The Soul Burns Brighter Than The Sun

Chapter 15: Cog In The Murder Machine

Dean never thought he'd say it, but he leans over to Cas as the four of them trudge up the side of Glastenbury Mountain and grumbles to the angel. "God, I miss Purgatory."

Cas snorts. "I told you to double layer your socks, Dean. Now look who's complaining."

Dean shivers as a gust of wind blows through the frosted trees. "Yeah, yeah. Whatever. You and your angel prowess. Give me a break."

They've been hiking for hours, and not one little ghosty ghost or eerie footprint to suggest there's a monster lurking about.

Eileen's likely the warmest out of all of them besides Cas. She at least has a parka, a wool under coat and gloves over her mittens. She even has a ski mask that covers her entire face except her eyes. Dean joked that she's gonna have to offer Sam her jacket.

Eileen's been a trooper this whole hike, much better than both the Winchester brothers, Dean at least, spent a year in the wilderness (also fighting for his life, but who's counting), whereas Sam's only been camping once or twice in fairly okay-ish conditions.

Next to Eileen up ahead of Dean and Cas, Sam shivers, blowing air into his gloves. He's got a pretty okay jacket, Dean knows he's wearing a hoodie underneath, but the wind bites through the layers easily. Dean's glad that Sam had enough sense to pull a beanie over his hair before heading out, though he keeps having to tug it down when the winter breeze blows through.

They started at dawn this morning, not that dawn was any earlier than seven-thirty. At first Dean was grateful for the chance to sleep in a little bit with his angel, but the later they started, the less time they had before the heavy snowfall would begin which was reported to roll in in the afternoon.

Last night, Sam had uncovered a map of the mountain, with several different cabin sites located across the mountain, reasoning that if whatever got Lara and Kristen, if it didn't already kill them, it must've taken them somewhere. There's several different cabins listed, but the website has made sure to leave a disclaimer that there are private cabins on the mountain that are unlisted and not mapped for public use.

Currently, their goal is to hike through some of the mountain, sticking mostly to the Glastenbury trail that's under a few inches of snow. None of them had any of their red attire packed on the trip with them, but neither Lara or Kristen did either, so that can't be the pattern at play here. They're mostly trying to set off whatever creature might be lurking in the mountain, hoping to either catch a glimpse of it or figure out what it is.

It's difficult to figure out what it could be. Wendigo is definitely out based on how cold it is, but disappearances with zero bodies turning up could practically be anything, so Dean had strapped several different weapons to his layers. A machete to his thigh, silver knife in his boot, several other little trinkets stashed through his layers. He's got his gun again, though he spent several hunts the past few weeks using a different one since he made Cas take it as some kind of 'welcome to the dog house' gift. It's tucked in the waistband of his jeans. It's not like Dean owns any other kinds of pants. He tried putting sweats over his jeans, but he felt stupid, so the wind bites through his thighs now as wind blows through. Thankfully, the snowflakes that stick to his pant legs haven't melted yet, so Dean's still dry for now.

Sam carries a duffle filled with more guns and bullets, and Dean's back aches because he just spent the last few hours carrying it. Cas offered to, but Dean waved him off. Need you sharp for smiting, Cas.

One foot in front of the other, the four of them hike through the forest. It's eerily quiet despite the cold breeze that riles Dean's hair and makes his teeth start to chatter. There's no birds, they must've flown south weeks ago, and they've only run into one deer in the past few hours. They stopped for a bit, admiring it in silence before Sam sneezed and scared the deer off. Eileen stops them when she finds tracks on the ground, imprinted through the snow and to the frozen ground beneath, but then Cas examines them and determines that they're only bear tracks, likely from a hibernating bear that woke up for a moment.