. We can’t stick around so you can pick through all your burnt up possessions looking for more nothing.”

Dean turned his head to look at her with an eyebrow raised. “Helpful. Thanks.” he said, making McKenly roll her eyes. “Look, if we wanna find the thing that killed Jessica - ”

“We gotta find Dad first, I know.” Sam interrupted.

“John disappearing and then this son of bitch coming back after twenty years doesn’t just happen, you know?” McKenly said, trailing off and looking out the window.

Dean looked at McKenly for a second, knowing very well that she was still freaked out at the demon coming back. “Dad will have the answers. He’ll know what to do. And we’ll find him.”

Sam looked on the map. “Guys, it’s weird. These coordinates that he left us. Blackwater Ridge.”

McKenly looked to him with her eyebrows furrowed. “What’s so weird?”

“There’s nothing there. It’s just woods.” Sam handed the map back to McKenly so she could look. “Why would Dad send us to the middle of nowhere?”

McKenly shrugged. “Ever think that the gig is in the middle of nowhere?” she asked Sam. “Could be a werewolf killing campers. Whatever it is, we go where he tells us.”

!@#$#@!

Three hours later, Dean pulled up to the ranger station of Lost Creek National Forest. In the middle of the room there was a three-dimensional model of the entire forest. McKenly approached it, leaning over it to get a good look. “Whoa.” She said in awe.

Dean came up behind her to look. “No kidding.”

Sam leaned over and gestured to an area on the map. “It looks like Blackwater Ridge is confined to this area here.” He said. “It’s cut off by these canyons, rough terrain, dense forest, abandoned silver and gold mines all over the place. “

Dean groaned, not fascinated with Sam’s talk of the forest and he began to explore more of the station. He approached a framed photo of a man with a bear. “Dude, check out the size of this friggin’ bear.”

Sam joined Dean, shaking his head. “There are also a dozen or more grizzlies in that area.” Sam responded. “It’s no nature hike, that’s for sure.”

McKenly turned away from the table at the sound of footsteps approaching them. “Hi there,” she said with a smile.

“You guys aren’t planning on goin’ out near Blackwater Ridge by any chance?”

“No, sir.” McKenly said. “We’re environmental study majors from UC Boulder. We’re working on a paper for our class.”

Dean smiled, proud of McKenly’s quick cover idea. “Recycle, man.”

“Bull.” The ranger said boldly.

McKenly furrowed her brow, laughing. “Excuse me?”

“You’re friends of that Haley girl, aren’t ya?”

Dean thought about how to respond before looking to McKenly who shrugged. “Yes.” He said, walking towards McKenly and the ranger. “Yes, we are, Ranger…” he looked to the name badge, “Wilkinson.”

“I’ll tell you exactly what I told her.” Wilkinson said. “Her brother filled out a backcountry permit saying that he would be out there until the twenty-fourth. You can’t file a missing person’s report if his whereabouts are known.”

Dean nodded his head, agreeing.

“You tell that girl to quit worrying. I’m sure that her brother’s just fine.”

“We will.” McKenly smiled, turning towards the door.

“Well, that Haley girl’s quite a pistol, huh?” Dean joked. “Actually, what would help us convince her is if I could show her a copy of that permit. You know, so we could show her when her brother’s return date is.”

The ranger eyed Dean and then looked to McKenly.

McKenly sighed. “It would set her mind at ease.” She said, going along with his plan.

The ranger nodded at McKenly. “I’ll be right back.”

McKenly sighed and left the station, not wanting to wait around in the silence. She went out to lean on the Impala, waiting for the boys. McKenly raked her hand through her hair, pushing it out of her face. She sighed, wondering what kind of idea Dean had about finding this girl. He always seemed to want to flirt with any girl on any case.

A moment later, Sam followed out of the station after McKenly, leaving Dean to wait for the copy of the permit. He joined her, leaning against the car next to her.

McKenly let out a breath. “How you doin’, Sam?” she asked.

Sam smiled and shook his head. “I told you. I’m fine.”

“You’re not.” McKenly pointed out. “But I guess I’ll take it.”

“You’re still mad at me.”

“I haven’t started trusting you again, if that’s what you mean.”

“You think you ever will?” Sam asked.

“Maybe. But right now, I’m not okay.”

Sam nodded. “I didn’t come out here to talk about you and me anyway.”

McKenly furrowed her brow, looking to Sam. “If you didn’t, what exactly did you come out here to talk about?”

“What’s going on with you and Dean?”

“What are you talking about?”

Sam smiled at her fake innocence. “C’mon, Ken. You know what I’m talking about. I mean, the whispering, the hand-holding, the sleeping together without sleeping together. I’ve never seen do that. Or want to, for that matter.”

McKenly blushed and bit her lip. She wasn’t going to talk about what her relationship was with Dean, especially when she didn’t know what her relationship with him was. “We’ve been comforting each other, Sam. Nothing more than that.”

Sam looked to McKenly, but she kept her gaze towards the line of trees.

