Wendigo.

CHAPTER FIVE , WENDIGO

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Flashback

The Impala slows to a stop and Athena sinks into her seat. "Wh-What..." she trails off her sentence and rolls her lips into her mouth. "...what are we doing here?"

John doesn't reply, he unbuckles his seatbelt and gets out of the car. Athena's eyes follow her father as he walks around the car and opens her door. "Get out."

Athena's stomach painfully turns, she unbuckles her seatbelt and gets out of the car. John slams the door shut, causing Athena to flinch. She follows him down the sidewalk. She looks up at the sky, noticing the snow starting to fall. Athena wasn't a big fan of the cold. She never understood why people loved to go outside when it snowed. She preferred staying in with a cup of hot chocolate. Athena slips her hands into her jacket and bunches her shoulders.

They turn a corner, seeing a boy in an alleyway knocking over trashcans. Athena's eyes widen and she stops in her tracks. "Dad--"

"Athena, keep walking," John growls.

Athena's breathing quickens and she follows after her father.

"Hey!"

The boy stops his foot from coming into contact with another trashcan. He turns toward the two figures walking towards him. His eyes land on the young girl and he pulls his brows together. "Oh, shit...Athena? What are you doing here?"

"You're the one who called her a Dyke today?" John asks.

The boy shifts his gaze to John and chuckles. "Wait...you told your DADDY on me?" he then starts to laugh.

"Can we go, please?" Athena whispers. "It's fine--"

"No!"

Athena flinches and shifts her gaze to the ground.

John inhales a deep breath and looks back at the boy, "What's your name?"

"Peter."

"Peter? Well, Peter we came here to teach you about respect." John says.

Athena's entire body starts to shake, and it wasn't from the air gradually getting colder. She knew her father and she knew how he taught lessons.

But, why did he bring her with him?

"I know what respect is. I just don't have it for freaks like your daughter."

And just like that, Athena heard a loud smack and she snaps her eyes up to see Peter on the ground. Her eyes widen and she takes a step forward. John kicks Peter repeatedly and she stops in her tracks. Something rises in Athena's throat as she hears Peter's scream become more painfilled.

"Daddy, stop!" she cries.

John stops kicking him and looks at Athena's wrist. "Come here."

Athena doesn't move, she continues to stare at Peter, watching the blood leave his face. He was just a kid.

"I said..." John grabs her wrist in a bruising manner and yanks her forward. Athena yelps. "...come here!" he points at Peter.

"Kick him."

Athena's eyes widen, "I-I can't--"

"What? You can hit him at school, but not right now?--"

"He's already down!" Athena raises his voice. "He's already hurting...why do I...I don't want to."

John scoffs, "Do you know why your mom dropped you off with me?"

Athena quickly looks at her dad. He's never talked about her mom. He only kept it at 'she left you'. And that was that.

"It's because she didn't want you." John shakes his head. "And now I understand."

Athena's mouth slightly opens. John points at Peter, "Kick. Him."

The young girl lets out a soft breath, she looks at Peter who was slowly starting to get up. John didn't have to tell Athena about her mom not wanting her. But she knew what he was trying to say. It was his way of saying, "If you want to make me proud then do this."

A tear runs down Athena's face and she kicks Peter. He cries out in pain and falls back to the ground.

"Harder."

Athena lets out a soft sob and kicks Peter again.

"Kick him harder!"

She raises her foot again.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, please..."  Peter sobs.

Athena stops and a pit forms in her stomach. She looks down at her Hello Kitty sneakers that were stained in blood. She wipes her tears and shakes her head.

"I-I can't--"

"Athena--"

"No! I can't!" she steps away from Peter and leans against the brick wall. "Please...I just want to go."

John watches Athena slide to the floor, her knees pulled toward her chest. Her hands were tangled in her hair and she was shaking her head. "No more, no more, I can't do this..."

John walks over to Peter and picks him up. "You tell anyone about this...and I'll be back, got it?"

Peter slowly nods his head, half unconscious. John drops Peter onto the ground.

