Blackwater Ridge

                                    

                                          


***

                          
They hit the road about a week after Jessica's death. Copeland tried to convince Sam that he should go to her memorial service but he refused saying something about "needing to get to work". So they headed to Blackwater Ridge, the coordinates John had left for his oldest son and his best friend. Only stopping for gas and when Copeland was "dying of hunger"
                          
They were pretty close to their destination, Sam was sleeping and Copeland was reading, when Sam jerked awake. The girl immediately closed her book and looked at Sam.
                          
"You okay?" Dean asks his brother as he rubs his eyes from sleep. He looks at Dean and then looks away. 
                          
"Yeah, I'm fine." Sam replies, lying.
                          
"Another nightmare?" Copeland asks him softly but instead of answering Sam just clears his throat, giving Copeland her answer.
                          
"You wanna drive for a while?" Dean asks Sam, making the younger boy laugh.
                          
"Dean, your whole life you never once asked me that." Sam says, still laughing.
                          
"Just thought you might want to. Never mind."
                          
"Can I drive?" Copeland asks, hopefully.
                          
"Hell, no." Dean grins at her and she starts to pout.
                          
"Look I know you two are worried about me. I get it, and thank you, but I'm perfectly okay." He says not convincing either of them.

                          
"Mm-hm." Dean and Copeland mutter together.
                          
"Alright, where are we?" Sam asks grabbing the map.

                          
"We are just outside of Grand Junction." Dean tells him and Copeland goes back to her book.
                          
"You know what? Maybe we shouldn't have left Stanford so soon." Sam starts.
                          
"Sam, we dug around there for a week. We came up with nothing. If you wanna find the thing that killed Jessica—" Dean tells him but Sam cuts him off.
                          
"We gotta find Dad first."
                          
"Dad disappearing and this thing showing up again after twenty years, it's no coincidence. Dad will have answers. He'll know what to do." Dean finishes.
                          
"It's weird, man. These coordinates he left you two." Copeland starts listening to what Sam is telling Dean. "This Blackwater Ridge. There's nothing there. It's just woods. Why is he sending us to the middle of nowhere?"
                          
Copeland starts wondering what she's gotten herself into as they pass a sign saying they have reached their location.
                          
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Dean pulls up to the Ranger station and the three walk up to a 3D map of the forest.
                          
"So Blackwater Ridge is pretty remote. It's cut off by these canyons here, rough terrain, dense forest, abandoned silver and gold mines all over the place." Sam tells them.
                          
"Dude, check out the size of this freakin' bear." Dean tell them looking at a photo of a man standing behind a huge bear.
                          
"And a dozen or more grizzlies in the area. It's no nature hike, that's for sure." Sam continues as a forest ranger walks up behind them startling the three.
                          
"You guys aren't planning on going out near Blackwater Ridge by any chance?"
                          
"Oh, no, sir, we're environmental study majors from UC Boulder, just working on a paper." Sam tell the man and Copeland smiles.