Daddy's Little Hunter (SPN Season 1)

Wendigo [3]

Sam was sitting against a hollow tree stump, holding John's journal and playing with a lanyard that Natalia had given to him. 

Dean, Haley, and Ben were among the tents.

"I don't...I mean, these types of things, they aren't supposed to be real," Haley noted

"I wish I could tell you differently," Dean told her

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

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

"How do you know about this stuff?"

"Kind of runs in the family,"

Sam came over "Hey,"

Haley stood up.

"So, we've got half a chance in the daylight." Sam explained "And I for one want to kill this evil son of a bitch,"

"Well, hell, you know I'm in," Dean said

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

"How's a man turn into one of those things?" Haley asked

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,"

"Like the Donner Party," Ben said

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

"If you eat enough of it, over years, you become this less than human thing." Dean continued "You're always hungry,"

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

"You're not gonna like it." Dean glanced at Sam, who looked back at the ground, then back to Haley.

"Tell me,"

"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 and Natalie somewhere dark, hidden, and safe. We gotta track it back there,"

"And then how do we stop it?"

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

***

Dean led the way through the woods, Molotov cocktail in hand. 

Haley followed, then Ben, then Sam. They passed trees with claw marks and blood.

"Dean," Sam called out

"What is it?"

Sam and Dean looked around at the trees. There was 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 and Dean whipped around when they heard growling and trees rustle.

Haley was standing under a tree. Blood dripped on her shirt. She noticed and looked up, then lept out of the way; Roy's corpse landed where she had stood. 

Dean examined Roy as Sam went over to Haley.

"You okay?" Sam asked her "You got it?"

"His neck's broke," Dean declared.