John stands in front of Athena. The young girl hesitantly looks at her father and sniffles. "I-I'm sor--"

"You." John crouches in front of her. He grips her chin, making sure she understood him. "Are a half-blooded burden, you got that?"

Athena's eyes well up with tears once again. "Daddy, I'm sorry--"

He shoves her face out of his hand and the back of her head hits the wall. Athena quietly cries and she covers her face, starting to sob. John's boots crunch from the snow. Athena wipes her face and looks at her dad, walking away from her. She then looks at Peter and inhales a shaky breath.

"I'm sorry." Athena whispers. "I am so sorry."

Present

"Maybe we should go somewhere else--"

"No, no. I'm fine." Athena reassures her brothers.

Sam and Dean look at each other. The crowd, watching the game at the bar cheer and Athena flinches. She said she was fine, but her body language said otherwise. Her shoulders were bunched together, her back was straight, and her hands were folded on the table.

Athena wasn't new to bars. I mean, her dad forced her to stand in front of them pretending to be a lost child. Adults would ask her if she was all right, and she would find a way to pick pocket them. It sucked for her, especially if anyone go handsy or caught her. She's had many bad experiences on that end.

"Can I get you anything?"

Athena looks up and her eyes meet the woman standing there in a revealing tank top. Her eyes immediately stare at the table.

Be a little more obvious, why don't you?

"Aren't you a little young to be here?" The woman asks the auburn-haired girl.

The woman's voice was airy, but kind. It made Athena's heart rate pick up.

And the brothers noticed.

"Uh--two beers and a strawberry milk, please," Dean says.

Athena's heartbeat increases and she swallows. "Yeah--yep. Thank you...s-so much." She scratches behind her ear.

Sam and Dean look at each other, holding in their laughter. As soon as the waitress walks away, the brothers laugh. Athena looks between her brothers with a crease between her brows. "Wh-what? What's going on? What's so funny?"

"Nothing--nothing..." Dean shakes his head. "Right, Sammy?" He looks to his brother.

Sam raises his brows and slightly opens his mouth. "Oh, yeah! Nothing at all..."

Athena squints her eyes.

"Anyway..." She grabs her Hello Kitty bag and pulls a folder out of the bag. "...Black Water 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."

"Any before that?" Sam asks.

"Yeah..." Athena opens her folder. "...in 1982, eight different people all vanished in the same year." she sets a newspaper clipping in front of her brothers. "Authorities said it was a Grizzly attack. And, again, in 1959, and again, before that, in 1936--" she grabs her laptop and opens it.

"So..." she presses her lips together and pinches her brows together. "...every 23 years."

"Just like clockwork," Sam adds.

"Okay, look at this," Athena says, bringing up the video of Tommy. "I downloaded that video of Tommy to the laptop. Look." she plays the video.

Sam and Dean watch the dark silhouette move across the screen. Dean pulls his brows together, "Do it again."

Athena rewinds the video, she continuously pauses and plays the video, slowing the video down to get a much better view of the figure. "That's three frames," she states. "It's a fraction of a second. Whatever that thing is, it can move."

Dean slaps Sam's arm, catching his attention. "I told you something weird was going on."

Athena gnaws on her lower lip, "There's one more thing..." she closes the laptop. She grabs another piece of paper and sets it in front of Sam and Dean.

"In '59, one camper survived the supposed Grizzly attack, just a kid--barely crawled out of the woods alive," Athena explains.

"Is there a name?" Sam asks.

Athena opens her mouth to answer, but the waitress walks back over to them. The auburn-haired girl quickly looks down at her Hello Kitty bandaids on her fingers and starts picking at one of them.

"One strawberry milk." she sets it in front of Athena.

Athena slightly opens her mouth, her voice gets caught in her throat and she inhales. "Thank you." she quickly says, before quickly starting to drink her milk.

"No problem, sweetheart."

Athena coughs quietly and hits her chest.

"Two beers." She sets the beers in front of the Winchesters.

"Are you okay?" The waitress asks.