“It’s been really hard out here. Half the time I’m wishing that I could have a stable home and the other half I love what I do and couldn’t think of anything else to do. I mean, your dad is missing and my parents are gone. Between that and the nightmares, it’s hell. We need to cheer each other up.”

“You don’t get that annoyed at a guy talking about girls unless you want more than what you have.” Sam said.

She looked to him. “I’m not upset about him talking about this Haley chick.”

Dean exited the station. “Got it.” He said. “Let’s go find her.” The three of them filed into the car, McKenly choosing to sit in the back this time.

“Are you, uh, looking for a hook-up or something?” Sam asked Dean, sending a pointed look towards McKenly.

“What do you mean?” Dean questioned.

“The coordinates point to Blackwater Ridge, so what are we waiting for? Let’s go find Dad.” Sam insisted. “This girl doesn’t know anything we wouldn’t. We really don’t need to talk to her. Unless…” He trailed off, letting Dean fill in the blanks.

“No.” Dean said quickly, avoiding McKenly’s eyes in the rearview mirror. “I don’t know. Maybe we should know what we’re walking into before we walk into it. Since when are you all ‘shoot first, ask questions later,’ anyway?”

Sam shrugged. “Since now.”

!@#$#@!

Dean knocked on the door to the Collins’ house. A few moments later, a girl opened the door. Dean smiled. “You must be Haley Collins.” Dean inferred. “I’m Dean, and this is Sam and McKenly. We’re uh…” Dean couldn’t think of what his cover was.

McKenly rolled her eyes and stepped forward, putting herself in front of Sam and Dean. “We’re rangers with the Park Service. Ranger Wilkinson sent us over. We’re here to ask you a few questions about your brother, Tommy.”

Haley hesitated. “Let me see some ID.” she ordered.

McKenly nodded and reached into her jacket pocket, pulling out a green colored ID with too small print and a fake name. She held it up against the screen.

Haley looked at it and then back to the boys that stood behind McKenly. “Come on in.” she said.

“Thanks.” Dean smiled.

McKenly bit her tongue, not saying anything about Dean’s flirting.

Once everyone was inside, Haley looked out the door to look outside. “Is that your car?” she asked, noticing the Impala.

Dean turned to face her. “Yeah.”

“Nice car.” She said. leading Dean, Sam, and McKenly into the dining room where another boy sat with a laptop.

“So, if Tommy’s not due back for a while, how do you know that there’s something wrong?” McKenly asked, wanting to get straight to business.

Haley got a bowl from her kitchen counter a room over and placed in in front of the boy at the table. “He checks in everyday by cell.” She said simply, “He emails, sends photos, stupid little videos. Now we haven’t heard anything in over three days.”

“Maybe he can’t get any cell reception.”

Haley smiled at McKenly’s digging. “He’s got a satellite phone, too.”

“Maybe he’s having too much fun. Forgot to check in.” Dean suggested.

The boy turned around to eye Dean. “He wouldn’t do that.” He said, pointedly.

Dean eyed the him until the boy looked away.

“Our parents are gone.” Haley said. “It’s only me, Tommy and Ben now. We all keep pretty close tabs on each other.” She put her hands on Ben’s shoulders.

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

Haley nodded, leading Sam to the desktop computer.

“We’ll find your brother. We’ll be heading out to Blackwater Ridge first thing in the morning.” Dean insisted.

“Maybe we’ll see you there.” Haley said, making the hunters’ eyes land on her. “I can’t just sit around here anymore. So I hired a guy. I’m heading out in the morning and I’m gonna find Tommy myself.”

McKenly shook her head. “Haley, I don’t think - ”

Dean interrupted McKenly. “I think I know how you feel.”

!@#$#@!

Later that night, the hunters went to a bar to score some money playing pool and have a couple of beers. The three sat down at a table, Sam pulled out his computer and his father’s journal.

McKenly groaned at the sight, really only wanting to relax. She grabbed her beer and took a very long swig from it.

“So, 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.”

McKenly shook her head and slammed her glass bottle on the table. “Sam, please. Do we really have to do this? Now?” she begged. “I need, like, eight of these.” she gestured to her beer.

Sam smiled and shook his head, continuing anyway. “Then, in 1982, eight different people vanished all within a year. The police were blaming it on a grizzly attack.”

McKenly sighed as she finished her drink. “Ah, but it never is.”

Sam pulled out some newspaper clippings from his bag. “Of course not. Because it happened before in 1959 and 1938.” Sam opened his laptop. “Every twenty-three years. Like clockwork.”

“This is looking more like our kinda thing every second.” Dean told Sam.

“Just wait. After looking at the videos back at Haley’s place, I noticed something. So I asked her to send them to me. Check this out.” Sam showed Dean the video, clicking through a few frames.

Dean leaned in to watch, but McKenly nursed her second beer. “Do it again.” Dean ordered, watching it again. “McKenly, look at this.” Dean pulled the laptop over to McKenly and clicked through the frames.

“What is it?” she asked.

Sam shrugged. “I don’t know. But that’s three frames which is just a fraction of a second. Whatever it is, it is fast.”

“Well, it’s our kinda thing.” McKenly said, downing the second glass.

