A Torn Family

Chapter 3

Sam jolted awake from where he slept in the passenger seat of the car. I leaned forwards, bracing my hands on his shoulders to calm him down. Sam reached his hands up, placing them over my own, and steadied his breathing. Dean looked at me, but I just shrugged. He'd been having nightmares since Jess died. We were starting to worry.

"You okay?" Dean asked Sam, trying not to cause a fuss.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Sam shook him off, staring straight ahead. He slid my hands off of his shoulders, but reached his arm back to hold one of my hands in his own. He was scared.

"Another nightmare?" Dean asked again, and I almost laughed at the bluntness. Sam didn't respond though. "Want to drive for a while?"

"What?" I shrieked causing Sam to flinch from the noise. I patted his shoulder in apology. "You're gonna let our LITTLE BROTHER drive Baby before ME?" Dean shot me a look, warning me to shut my mouth. I did, but not before letting loose a string of curse words at my big brother.

"She's got a point though, Dean." Sam laughed at my language. "In your whole life, you've never once asked me that." I shot Dean an 'I told you so' look, but he ignored me.

"Just thought you might want to." Dean replied like he hadn't just offered up usage of his most prized possession to Sam. "Never mind."

"Look, guys, you're worried about me." Sam ran his free hand through his hair, which had gotten way too long during his time away. "I get it, and thank you, but I'm perfectly okay."

Neither Dean or I believed him.

"Alright, where are we." I decided to let Sam's answer slide for the time being. My twin brother squeezed my hand in appreciation and I returned the gesture. Though I wasn't going to leave him be, he needed to know I had his back.

"We are just outside of Grand Junction." Dean answered, annoyed at how easily I had let Sam off the hook. I kicked the back of his seat, warning him to let it go. He glared at me, but otherwise accepted my warning gracefully.

"You know what?" Sam sighed, folding up a map he held. "Maybe we shouldn't have left Stanford so soon." I leaned my head back in defeat, and Dean sighed in frustration.

"Sam, we dug around there for a week. We came up with nothing." Dean tried to reason with our brother. "If you wanna find the thing that killed Jessica-"

"Got to find Dad first." Sam cut him off.

"Dad disappearing and this thing showing up again after 22 years?" I leaned forward to talk to my boys. "It's no coincidence. It can't be. Dad'll have answers. He'll know what to do."

Dad always knew what to do.

***

The three of us found ourselves poking around a cabin in Blackwater Ridge, the destination Dad had sent us to. The cabin was decorated with furs and pictures of giant grizzly bears.

"You kids aren't planning a trip out to Blackwater Ridge, by any chance?" A man asked from behind us.

"Oh, no, sir. We're environmental-study majors from UC Boulder. Just working on a paper." I smiled and nodded, impressed by Sam's quick thinking and cover story.

"Recycle, man." Dean quickly ruined the story with a ridiculous comment.

"Bull." The ranger called out, and I fought not to glare at Dean. "You're friends with that Hailey girl, right?" The three of us exchanged a look, silently agreeing on our next move.

"Yes." I piped up, deciding to speak for our group. "Yes we are Ranger Wilkinson." I flashed him a flirtatious smile, and even threw in a quick wink for good measure.