"Fine--fine." Athena wheezes. "Thank you."

The waitress looks at Sam and Dean. The eldest Winchester nods his head with a slight frown on his lips, saying that the girl was going to survive.

☆

"My parents got mauled by a--"

"Grizzly? That's what attacked them?"

Athena looks at the ground. His bluntness hasn't changed.

The elderly man falters. Thinking about that horrifying night once more. He pulls the cigarette out of his mouth and turns to the siblings.

"The other people that went missing that year—those bear attacks, too?" Dean inquires.

The man stays silent, placing his cigarette back between his lips.

"What about all the people that went missing this year? Same thing?"

The man continues to stay silent. The fear of what he saw that night, becoming too much for him.

Athena opens her mouth and speaks. "If we knew what we were dealing with, we might be able to stop it." Her tone was soft, but it was still firm, letting the man know that she was serious. "They would be able to stop it." She corrects herself.

The man looks at the young girl, who had a comforting smile on her lips.

He then looks at the two boys. How were they gonna handle this with a child beside them the entire time?

"I seriously doubt that, kiddo." He speaks. "Anyways, I don't see the difference it would make." He sits in his leather chair with defeat.

"You wouldn't believe me. Nobody ever did."

Athena's throat tightens, she clears her throat and takes a cautious step towards the man.

"Mr. Shaw...what did you see? Please."

The man had to admit. The young girl had patience. But she also had an unspoken determination to her as well. She was willing to wait all night, to get an answer. The man lets out a soft sigh.

Mr. Shaw explained to them what he saw, what he didn't see, and what he heard. He revealed a scar across his chest, you could tell the scar was three deep claw marks. The worst part for Athena was absolute pain and shakiness in Mr. Shaw's voice when he spoke. She didn't want to burden him with anymore harsh memories rising, so they left after the story.

"Spirits and Demons don't have to unlock doors." Athena states, her hands in her pockets. "They just go through the walls."

"So it's probably something else—something Corporeal." Sam adds.

"Corporeal"? Excuse me, Professor." Dean voices.

"Shut up. So, what do you guys think?" Sam inquires.

Dean looks down at his younger sister who was chewing the inside of her cheek, thinking. "Well, with the claws, the speed that it moves—it could be a skinwalker." She shrugs.

"Maybe a black dog." Dean adds. "Whatever we're talking about, we're talking about a creature, and it's Corporeal, which means we can kill it."

Once they made it outside, Athena kept watch, making sure no one saw Sam and Dean stuffing different weapons into their duffel.

"We cannot let that Hailey Girl go out there." Sam speaks.

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

"Yeah." Sam answers simply.

Athena and Dean look at their brother.

"Her brother's missing, Sam." Athena states. "I think that her sitting out is out of the cards."

"Athena's right, as far with her, we protect her, and we keep our eyes peeled for our fuzzy predator friend." Dean says. He zips the duffel closed and pulls it out of the trunk.

Sam's jaw clenches. "So finding dad's not enough?" He slams the false bottom shut, causing Athena to flinch. She quickly turns to her brothers and Sam slams the trunk closed.

Athena's breathing slightly quickens. Anytime the trunk slammed like that, that meant John was mad. But she quickly remembered that he wasn't here.

But he'll be back.

"Now we got to babysit, too?" Sam snaps.

Dean squints his eyes in an intimidating manner at his little brother.

"Guys, can we not—"

"What?" Sam cuts Athena off, noticing Dean's frustration.

"Nothing." Dean gives a soft shrug, as if he was calm. But he soon throws the duffel towards Sam's chest and gets into the car.

Athena, too uncomfortable to even say anything, slides into the backseat, sliding her cat eared headphones over her ears.

☆

"You guys got room for three more?"

Hailey's eyes slightly widen, "Wait—you want to come with us? With a kid?"

Dean points at Ben. "There's another kid right there. They'll be fiiine." He waves his hand dismissively.

"Who are these guys?" The man with a rifle voices.

"Apparently, this is all the Park Service could muster up." Hailey says.