“One more thing.” Sam started. “In ‘59, one of the campers survived. He was just a kid. Barely crawled out alive.”

Dean picked up the paper. “Is there a name?”

Sam nodded.

“Alright. We’ll check him out. Work on finding an address.” Dean looked to McKenly. “Ken, don’t you think that you should slow down.”

McKenly shook her head. “Nah. I’m good.”

!@#$#@!

The car ride over to the man’s house was more silent than its ever been for the three of them. The man let the three of them in after they had introduced themselves as rangers wanting to talk to him about the night that he had been attacked.

“Look, rangers, I don’t know why you’re asking me about this.” Shaw said, with a cigarette in his mouth. “I was a kid. That was forty-six years ago. My parents got mauled by a - ”

“Grizzly?” Sam interrupted. “That’s what attacked them?”

Shaw took a drag out of his cigarette and nodded.

“And the other people that went missing that year, too? Were they bear attacks?” Sam grilled as if the man would have had any clue. “What about all the people that went missing this year? Same thing?”

McKenly stepped in between Sam and Shaw. “Mr. Shaw,” she started. “if we knew what we were dealing with, we might be able to stop it.”

Shaw stared at the blonde for a moment before shaking his head. “I seriously doubt it. It wouldn’t make a difference.” He put out his cigarette. “You wouldn’t believe me. No one ever did.”

“Trust me, sir. There isn’t much that I don’t believe.” McKenly said, sincerely, earning Shaw’s interest. “What did you see?”

Shaw sighed, thinking back. “N-nothing. I mean, it moved too fast.” He stumbled for his words. “I couldn’t see it. I heard it though. It roared, not like anything I ever heard. Man or animal.”

“It came at night?” Sam asked, earning a nod from the old man. “Got inside your tent?”

Shaw shook his head. “Our cabin. I was asleep in front of the fireplace when it came in. There wasn’t a window smashed or a door broken in. The thing unlocked the friggin’ door.” Shaw scoffed. “Do you know of a bear that could do something like that? Thing didn’t even wake me. Not until I heard my parents scream.”

“Did it kill them?” McKenly asked, earning a head shake from Shaw.

“It dragged them. Into the night.” Shaw shook his head again, not believing even what he was saying. “Why did it leave me?” He questioned. “I’ve been asking myself ever since.” Shaw’s hand went to his collar. “Did leave me this, though.” He pulled his shirt down a bit, revealing three claw marks clear across his chest. “There is something evil back in those woods. It was some sort of demon.”

McKenly nodded. “Thank you for your time, Mr. Shaw. We’ll see ourselves out.”

The old man grabbed McKenly’s arm to stop her from going anywhere.

Sam and Dean stepped forward to protect McKenly, but she stopped them, putting her hand up to make them pause.

“You really think you can catch the damn thing?” Shaw asked.

McKenly nodded. “Catch it and kill it.” She promised, before leading the boys back to the car. McKenly sat in silence in the backseat behind them, listening as they bounced ideas off of each other.

“Spirits and demons don’t need to unlock doors.” Dean stated. “If they want inside, they just go through walls.”

“Okay…” Sam thought. “So, it’s probably something else. Something corporeal.”

“Corporeal? Excuse me, professor.” Dean joked.

“Shut up.” Sam rolled his eyes. “So what do you think?”

Dean let out a breath, thinking. “The claws. The speed that it moves. The thing could be a skinwalker, maybe a black dog. We’re talking about a creature, and it’s corporeal.” Dean stressed, still picking on Sam. “Which means we kill it.”

Sam nodded. “What about you, Ken?” Sam asked, turning in his seat to face her.

McKenly didn’t look away from the window. “I don’t know. I just want to kill the damn thing.”

Neither of them spoke after that. They weren’t sure what could be said. So, in order to pass the time, Dean drove towards the next motel to let them sleep through the next few hours. Once parked, the three moved around to the trunk. Dean grabbed an empty duffel bag for the three of them to pack for tomorrow’s hike through the forest.

Sam stood behind McKenly and Dean as they packed. “I’ve been thinking.” He started. “I don’t think we can let that Haley girl go out there.”

“Finally, college boy says something smart.” McKenly snided.

“Oh, yeah?” Dean questioned, having not heard McKenly’s remark. “What exactly are we gonna tell her? That she can’t go into the woods because of a big scary monster?”

McKenly sighed, grabbing her bag of clothes, and turned to lean on the car to watch Sam and Dean fight.

“Yeah.” Sam said boldly.

McKenly laughed, earning a glare from the taller brother. “No offense, Sam, but I don’t think she’ll believe us, let alone listen.”

Dean looked from McKenly to Sam. “Her brother is missing. You heard her.” He reminded. “She won’t sit this one out. Now, if we go with her, we can protect her, and keep our eyes peeled for our fuzzy predator friend.” Dean picked up the duffel bag from the trunk and stepped back.

“Is finding Dad not enough?” Sam asked, slamming the hidden compartment cover down and then the trunk. “Now we gotta babysit, too?” Sam got a glare from Dean. “What?” he questioned.

Dean shook his head at his brother. “Nothing”