THE WENDIGO

ean and Sam walk 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 says.

"So it's probably something else, something corporeal." Says Sam.

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

"Shut up. So what do you think?" Sam asks.

"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 and Sam left Elena in the motel, hoping she didn't run off somewhere. Dean opens the trunk of the Impala, then the weapons box, and props it open with a shotgun. He puts some guns in a duffel bag. Sam leans in.

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

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

Sam nods. "Yeah." He says and Dean looks at him.

"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 picks up the duffel. "Finding Dad's not enough?" Sam says. Sam slams the weapons box shut, then the trunk. "Now we gotta babysit too? Dean stares at Sam. "What?"

"Nothing." He throws the duffel bag at Sam and walks off.

am, Dean, and Elena are riding in the Impala, heading out to the forest to meet Haley. Dean tried to keep Elena at the motel, but she insisted on coming. Roy, Haley's help, talks to her while Ben checks his shotgun. They're all carrying full backpacks.

"I'll tell you again, I don't think Ben should come." Roy argues.

"Roy-"

"Look, you're paying me good money to keep everybody safe. I think Ben's safest at home." He says and she rolls her eyes again.

Just then, the Impala pulls up and they all turn to stare. Haley shakes her head. They all get out of the car. Sam opens the back door of the Impala and pulls out the duffel bag. "You guys got room for two more?" Dean asks.

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

"Who are these guys?" Roy asks offensively. Elena steps out the car. "And they brought a girl?"

"Apparently this is all the park service could muster up for the search and rescue." Haley says. Elena doesn't know why, but she gets really offended and is really tempted to slap the girl.

Sam heads past everyone. "You're rangers?" He asks.

"That's right." Dean says and Haley examines all of them.

"And you're hiking out in biker boots and jeans?" She asks.

Dean looks down at himself. "Well, sweetheart, I don't do shorts." He says.

"Does he always do this?" Elena asks Sam. "Make jokes like that?"

Sam grins. "Yep." He says.

Dean heads past the snippy girl. "What, you think this is funny? It's dangerous back country out there. Her brother might be hurt." Roy snaps. Sam turns back.

"Believe me, I know how dangerous this could get. We just wanna help her find her brother, that's all." Dean heads past Sam.

Tom and Gary are hanging by their wrists from the ceiling. There are assorted corpses with them. They hear growling and Gary spots a tall skinny shape and starts yelling. Tommy does his best to turn away and does close his eyes tightly as Gary yells.

am, Dean, Roy and Ben are behind walking together, while Elena and Haley are walking ahead. "Hey," Haley says to Elena. "I'm sorry. About what happened earlier at my house."

"It's okay." Elena said, even though she didn't really care. "You were just worried about your brother."

Haley lets out a sigh of relief. "So, how did you end up with these guys?" She asks.

"I don't know." Elena says honestly. "I just feel like I need to follow them. Like it's my destiny, you know?"

"That's exactly how I feel about my family." She says as they continue walking.

Dean decides to talk to Roy. "Roy, you said you did a little hunting." He says.

"Yeah, more than a little." Roy says arrogantly.

"Uh-huh. What kind of furry critters do you hunt?" Dean asks and Sam knew where this was going.

"Mostly buck, sometimes bear."

Dean passes Roy. "Tell me, uh, Bambi or Yogi ever hunt you back?" He asks as Roy grabs him. Sam looks on. "Whatcha doing, Roy?"

The animal hunter grabs a stick and pokes at a bear trap Dean had almost stepped in. Haley and Elena turn around to see what the commotion was.

"You should watch where you're stepping, Ranger." He says and drops the stick.

"It's a bear trap." Dean says lamely. They hike on.

Later, Haley catches up to Dean. "You didn't pack any provisions. You guys are carrying a duffel bag. You're not rangers." Elena had stopped to check on the brothers. "So who the hell are you?" Sam looks at Dean, who indicates with his expression that Sam's to go on by; Sam obeys and pulls Elena along.

Dean watches him go for a moment. "Sam and I are brothers, and we're looking for our father. He might be here, we don't know. I just figured that you and me, we're in the same boat." He says.

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

"I'm telling you now. 'sides, it's probably the most honest I've ever been with a woman...ever. So we okay?"

Haley pauses. "Yeah, okay." She says.

"And what do you mean I didn't pack provisions?" Dean pulls out a big bag of peanut M&Ms and sticks his hand in the bag as he hikes on.

Elena walks alongside Sam and decides to make conversation. "How long have you and your brother been doing this sort of thing?" She asks.

"Long time." He says, but doesn't look her in the eyes. Elena gets a feeling that Sam wasn't too comfortable around her.

"Look," She says and makes him stop. They were well ahead of everyone else. "I know you don't know me. I don't even know myself! But I'm not the bad guy here. And I need you guy's help to find out who I am. Can you help me?"

Sam thinks about it for a second. "Yeah, alright. We'll see what we can do." He says. Everyone else catches up and Roy leads the way.

"This is it. Blackwater Ridge." Roy says.

"What coordinates are we at?" Sam asks as Roy pulls out a GPS.

"Thirty-five and minus one-eleven." Roy responds.

Dean comes up to Sam. They all hear a noise and listen. "You hear that?" He asks.

"Yeah. Not even crickets"

Roy ignores the boys and continues walking. "I'm gonna go take a look around." He says.

"You shouldn't go off by yourself." Sam said and Roy sarcastically smiles.

"That's sweet. Don't worry about me." He waves his gun and pushes between Dean and Sam to retake the lead. Dean turns back to the others as everyone else catches up.

"All right, everybody stays together. Let's go." Dean orders.

Later on, the group finds a nearby campsite. "Haley! Over here!" Roy yells.

