Highway to Hell: Episode Two: "Lookout for Hell"
Episode 2 : Lookout for Hell
Chapter 6: Damned Strays
Chapter Wordcount: 2441
Packed, loaded and ready to go, they sat and waited.
Monte couldn’t stand it. She had been on the run, on the hunt for her brother for so long that she couldn’t stand the sitting still…the silence.
She sighed hard as she fidgeted in her seat.
Sam was in the other room watching the news and Rylee was sitting at the kitchen table cleaning her sniper rifle. It had been passed down from her father from the Vietnam War.
“What’s wrong?” Dean implored looking up from the newspaper.
She glared.
“I hate sitting here. Cant we go like…stakeout or something?”
He smirked.
“Shut up.”
Sam came walking in drawing Dean’s eye.
“Well…a bit of bad news…”
“Shit…what?”
“Due to the cold front that’s about to hit…there’s supposed to be a shit-load of fog tonight…thick.”
“Damnit…” Monte hissed.
“Typical,” Rylee snapped, putting her gun back together violently as she twirled a toothpick in her mouth.
“So now what?”
Monte’s lips were drawn tight and she stood up grabbing her .44 and unlocking the safety. “I dunno ‘bout you guys but I’m gone.” She said, practically running out the back door.
“Monte…wait…”
All of them followed her, just in time to see her jump on a horse that she had saddled earlier, unbeknownst to them.
“Shit.” Dean hissed as they ran towards the barn. It didn’t matter. They were no match for the horse and Monte was through the trees before they even made it to the pasture.
“God damnit! Has she always been like this?!” Dean asked Rylee in frustration and rage, as he pointed towards the now silent forest line.
She sighed and shifted her gun. “What? Impulsive, rash, reckless, restless? …Yea.”
“Damnit.” He grabbed the nearest horse and started fumbling with the halter.
“Just wait, damn, let me do it.” Rylee snatched the lead rope from him and tacked up the horse quicker than he would have ever been capable of doing.
Sam bit the inside of his lip as Dean all but paced.
“She'll be okay Dean.”
“Shut up.” He cut out as he mounted up and yanked on the reins spurring the horse towards the trees.
“We’ll be right behind you.” Rylee told him as he galloped off. She shared a look with Sam and proceeded to tack up two more horses.
Monte was twisting and turning her horse through the trees, never going any faster than a slow trot. Her senses where on high alert. She listened to everything and cursed the damn bugs that always droned on in the southern nights. Her eyes couldn’t see very well through the thick fog that was starting to descend on the mountain but she knew her horse had a somewhat better sense; and she watched him carefully. Growing up with horses had taught her that you didn’t just listen to your horse; you had to listen to your horse. Each ear swivel, each slight head turn or soft snort made her listen a little harder. The horse would probably sense something way before she ever did.
She stopped in a clearing to rest for a second when her horse’s ears swiveled behind him. She turned him sharp and stared into the misty blackness. She only held her breath for a second, because despite not knowing anything about the creatures she was hunting she could still tell the comforting hoof beats of a horse.
Sure enough, Dean came trampling through the underbrush, smacking sticks and spider webs from his path. More or less letting the horse lead, which was actually the smartest thing for him to do.
He stopped in the clearing fighting with the invisible spider web strings that apparently were crisscrossed across his face.
“Damnit…”
Monte couldn’t help but smirk.
“Do you always have to do that?!”
“What?”
“Run off?”
“Yea.” She shot back sarcastically. “The moons out Dean, there was no reason to be sitting around the house waiting for what I don’t know.”
“That’s not the point. You didn’t have to rush headlong into this. You could have waited for us to come with you.” He chided as she dismounted. He watched for a second as she unbuckled her reins and tied them to the saddle.
She studied what she was doing and ordered Dean to do the same.
He didn’t know why, but with a confused and furrowed brow he followed her example.
As soon as he had finished she whistled in two short bursts and both horses turned and trotted off through the trees back the way they came.
“Wait…what?”
“They’re going home. I don’t want them here when the fighting starts.”
“Wait…you send the horses home, because you don’t want them hurt, but yet you come out here…alone.”
