Read Between The Lines

Chapter 1: Angel's (Un)Rest

*A/N: This takes place around the beginning of Season 2, before the story arc kicks into high gear, but Hank is by now familiar with the Wesen world.

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Opening Quote:"She possessed courage, wit, and penetration. She had read much, and had so admirable a memory, that she never forgot any thing she had read."

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"Jack, wait up!"

"Come on, Gloria, you're almost there! Just around this bend and we can find a clearing to camp in." Jack paused and leaned on his hiking stick to wait for his girlfriend. She huffed as she tromped her way toward him in the Carhartt hiking boots that made her look like Bigfoot. She stopped beside him and took a swig from her Camelbak.

"Ugh, now I'm sweaty and cold," she glanced around at the trees as she untied her flannel shirt from around her waist and slipped it on over her tanktop. "Are we almost to the Falls?"

Jack brushed a lock of his unruly brown hair out of his face and consulted his map. "Angel's Rest should be just ahead," he informed her, pointing to the red X that marked their destination. "I promise, the view will be worth it!" He put an arm around Gloria's shoulders and congratulated her with a kiss. "You're doing awesome, for your first hike!"

Gloria adjusted the bulky pack on her back. "Yeah, these packs really distribute the weight well. Good find, honey!"

Jack nodded and the couple continued on the trail, "I gotta hand it to REI; those Annual Garage Sales are certainly worth getting up at the crack of dawn for!"

Ten minutes later, Jack and Gloria stood on the crest in awe, gazing on the Columbia Gorge in the setting sun.

"Oh man!" Gloria dropped her pack and sat at a picnic table to rest her throbbing legs. "You were right, Jack," she said, looking around, "this place is—" she stopped as her eye fell on something strange.

"This place is what?" Jack walked over to join her.

Gloria stood as Jack approached, her eyes fixed on something obscured by the trees. She walked closer to investigate.

"What is it?" Jack asked her.

Gloria passed through the trees, and the object came into view: a tent, very old by the looks of it. The drab green-grey color almost blended in with the surroundings, especially in the dying light. Needles from the trees had fallen in piles over the top, and even a moss-laden tree branch. Gloria pulled out her flashlight and shined it over the area. "I wonder who left this here?" she murmured to Jack.

Jack switched on his own flashlight. "Whoever it was, he probably isn't around here any more," he surmised.

"Maybe we could use it," Gloria suggested as she unzipped the door and peeked inside.

Instantly she reeled back with a bloodcurdling scream.

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Nick Burkhardt and Hank Griffin glanced around dubiously as a Forestry Service cart deposited them at the crest of Angel's Rest. Two hikers sat at the picnic table, obviously shaken. The girl—a blonde in her mid-twenties, of slight but evidently durable build—sobbed uncontrollably, obviously still traumatized by what she had seen the previous evening. Her boyfriend, a young man about the same age with shaggy brown hair and the air of an experienced hiker, comforted her.

Nick shook hands with the Columbia ranger who had taken charge of the site.

"Thanks for coming out, you guys," she said soberly.