Fractured

3 Shots For the Broken Girl

We made it to the bar, and Sam got straight to work explaining things to Dean and me. However, I ordered a round of shots, and Dean was checking out every girl in here.

"So, the Blackwater Ridge doesn't get a lot of traffic, but still this past April, two hikers went missing, and they were never found," Sam explained.

"Any before that?" Dean asked as I took one of my shots.

"Yeah, in 1982, eight different people disappeared. Authorities say that it was a grizzly attack, and again in 1959, and again before that in 1936. Every 23 years," Sam continued.

"Okay, let's look at that video again," I said, taking another shot.

"Already on it," Sam said, sending me a smile. "Watch this," Sam said, slowing down the video for us to see a large figure pass in the background. So I was right! Something was there, and it was fast.

"That's three frames, a fraction of a second. Whatever that thing is, it can move," Sam said.

Dean hit Sam in the chest and exclaimed, "I told you guys something was going on!"

"One more thing, there was a survivor from the attack in 1959," Sam said.

I took my last shot and got up, "Alright, let's go ask this man some questions," and before the boys could argue, I was already making my way to the car.

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"Look, rangers, I don't know why you're asking me about this. It's in the public record, I was a kid, and my parents died," The survivor explained.

"They got attacked by a grizzly, right?" I asked the man, "That's what attacked them?" He seemed to stop for a minute before lighting a cigarette and sitting down in his chair.

"The other people that went missing that year, where that bear attacks too?" Dean asked the man, who was clearly struggling with the memories of what happened to him. "What about the people that went missing this year, same thing?" Dean kept pushing.

"Listen, if we knew what we were dealing with, we might be able to stop it," I said calmly, hoping that he would start spilling the information. I went to take a step forward and tripped into the table. Damn, those shots must be affecting me more than I thought.

Sam and Dean both rolled their eyes at me, probably irritated I was a little tipsy while interrogating someone, but oh well.

"You wouldn't believe me. Nobody did," The man said, clearly upset.

Sam is a kind and gentle giant. He is walked up to the man and asked, "What did you see?"

He let out a sigh before responding, "Nothing. It moved too fast to see. I heard it, though, and it sounded like nothing I've heard before."

"Sir," I said, clearing my throat, "Did it come at night?"

He nodded to me, shortening the list of possible creatures it could be in my head. I've narrowed it down to five so far, all of them nasty beings.

"The damn thing got inside my cabin, and it unlocked the front door. Do you know of a bear that can do something like that?" and the list got shorter.

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We made it back to the motel we were staying in, and man was the liquor hitting me, but I wasn't gonna let the guys know that. They would kill me.

"Spirits and demons don't need to unlock doors to get to their victims," Dean stated, trying to figure out what the creature was in his head.

"What do you think it is?" Sam asked Dean.

Dean looked over to Sam and said, "Well, it could be a skinwalker or a black dog, and it's corporeal, which means we can kill it."

I couldn't help but giggle at the big words my boys were using, corporeal, I mean way to go, Sammy! The boys looked back at me as we entered the room, confused as to why I had giggled.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" I asked the boys as I made my way to the alcohol cabinet.

Dean rushed, overtaking the beverage away from me, "Nope. No more. Your done drinking for today."

"What why?" I complained, pouting, "I'm not even drunk!"

"Right, so you didn't stumble in that man's house like a college sorority girl?" Dean asked roughly.

"Dean!" Sam warned

"No! Why'd you drink in the middle of a hunt anyway? You usually wait until it's done," Dean asked me.

Damn it! I mean, I hated feeling this way. There was always something that triggered me in every hunt we go on. Maybe I should've done what Ryan did and went to college. I lost my parents six months ago, for crying out loud, and with hunting comes loss, and sometimes it reminds me of mine.

"Devyn, what's going on?" Dean asked again after I didn't reply.

I finally looked up at the man with tears in my eyes. Why was I such a mess? It was easy to play it off as fine when working, but it's hard when we are alone because I'm not fine. "I'm sorry. It's just that these kids lost their parents. They are all they have left, and they are about to lose their brother." I explained the situation that sounded a little close to mine.

Dean's eyes softened when he finally realized what's been bugging me all day. I know I shouldn't drink, but it's a bad habit I picked up after my parents died. "Devyn, I'm sorry. Do you still want to come with us tomorrow?" Dean asked.

"What? Of course, I want to come with you. I need to help them find their brother," I said as a tear fell from my eye. I quickly wiped it away a said, "I'm - I'm gonna go take a shower," and walked into the bathroom.

I had a hard time falling asleep that night, plagued with nightmares of being alone someday.

1/30/2021- Edited