She glared. Like hell he was going to lay a guilt trip on her.
“Yup.”
“Damnit Monte…”
“What Dean?! Tell me what the hell your problem is?!”
"This apparent death wish you seem to have! You're always putting yourself in danger and I can't protect you from yourself and then I'm the one that ends up having the heart attack!"
She stared.
“Monte…” He sighed. “You and Sam are all I’ve got…if something…if something happened…I’d never forgive myself.”
“I can take care of myself.” She whispered.
“I know you can. But that doesn’t mean something couldn’t happen. I of all people should know…I almost died not too long ago. And Sam, well, he’s had his fair share.”
She bit the inside of her lip and stared at the ground.
“I know. You and Sam are all I have.”
He sighed and moved over to her and hugged her, resting his chin on her head. He kissed her forehead while he held her face in his hands.
“Monte…I…” He whispered.
An eerie howl broke through the darkness.
Both of them turned. Wide eyes searching the blackness for any movement. Both drawing weapons.
A second howl joined, only to be followed by more in a dark, sinister, twisted chorus.
The sound of pounding feet started to echo around them and gain in volume. Monte had her .44 aimed into the darkness and Dean was right next to her with his Winchester rifle.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Sam halted them as he and Rylee finally caught up with them breathless. “We came as fast as we could when we heard the howls.”
“Yea…” Dean sighed. “They’re out.”
As they all started through the maze of trees and blackness, as if somehow any of them could have seen anything, another howl broke through the cold. But this one was different.
“What the hell?”
“Shit…” Rylee hissed. “That’s Phoenix. Crap!”
She shared a frantic look with Monte.
“Sam, get off.” Monte barked. He was a bit stunned for a second by obliged. As soon as he did Rylee cut her horse hard and returned to the darkness on a quick ride home. Sam’s horse following, off her flank.
Dean looked at Monte.
She stood completely still. The .44 in one hand, her Springfield in the other. Her eyes were closed and her head was tilted to the sky. She breathed in deep.
Sam and Dean shot a nervous and somewhat confused look between each other. Dean held his rifle and Sam had the Colt resting by his side.
One more sigh and she lowered her head, opening her eyes and looked at them both.
“Get ready.”
*Metallica’s “Of Wolf & Man” playing in the background*
Dean had barely got out “Huh?” when they heard it. Rustling coming through the underbrush off through the distance.
Sam quick looked over at Monte to ask her how the hell she did that and all he saw was both guns aimed, her jaw tight and her gaze glazed over. He was going to have to ask her about that.
The sounds quickly came to a stop. Dean and Sam both aimed to where they had mysteriously vanished. Their breath forming small clouds as they breathed in the cold air of the mountain. The adrenaline starting to flow.
Monte squinted. Something wasn’t right. She turned in time to see a large black beast flying through the air, yellow eyes and teeth flashing. She aimed, and she shot, rolling her shoulder as it fell with a resounding thud between her and the boys.
“Don’t fucking watch me!” She shouted. “Watch the woods!”
As Sam and Dean turned back around they saw not one, but two, prowling towards them. Drool hanging from their four-inch canines.
They both took aim as they heard they heard Monte yell behind them to watch out.
Dean was turning to see her when he caught her meaning.
Another black shadow was advancing on Sam’s side. As Dean’s eyes went wide while his mind played flashes of the beast hitting Sam, he aimed.
At the same time the two in front of Sam pounced.
It all happened so fast it was hard to tell what bullet came from what gun. Sam pulled the trigger on his Colt four times. One in the head and heart of each in front of him as Dean tried to be steady as he barely shot over his brother’s shoulder before rushing headlong into him to throw him out of the way of the 300 pounds of furred muscle came crashing down.
As they both stood up, almost instinctively they slammed their backs together.
Dean happened to spin just in time to see two more come crashing full tilt towards Monte.
Everything happened slow motion in his eyes. One struck her as it jumped, knocking the gun from her hands, and continued towards the two of them. He half focused on the impending threat and half watched as the second descended upon Monte’s still downed form.
His scream echoed through the darkness.
