Supernatural Fresh Meat - By Alice Henderson Page 0,31
you alone out there. Faster we get this weapon made, faster we can take care of this thing.”
“Okay. I’ll tell Sam.” Dean hesitated. “Should we call Jason? He was good backup before.”
“Slow backup.”
“But he helped.”
“Okay,” Bobby relented. “I guess that way one of you could stay out there, warn people off, and the other could come to Point Reyes.”
“Sounds good.”
“I’ll come pick one of you up at the trailhead now,” Bobby told him, and hung up.
Dean noticed he had a voicemail message on his phone and checked it. It was Jason, telling them to look him up if they were ever back that way. “Nice hunting with you,” he’d said, and hung up.
Dean debated, worried that at best Jason might slow them down, and at worst, get himself killed. But finally he decided the extra help would be welcome, especially if they all had to split up. He called him, catching Jason at the Aces and Eights.
“Yo, Dean,” Jason said.
“Hey Jason. How’s it going?”
“Can’t complain. Ribs better. You guys must be halfway across Utah by now. To what do I owe the honor?”
“We’re actually back in the Tahoe National Forest.”
“What?”
“There have been more killings.”
“Another wendigo? I thought they were solitary.”
“So did we. But it’s not a wendigo. It’s something worse.”
Jason sounded incredulous. “Something worse?”
“Yeah. An aswang.”
“An ass what?”
“Something we don’t want to mess with lightly. Bobby knows a hunter in Point Reyes who can make a weapon for us.”
“Where are you now?”
“Near the Finder Mountain Trailhead.”
“I’m coming to meet you.”
“Okay.” He looked at his watch. “When can you get here?”
“Give me two hours, maybe a little more. Got to gear up and then I’ll leave.”
“Thanks, man.” They agreed to meet at the trailhead and Dean hung up.
He rejoined Sam and Grace in the clearing. “Agent Cash has a lead,” he told Sam.
“Great. Does he want us back there?”
“Yeah. A.s.a.p.”
Grace smiled ruefully. “So I’m back to being on my own?”
“Sorry, ranger. Looks like it,” Sam told her.
“I’m used to it. Wouldn’t survive long in this gig if I didn’t like being alone.”
“Call us if you run into any trouble,” Dean said. He handed her one of their fake F.B.I. business cards, though the number on it was accurate.
“And you’ll come running?” she asked dubiously.
Dean smiled. “Something like that.”
“Well, good luck,” she told them, and set off again in the direction she’d been heading.
“I don’t like the thought of her out here alone,” Sam said as they watched her go.
“Me, either,” Dean agreed. “But she’s tough. Besides, we can’t force her back to town.”
“Maybe we should level with her.”
“Are you kidding me, Sam? Level with her? She’d laugh us out of the forest. And then probably lock us up.”
“So what did Bobby say?”
“He thinks he has a line on a weapon that might kill it. He wants one of us to go with him to the bay area. I called Jason for backup. He’s meeting us at the trailhead.”
They started walking back, keeping an eye out for hikers. The trees grew thick in this area, broken only by large expanses of grey granite. They ducked and bent, moving through a particularly dense section of pines, and Dean heard something moving ahead of them. “Sam!” he whispered.
They squatted behind a boulder. Footsteps drew nearer, something big and bipedal moving through the underbrush.
They waited tensely and it grew closer. Dean stood up suddenly, bringing his .45 to bear.
From around a bend in the trail, a hiker with a huge backcountry pack appeared, face lit up and grinning beneath a shock of blond hair.
Dean stepped out, flashing his F.B.I. badge. “This area’s been closed off.”
The hiker’s face fell. “What? I’ve been planning this trip for ages. Finally got the time off.”
Sam emerged, showing his F.B.I. I.D. as well. “Sorry, sir. There’s a manhunt in progress.”
The hiker’s eyes went wide, and he glanced around nervously. “Manhunt? Like, serial killer manhunt?”
Sam took the man’s elbow and turned him around on the path. “The sooner you return to your vehicle and leave the area, the better.”
Looking thoroughly spooked, the hiker did as he was told, moving at a quick pace back the way he’d come. Sam and Dean followed at a distance, making sure he got back to the trailhead safely. Soon they reached the parking area, and watched while the man loaded his pack into his car and drove off.
While they waited, they turned away two couples and a guy with a dog.
Soon they heard the rumble of Jason’s truck. He pulled in next to the Impala