Roy lets out a huff, "And they thought it was good idea to bring...her?" He looks at the young girl with glasses on. She was wearing light blue overalls with a light pink cat shirt underneath and a green bomber jacket over. Along with her red Chuck Taylors. Sometimes Dean would look at Athena's outfits, laugh, and call her Chucky.

Athena hated Chucky.

"That's right." Dean once again pulls Athena into his side and she grunts, her hands gripping the straps of her Hello Kitty back pack.

"And you're out in Biker boots and jeans?" Hailey questions.

"Well, sweetheart, I don't do shorts." Dean sends Hailey a small smirk before following Sam with Athena by his side.

"Nice to see you guys again." Athena waves.

Hailey gives the girl a soft smile.

"What? You think this is funny?" The man turns to the siblings. Athena takes a step away from the crabby man. "It's dangerous backcountry out there. Her brother might be hurt."

Dean looks at Sam with an incredulous expression and Sam rolls his eyes. "Believe me, I know how dangerous it can be." The eldest brother states. "We just want to help them find their brother. That's all."

Dean guides Athena over to Sam.

"What was his deal?" Dean mumbles.

"Maybe he didn't get a lot of hugs when he was younger." Athena suggests.

"Well, we didn't get a lot of hugs and we're fine." Dean shrugs.

Athena winces and bunches her shoulders. In a high pitched tone she speaks, "Are we?"

Dean frowns.

They all start to walk through the woods together. Athena would occasionally slow down, due to her head getting light. Dean asked if she wanted to eat something before hand, but she denied it. Instead, Dean brought a small ration of candy with them just in case Athena changes her mind. She usually didn't though.

Everytime Athena did slow down, she would walk beside Sam who was in the back alone with his thoughts. Athena wanted to ask if he was okay, but she didn't know if he would snap at her or not. She knew he had to have space, so she was gonna give him that. No biggie.

"How are you doing?"

Athena looks up at her brother who was looking down at her. "Me? Oh—Uh, good." She shrugs. "Probably should've wore shorts or something though."

Sam lets out a quiet chuckle and Athena cracks a smile. "Are..." she gnaws on her lower lip, quieting down.

Sam knew why Athena was so hesitant to ask if he was okay.

"I'm not him, y'know?"

Athena's eyes slightly widen and she looks back at her brother.

"I'm not dad." Sam says.

Guilt settles into Athena's chest. "I didn't mean for you to think that you remind me of him—"

"I get it. I've been...snappy lately." Sam says, looking at the ground.

"You have every right to be." Athena states. "I mean...I'm really sorry." Her voice was filled with pain.

Just from hearing the pain in Athena's voice and Sam's past emotions building up, he felt a lump form in his throat. "Thanks , Athy." He manages to get out.

"I'm here if you ever want to talk or even just sit in silence or cry." Athena lists off. "I'm good at crying."

Sam lets out a soft breath, he touches the top of  Athena's head. "Seriously, thank you, Athy."

Athena gives him a warm smile and a small smile forms on Sam's lips.

"So, Roy, you said you did a little hunting." Dean speaks from the front with the man.

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

"Uh-huh..." Dean audibly shows his disinterest. "What kind of furry critters do you hunt?"

"Mostly Buck. Sometimes Bear." Roy answers.

"Tell me, uh, Bambi or Yogi ever hunt you back?" Dean questions.

Roy grips the back of Dean's shirt and yanks him back.

Everyone stops in their tracks. Athena's eyes widen and she grips Sam's sleeve.

"Whatcha doin', Roy?" Dean questions.

Roy grabs a stick and slams it onto the ground, a hidden bear trap snapping closed before Dean's foot.

Athena lets out a soft breath, but she was still tense.

"You should watch where you're stepping. Ranger." Roy gives Dean a smug smirk.

Athena slumps her shoulders.

Roy: 1

Winchesters: 0

Roy releases Dean and continues forward. Dean points down at the forest floor. "It's a bear trap." He informs everyone behind him, like they didn't just see that embarrassing exchange happen.

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