“NO!!!”
Monte stared into the yellow eyes of the demon on top of her. This was getting ridiculous, first her brother eating a piece of her arm and now she had a massive black, ugly ass dog on top of her, drooling like fucking Beethoven none the less.
Asshole.
She pulled one of her daggers and rammed it under the dogs jaw, clean through, it pried the mouth open just enough to see the shimmering blade as it went between the beast’s teeth and pierced the roof of its mouth.
The strange half growl, half howl the animal tried to make as it’s eyes locked on hers with fury at the pain, was quickly cut short as she pulled the twin to the blade already covered in blood and plunged it to the hilt in the animals heart.
Dean didn’t see any of it. He had zoned out as he pulled the trigger repeatedly on the Smith & Wesson he had had in his waistband. He emptied the magazine into the animal that had leaped over Monte.
Next thing he knew it was lying at his feet as he panted, he blinked repeatedly as Sam slapped him and ran past him. He looked up to see Sam shoving 200+ pounds of dead weight off of Monte.
He snapped out of it and ran to her.
“Shit…are you okay?”
“Yea, yea…I’m fine.” She clipped as she tried to wipe some of the blood of her hands. “Fucker.” She grumbled.
He smirked, and looked over at the hilts protruding from the wolf.
“How the hell…”
“I dipped ‘em in silver.” She said, as she stood up and braced a foot on the thick black fur as she yanked the blades loose.
Sam smiled. “Smart.”
She tilted her head with a cocky grin. “I know.”
Dean walked beside Monte, with his hand around her back towards Rylee’s house in the darkness, guns still drawn in their free hands. Sam was right beside them reloading his Colt. There was no telling whether they had killed the whole pack or not.
Through the black silence thoughts were running on a rampage through Dean’s head.
He could have lost Monte so easily back there. He had zoned out. He should have shot and ran to her. He didn’t even know she was okay until everything was over. He was killing himself over it.
I can’t lose her. Not now.
He had always been the protective older brother to Sam. He couldn’t remember a day he hadn’t been. Even when Sam was in college. Sam never knew, or their Dad for that matter, of the secret random visits Dean would make to Stanford. Just to check up on his baby brother.
Now he had Monte thrown into the mix too. There was no putting the love of family before just plain love. But the opposite was true too. There was no way he could ever choose between the two. And he prayed to whatever god there was that he would never have to. But that still didn’t change the fact that he could have lost her all of twenty minutes ago.
His eyes snapped up from the wet leaf-covered ground when Monte released his hand. His other immediately tightened on his pistol in alarm.
Next thing he knew he was staring at the Impala, the Monte Carlo and Ry’s house.
Monte stood slightly in front of the boys. Everything was still.
Too still.
“What’s the prob…”
“Shut up!” She hissed.
Dean’s eyes scanned everything he could. The trees, the house, the field…nothing.
Monte let out a low whistle, imitating a bob white quail.
Sam scrunched his eyebrows.
The sound of a whippoorwill answered from the rooftop.
“What the fuck…” Dean whispered.
Monte turned and smiled. “Rylee’s on sniper duty.” She winked.
He just laughed and headed towards the house, where a comforting glow in the windows and smoke rising silently from the chimney and mingling with the ever thickening fog promised a warm fire to rest weary feet by.
Rylee climbed down the ladder on the side of her house and met them on the porch.
“What happened?”
“They surrounded us in that clearing. We took down a half-dozen of ‘em. What about here? Is Phoenix okay?”
“Yea, she’s fine…it was more of a warning bay.” She smiled. “One did show, the horses alerted me. Only took one shot to bring it down though. It’s over by the wood pile.”
Monte nodded.
“Think that’s it?”
Sam looked out over the lake. “Yea…I think it is.”
“How do you know?” Dean asked.
“I dunno.”
They all stood in silence.
Rylee broke it. “Well, I dunno ‘bout you guys but I could use some coffee. I got cocoa too.” She winked.
Monte smiled and threw her arm around Ry’s shoulders and started them towards the house.
None of them made it to bed till about dawn.
