memento vivere - supernatural & criminal minds

chapter 15

Chapter 15
Where Art Thou, Theseus?

The wendigo towered before them, a blot against what little remained of the sun.

Dean had Jude in a vice-like grip, his arm constricting around her waist as he held her to his back. Her heart thrummed against him and her fingers dug into his shoulders. Dean’s other arm stretched in front of Haley, an unlit Molotov cocktail clutched in his fist. 

The wendigo had found them just after they discovered Roy’s body. His mutilated corpse had tumbled from a tree and would have crushed Haley had Jude not pulled her out of the way. The growls of the creature then filtered through the brush and Jude had taken off at Dean’s first warning. Leaves crunched beneath her feet, muffling the sound of the group’s footsteps. She hadn’t realized there were less than there should have been. Sam and Ben were lost among the trees, but they were the lucky ones.

The snarl of the wendigo rose from its throat, wet and guttural. Its jaw unhinged to reveal rows of sharp, decaying teeth caked with dried blood. Saliva dripped from its mouth at the sight of three fresh victims. It swiped one long arm, with graying flesh and gnarled joints like tree roots. Dean took the brunt of it, a bundle of bony flesh knocking him down as the creature’s fist connected. A scream from Haley was cut short as she toppled into unconsciousness.

Jude and Dean fell as one. The bottle shattered against the ground and a splinter of glass scratched Jude’s cheek. Her forehead struck a root as she landed, cracking pain through her skull. Blood trickled down her forehead, hot and thick. Sparks dotted her vision and a wave of nausea rolled through her stomach, but she held her connection to the conscious world in a white-knuckled grip. She could not say the same for Dean, whose full weight had landed on her back. His head lolled against her shoulder and a faint mumble that resembled her name fell from his lips as he slipped away.

The breathing of the wendigo, like the scraping of a blade against stone, drew closer to where Jude lay. She held her eyes closed as its shadow stretched over her. Dean’s weight was rolled off of her, leaving her back exposed. The wendigo brushed one sharp claw across the exposed sliver of skin above her jeans and a shiver rippled through her. It seemed not to notice.

Two large, cold hands clasped her wrists and bound them with a thick length of rope. It was an effort to stay limp as she was dragged forward, her body slamming into rocks and trees. Leaves and twigs scraped her skin and stabbed her flesh. She dared to open her eyes once, only to ensure that Haley and Dean were still with her. It was almost worse to see that they were. Part of her had hoped she would be the only victim.

At some point, the feel of the earth turned cold. The thud of their limbs seemed to echo - they were in the wendigo’s lair. She was reminded of the ranger’s station and Sam’s mention of the abandoned mines in the area. 

Jude was again hoisted by her wrists. The ropes were looped around a hook, leaving her toes dangling just above the ground. Cool air raised goosebumps on her arms as the wendigo circled the chamber to hang its other two victims like carcasses in a meat locker. When the echo of its footsteps had faded to almost nothing, Jude cracked open one eye. 

Her jeans were sliced open in various spots and blood plastered the fabric to her skin. Her boots were muddy and a leaf stuck out of the laces of her left shoe. Small nicks and bruises now covered most of her body and she could feel them pricking her like needles. A new slew of wounds to hide from her team, if she ever made it out of this lair to see them.

It took a few minutes for the darkness to peel from her vision. The roof of their chamber hung low and was draped with roots and vines. It smelled heavily of must and turned soil. There was a lingering tinge of rotted flesh.