The girl runs towards his voice, followed closely by the others. They all stopped to a halt. "Oh my God." The tents are torn open and bloody and all the supplies are scattered.

"Looks like a grizzly." Says Roy. Dean and Elena look around.

"Tommy?" Haley calls out. She takes off her backpack and goes through the campsite. "Tommy!"

Sam moves to catch up with her. "Shh." He urges.

"Tommy!" She continues.

"Shh-hh-hh!"

"Why?" Haley asks.

Sam starts to explain. "Something might still be out there." He says sternly.

"Sam!" Dean yells quickly. Sam goes over to Dean, snapping a stick, and crouches next to him. "The bodies were dragged from the campsite. But here, the tracks just vanish. That's weird."

Dean and Sam stand up. "I'll tell you what, that's no skinwalker or black dog." Dean goes back to the campsite and Sam follows.

Haley picks up Tom's cell phone; it's bloody. She cries. She turns the phone over and the back is open. Dean crouches next to her. "Hey, he could still be alive."

"Help! Help!" Someone yells and Roy follows the sound, along with everyone else. "Help! Somebody!"

They finally make it, but no one is there. "It seemed like it was coming from around here, didn't it?" Elena asks as they listen.

"Everybody back to camp." Sam says.

As soon as they get there, are of their supplies are missing. "Our packs!" Haley yells.

"So much for my GPS and my satellite phone." Roy said lamely.

"What the hell is going on?" She looks at the Winchesters.

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

Roy speaks up. "You mean someone, some nutjob out there just stole all our gear." He says as Sam goes to Dean.

"I need to speak with you. In private." Sam says as he and Dean head away from the group. Elena stands with her arms folded awkwardly. "Good. Let me see Dad's journal."

Dean hands it to him and Sam flips through the pages until he land on a specific one. "All right, check that out." Sam points to a drawing of a figure.

"Oh come on, wendigos are in the Minnesota woods or, or northern Michigan. I've never even heard of one this far west." Dean says.

"Think about it, Dean, the claws, the way it can mimic a human voice." Sam says and Dean knew that it was the only explanation for this.

"Great." Dean takes out his pistol. "Well then this is useless."

Sam gives Dean back John's journal and heads past Dean, stopping for a moment. "We gotta get these people to safety." He says. Back at the campsite, Sam addresses the group. "All right, listen up, it's time to go. Things have gotten...more complicated."

"What?" Haley shouts.

"Kid, don't worry. Whatever's out there, I think I can handle it." Roy says toughly. Elena was really getting tired of his arrogance.

"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."

Roy scoffs. "One, you're talking nonsense. Two, you're in no position to give anybody orders." He says.

"Relax." Dean advised.

"We never should have let you come out here in the first place, all right? I'm trying to protect you." Sam says.

Roy steps up to Sam. "You protect me? I was hunting these woods when your mommy was still kissing you good night." He says.

"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 ass out of here." Elena snaps and everyone turns to look at her in astonishment. After she said it, she covered her mouth. "Sorry."

Roy just laughs. "You know you're crazy, right?" He asks.

"Yeah? You ever hunt a wen-" Sam starts to say, but Dean pushes him.

In a matter of seconds, the boys start pushing at each other while Elena and Haley try to get them to stop. "Stop. Stop it. Everybody just stop. Look. Tommy might still be alive. And I'm not leaving here without him."

"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 says.

"How?" Haley asks.

he group has built a campfire, and Dean draws something in the dirt around the campsite while Haley pokes at the fire. "One more time, that's-" She starts.

"Anasazi symbols. It's for protection. The wendigo can't cross over them." Dean explains while Roy laughs, gun over his shoulder. "Nobody likes a skeptic, Roy." Dean heads over to sit next to Sam, who is at the edge of the campsite. "You wanna tell me what's going on in that freaky head of yours?"

"Dean-"

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

"Dad's not here. I mean, that much we know for sure, right? He would have left us a message, a sign, right?" Sam asks.

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

Sam turns to his brother. "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?" He asks.

"This is why." Dean comes around to Sam's front and holds 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."

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

"I dunno. But the way I see it, Dad's giving us a job to do, and I intend to do it."

"Dean...no. I gotta find Dad. I gotta find Jessica's killer. It's the only thing I can think about." Says Sam.

Dean tries to calm down his brother. "Okay, all right, 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, you can't keep it burning over the long haul. It's gonna kill you. You gotta have patience, man." He says.

Sam looks down, then up. "How do you do it? How does Dad do it?"

"Well for one, them." Dean points and Sam looks over at the group. "I mean, I figure our family's so screwed to hell, maybe we can help some others. Makes things a little bit more bearable. I'll tell you what else helps." Sam looks back at Dean. "Killing as many evil sons of bitches as I possibly can." He smiles. A twig snaps.

"Help me! Please!" Someone yells. Dean stands and readies his gun. "Help!"

Sam shines a flashlight about. "He's trying to draw us out. Just stay cool, stay put." Dean demands.

"Inside the magic circle?" Roy asks.

"Help! Help me!" Growling.

"Okay, that's no grizzly."

Haley calms Ben. "It's okay. You'll be all right, I promise." Something rushes past. Haley shrieks. Elena goes to Haley and stands next to them.

"It's here." Roy starts shooting in the direction the rustling was heard, again and again. "I hit it!" He moves to see his new prize.

"Roy, no! Roy!" Dean turns to Haley, Ben, and Elena. "Don't move."

Elena picks up a stick and burns one end of it. "I hope this works." She whispers to herself. Dean and Sam run after Roy.

"It's over here! It's in the tree!" Roy yells just as it reaches down from the tree and snaps his neck.

"Roy!"