Previous: Chapter Five | Next: Chapter Seven
Highway to Hell Master Post
Chapter 6: Damned Strays
Chapter Wordcount: 2441
Packed, loaded and ready to go, they sat and waited.
Monte couldn’t stand it. She had been on the run, on the hunt for her brother for so long that she couldn’t stand the sitting still…the silence.
She sighed hard as she fidgeted in her seat.
Sam was in the other room watching the news and Rylee was sitting at the kitchen table cleaning her sniper rifle. It had been passed down from her father from the Vietnam War.
“What’s wrong?” Dean implored looking up from the newspaper.
She glared.
“I hate sitting here. Cant we go like…stakeout or something?”
He smirked.
“Shut up.”
Sam came walking in drawing Dean’s eye.
“Well…a bit of bad news…”
“Shit…what?”
“Due to the cold front that’s about to hit…there’s supposed to be a shit-load of fog tonight…thick.”
“Damnit…” Monte hissed.
“Typical,” Rylee snapped, putting her gun back together violently as she twirled a toothpick in her mouth.
“So now what?”
Monte’s lips were drawn tight and she stood up grabbing her .44 and unlocking the safety. “I dunno ‘bout you guys but I’m gone.” She said, practically running out the back door.
“Monte…wait…”
All of them followed her, just in time to see her jump on a horse that she had saddled earlier, unbeknownst to them.
“Shit.” Dean hissed as they ran towards the barn. It didn’t matter. They were no match for the horse and Monte was through the trees before they even made it to the pasture.
“God damnit! Has she always been like this?!” Dean asked Rylee in frustration and rage, as he pointed towards the now silent forest line.
She sighed and shifted her gun. “What? Impulsive, rash, reckless, restless? …Yea.”
“Damnit.” He grabbed the nearest horse and started fumbling with the halter.
“Just wait, damn, let me do it.” Rylee snatched the lead rope from him and tacked up the horse quicker than he would have ever been capable of doing.
Sam bit the inside of his lip as Dean all but paced.
“She'll be okay Dean.”
“Shut up.” He cut out as he mounted up and yanked on the reins spurring the horse towards the trees.
“We’ll be right behind you.” Rylee told him as he galloped off. She shared a look with Sam and proceeded to tack up two more horses.
Monte was twisting and turning her horse through the trees, never going any faster than a slow trot. Her senses where on high alert. She listened to everything and cursed the damn bugs that always droned on in the southern nights. Her eyes couldn’t see very well through the thick fog that was starting to descend on the mountain but she knew her horse had a somewhat better sense; and she watched him carefully. Growing up with horses had taught her that you didn’t just listen to your horse; you had to listen to your horse. Each ear swivel, each slight head turn or soft snort made her listen a little harder. The horse would probably sense something way before she ever did.
She stopped in a clearing to rest for a second when her horse’s ears swiveled behind him. She turned him sharp and stared into the misty blackness. She only held her breath for a second, because despite not knowing anything about the creatures she was hunting she could still tell the comforting hoof beats of a horse.
Sure enough, Dean came trampling through the underbrush, smacking sticks and spider webs from his path. More or less letting the horse lead, which was actually the smartest thing for him to do.
He stopped in the clearing fighting with the invisible spider web strings that apparently were crisscrossed across his face.
“Damnit…”
Monte couldn’t help but smirk.
“Do you always have to do that?!”
“What?”
“Run off?”
“Yea.” She shot back sarcastically. “The moons out Dean, there was no reason to be sitting around the house waiting for what I don’t know.”
“That’s not the point. You didn’t have to rush headlong into this. You could have waited for us to come with you.” He chided as she dismounted. He watched for a second as she unbuckled her reins and tied them to the saddle.
She studied what she was doing and ordered Dean to do the same.
He didn’t know why, but with a confused and furrowed brow he followed her example.
As soon as he had finished she whistled in two short bursts and both horses turned and trotted off through the trees back the way they came.
“Wait…what?”
“They’re going home. I don’t want them here when the fighting starts.”
“Wait…you send the horses home, because you don’t want them hurt, but yet you come out here…alone.”
