Chapter Text
Mist…. Mist and trees on a dark moonless night. Breath heavy in short gasps. My leg was scratched and jeans torn, what’s new. Something was off though. Kate stood in front of me, fighting stance with her handgun cradled in her palms. Estelle stood a few feet away from me, also braced for our missing assailant. Suddenly there was a breeze.
“KATE! ON YOUR SIX!” She whipped around in time to find a Windego claw sending her into the trees, blood blooming across her shirt. Estelle swore and cocked her flame thrower, following the racing blood spot. Suddenly it was on me, breath hot and touch cold. I let out a scream, and then there was light. Two men stood; one still holding up his flame thrower, the other had a torch, there was a third bent over Kate and surveying the gash on her side. Those men, so familiar, yet so strange, then something clicked and the forest vanished-
I sat up in my bed, panting. I felt as though the hunt had been real. I slipped out from under my covers and padded down the hallway. Estelle was still out cold, comic books and lore books strewn across her floor, the angel statue she treasured guarded her from its home on the bookshelf. She mumbled and turned over, and I continued down the hall in our small bungalow. Kate was sitting up, cleaning her guns. Typical Kate.
“We have a case.” She said simply, shoving a folder my way. “Hikers on camping trips vanish in Allegheny National. Nothing left but slashed up sites, claw marks on trees, and blood.” Kate continued as my eyes skimmed the first report.
“Sounds like a Windego on our hands. We need to get out there and see for ourselves.” I said, handing the folder back and twisting the ring around on my finger. Pennsylvania. “We need to get moving then. Kill this thing. Get Estelle up, I’ll call and tell Tammy I’ll be gone.” Kate nodded and moved to leave the room before I caught her arm. “Any leads?” Her stone face fell into one of remorse and she gave me a sad look.
“No. We’ll find it and avenge him. I promise.” I numbly nodded and headed back for my room. “Caylie, this damn thing is slick, slicker than any demon we’ve dealt with so far. You know the Springfields were amazing hunters, and the bane of all hell’s worst.”
“Jake did not deserve to die. I should have stopped him.” I felt tears coming.
“You wouldn’t have seen it, and he was a bit lost at that time, Caylie.” I gave her a glare and continued to my door, turning to look at her one more time, before giving the poor board a satisfying slam.
“Just like dad?” I saw her face harden at my words before that slam. Her shriek tore through the hall and I heard a slam from below. I moved through getting dressed and pulling up my hair, making sure I had mom’s journal and lore tome, as well as anything else I may need on the hunt. It was only a day’s trip from Lebanon, Kansas, but God knows what we might encounter. A soft knock broke me out of my mechanical process, and I turned to see Estelle at the door, dressed to go, and her latest read, Divine Comedy by Dante, in her hands.
“I heard the fight.” She said in her reserved manner. I groaned and looked at her.
“Input?” She sat down on my bed and began folding the pile of clothes there.
“You are right to want to avenge him, he was your beloved, but she has too much guilt about your father. You shouldn’t have said that, but you Wesson sisters sure have it out for each other sometimes.” I scoffed at her.
“She has saved my ass, and I have saved hers, and that care can’t change, but there is a point where we divide. Dad traded his life for her; yes, and that was how fate played out, but with Jake’s killer? That will never fly with me, and I want that demon dead.” Estelle was looking at me with her head tilted.
“There is something bothering you about this hunt.” I broke eye contact and moved to the mirror over my dresser to put some eye makeup on. “Someone dies?” She inquired. I shook my head, meeting her gaze in the mirror.
“We don’t make the kill.” I said, and her eyebrows shot up.
“Other hunters on this one?” I nodded slowly.
“I have heard Lena talk about them, I guess their dad and they were friends with Bobby, and Lena scared the elder one.” Estelle’s eyes widened. She began shaking her head and I nodded in turn. “They’re on this monster’s tail, right behind us. We beat them there. Kate gets hurt, and a third guy, I think their angel friend, helps her. But yes, they’re going to cross our path.” Estelle looked behind her and shut the door.
“Do we tell Kate?” She asked. I shook my head.
“She would go after them for the whole apocalypse thing, and not our target, besides, one of them used to be a psychic too, and might help me further hone my abilities.” Estelle shrugged. “Come on,” I said. “We’ve gotta get on the road.”