As I'm staring out the window at the trees passing by, Sam suddenly wakes up. He sighs, rubbing his eyes. "You okay," I ask.
"Yeah, I'm fine," he nods.
"Another nightmare," Dean questions. He clears his throat, avoiding the question. "Want to drive for a while?"
Sam chuckles. "In your whole life, you never once asked me that," Sam points out.
"Just thought you might want to. Never mind."
"Look, man, you're worried about me. I get it and thank you, but I'm perfectly okay," he assures him.
"You know, if you weren't okay, that would be okay too," I point out.
"I know, but I'm fine," he says, glancing back at me.
"Mhm."
"All right," he says, grabbing the map. "Where are we?"
"We are just outside of Grand Junction," Dean answers.
"You know what? Maybe we shouldn't have left Stanford so soon."
"Sam, we dug around there for a week. We came up with nothing," I point out.
"If you wanna find the thing that killed Jessica..."
"Got to find Dad first."
"Dad disappearing, and this thing showing up again after 20 years? It's no coincidence. Dad will have answers. He'll know what to do," Dean assures him.
"It's weird, man. These coordinates he left us, this Black Water Ridge..."
"What about it?"
"There's nothing there. It's just woods. Why is he sending us to the middle of nowhere?"
~ ~ ~
"So Black Water Ridge is pretty remote. It's cut off by these canyons here-- rough terrain, dense forest, abandoned silver and gold mines all over the place..."
"Guys, check out the size of this friggin' bear," Dean comments, making us look back at him. We walk over to him, looking at the picture.
"...And a dozen or more grizzlies in the area. It's no nature hike, that's for sure," I add.
"You three aren't planning to go out near Black Water Ridge by any chance," someone questions from behind us.
"Oh, no, sir. We're environmental-study majors from U.C. Boulder-- Just working on a paper," Sam lies.
"Recycle, man," Dean adds.
"Bull. You're friends with that Hailey girl, right?"
"Yes. Yes, we are, Ranger... Wilkerson," Dean nods.
"Well, I will tell you exactly what I told her. Her brother filled out a backcountry permit saying he wouldn't be back from Black Water until the 24th. So it's not exactly a missing persons now, is it?" I shake my head. "Tell that girl to quit worrying. I'm sure her brother's just fine."
"We will," I nod.
"That Hailey girl is quite a pistol, huh," Dean adds.
"That is putting it mildly."
"Actually, you know what would help is if I could show her a copy of that backcountry permit. You know, so she could see her brother's return date," Dean says.
Not bad, Dean. Not bad at all.
We walk outside, and Dean laughs. "What, are you cruising for a hookup or something," Sam says.
"What do you mean?"
"The coordinates point to Black Water Ridge. So what are we waiting for? Let's just go find Dad. I mean, why even talk to this girl?"
"I don't know. Maybe we should knows what we're walking into before we actually walk into it," Dean points out as we stare at him like he's crazy.
"What," Sam asks.
"Since when are you all "shoot first, ask questions later" anyway," I say.
"Since now."
He hops in the car, and Dean and I glance at each other.
YOU ARE READING
One More Time
Hayran Kurgu"Please," Sam says. I look up at him, our eyes meeting. "Just one more time, that's all we're asking for." "One more time," I say, glancing between them. "One more time," Dean nods. "Okay."