She glared. Like hell he was going to lay a guilt trip on her.
“Yup.”
“Damnit Monte…”
“What Dean?! Tell me what the hell your problem is?!”
"This apparent death wish you seem to have! You're always putting yourself in danger and I can't protect you from yourself and then I'm the one that ends up having the heart attack!"
She stared.
“Monte…” He sighed. “You and Sam are all I’ve got…if something…if something happened…I’d never forgive myself.”
“I can take care of myself.” She whispered.
“I know you can. But that doesn’t mean something couldn’t happen. I of all people should know…I almost died not too long ago. And Sam, well, he’s had his fair share.”
She bit the inside of her lip and stared at the ground.
“I know. You and Sam are all I have.”
He sighed and moved over to her and hugged her, resting his chin on her head. He kissed her forehead while he held her face in his hands.
“Monte…I…” He whispered.
An eerie howl broke through the darkness.
Both of them turned. Wide eyes searching the blackness for any movement. Both drawing weapons.
A second howl joined, only to be followed by more in a dark, sinister, twisted chorus.
The sound of pounding feet started to echo around them and gain in volume. Monte had her .44 aimed into the darkness and Dean was right next to her with his Winchester rifle.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa!” Sam halted them as he and Rylee finally caught up with them breathless. “We came as fast as we could when we heard the howls.”
“Yea…” Dean sighed. “They’re out.”
As they all started through the maze of trees and blackness, as if somehow any of them could have seen anything, another howl broke through the cold. But this one was different.
“What the hell?”
“Shit…” Rylee hissed. “That’s Phoenix. Crap!”
She shared a frantic look with Monte.
“Sam, get off.” Monte barked. He was a bit stunned for a second by obliged. As soon as he did Rylee cut her horse hard and returned to the darkness on a quick ride home. Sam’s horse following, off her flank.
Dean looked at Monte.
She stood completely still. The .44 in one hand, her Springfield in the other. Her eyes were closed and her head was tilted to the sky. She breathed in deep.
Sam and Dean shot a nervous and somewhat confused look between each other. Dean held his rifle and Sam had the Colt resting by his side.
One more sigh and she lowered her head, opening her eyes and looked at them both.
“Get ready.”
*Metallica’s “Of Wolf & Man” playing in the background*
Dean had barely got out “Huh?” when they heard it. Rustling coming through the underbrush off through the distance.
Sam quick looked over at Monte to ask her how the hell she did that and all he saw was both guns aimed, her jaw tight and her gaze glazed over. He was going to have to ask her about that.
The sounds quickly came to a stop. Dean and Sam both aimed to where they had mysteriously vanished. Their breath forming small clouds as they breathed in the cold air of the mountain. The adrenaline starting to flow.
Monte squinted. Something wasn’t right. She turned in time to see a large black beast flying through the air, yellow eyes and teeth flashing. She aimed, and she shot, rolling her shoulder as it fell with a resounding thud between her and the boys.
“Don’t fucking watch me!” She shouted. “Watch the woods!”
As Sam and Dean turned back around they saw not one, but two, prowling towards them. Drool hanging from their four-inch canines.
They both took aim as they heard they heard Monte yell behind them to watch out.
Dean was turning to see her when he caught her meaning.
Another black shadow was advancing on Sam’s side. As Dean’s eyes went wide while his mind played flashes of the beast hitting Sam, he aimed.
At the same time the two in front of Sam pounced.
It all happened so fast it was hard to tell what bullet came from what gun. Sam pulled the trigger on his Colt four times. One in the head and heart of each in front of him as Dean tried to be steady as he barely shot over his brother’s shoulder before rushing headlong into him to throw him out of the way of the 300 pounds of furred muscle came crashing down.
As they both stood up, almost instinctively they slammed their backs together.
Dean happened to spin just in time to see two more come crashing full tilt towards Monte.
Everything happened slow motion in his eyes. One struck her as it jumped, knocking the gun from her hands, and continued towards the two of them. He half focused on the impending threat and half watched as the second descended upon Monte’s still downed form.
His scream echoed through the darkness.
“NO!!!”
Monte stared into the yellow eyes of the demon on top of her. This was getting ridiculous, first her brother eating a piece of her arm and now she had a massive black, ugly ass dog on top of her, drooling like fucking Beethoven none the less.
Asshole.
She pulled one of her daggers and rammed it under the dogs jaw, clean through, it pried the mouth open just enough to see the shimmering blade as it went between the beast’s teeth and pierced the roof of its mouth.
The strange half growl, half howl the animal tried to make as it’s eyes locked on hers with fury at the pain, was quickly cut short as she pulled the twin to the blade already covered in blood and plunged it to the hilt in the animals heart.
Dean didn’t see any of it. He had zoned out as he pulled the trigger repeatedly on the Smith & Wesson he had had in his waistband. He emptied the magazine into the animal that had leaped over Monte.
Next thing he knew it was lying at his feet as he panted, he blinked repeatedly as Sam slapped him and ran past him. He looked up to see Sam shoving 200+ pounds of dead weight off of Monte.
He snapped out of it and ran to her.
“Shit…are you okay?”
“Yea, yea…I’m fine.” She clipped as she tried to wipe some of the blood of her hands. “Fucker.” She grumbled.
He smirked, and looked over at the hilts protruding from the wolf.
“How the hell…”
“I dipped ‘em in silver.” She said, as she stood up and braced a foot on the thick black fur as she yanked the blades loose.
Sam smiled. “Smart.”
She tilted her head with a cocky grin. “I know.”
Dean walked beside Monte, with his hand around her back towards Rylee’s house in the darkness, guns still drawn in their free hands. Sam was right beside them reloading his Colt. There was no telling whether they had killed the whole pack or not.
Through the black silence thoughts were running on a rampage through Dean’s head.
He could have lost Monte so easily back there. He had zoned out. He should have shot and ran to her. He didn’t even know she was okay until everything was over. He was killing himself over it.
I can’t lose her. Not now.
He had always been the protective older brother to Sam. He couldn’t remember a day he hadn’t been. Even when Sam was in college. Sam never knew, or their Dad for that matter, of the secret random visits Dean would make to Stanford. Just to check up on his baby brother.
Now he had Monte thrown into the mix too. There was no putting the love of family before just plain love. But the opposite was true too. There was no way he could ever choose between the two. And he prayed to whatever god there was that he would never have to. But that still didn’t change the fact that he could have lost her all of twenty minutes ago.
His eyes snapped up from the wet leaf-covered ground when Monte released his hand. His other immediately tightened on his pistol in alarm.
Next thing he knew he was staring at the Impala, the Monte Carlo and Ry’s house.
Monte stood slightly in front of the boys. Everything was still.
Too still.
“What’s the prob…”
“Shut up!” She hissed.
Dean’s eyes scanned everything he could. The trees, the house, the field…nothing.
Monte let out a low whistle, imitating a bob white quail.
Sam scrunched his eyebrows.
The sound of a whippoorwill answered from the rooftop.
“What the fuck…” Dean whispered.
Monte turned and smiled. “Rylee’s on sniper duty.” She winked.
He just laughed and headed towards the house, where a comforting glow in the windows and smoke rising silently from the chimney and mingling with the ever thickening fog promised a warm fire to rest weary feet by.
Rylee climbed down the ladder on the side of her house and met them on the porch.
“What happened?”
“They surrounded us in that clearing. We took down a half-dozen of ‘em. What about here? Is Phoenix okay?”
“Yea, she’s fine…it was more of a warning bay.” She smiled. “One did show, the horses alerted me. Only took one shot to bring it down though. It’s over by the wood pile.”
Monte nodded.
“Think that’s it?”
Sam looked out over the lake. “Yea…I think it is.”
“How do you know?” Dean asked.
“I dunno.”
They all stood in silence.
Rylee broke it. “Well, I dunno ‘bout you guys but I could use some coffee. I got cocoa too.” She winked.
Monte smiled and threw her arm around Ry’s shoulders and started them towards the house.
None of them made it to bed till about dawn.
Previous: Chapter Five | Next: Chapter Seven
Highway to Hell Master Post