Bad Cree

Mackenzie’s screams wake Kassidy first. She tells her cousin that she saw the wheetigo get Sabrina in her dream. It pretended to be Tracey to gain access to Sabrina. Tracey’s body is still covered in mushrooms, but when she wakes up, they vanish. Mackenzie’s mother and the aunties come in, and Mackenzie is forced to tell them everything. They are upset that the girls did not consult them before attempting to kill the wheetigo on their own, but they try to come up with a plan to go forward. Mackenzie’s mother, upon learning that the wheetigo told Mackenzie that it was already in her home, burns the scrap of bloody clothing Mackenzie brought back from her dream. It was the wheetigo’s blood, not Sabrina’s. They decide not to burn the crow feather because they all now think that crows are helpers who also hate the wheetigo.

The girls learn that the wheetigo sightings did indeed start with the oil boom. It brought so much unhappiness to the area: broken promises, environmental destruction, and an uptick in missing and murdered Indigenous women. Wheetigos feed on greed, and the oil boom provided that. They realize that the wheetigo fed on Sabrina. Like most other victims of the wheetigo, it took her a few years after her attack to die. They resolve to find a solution. It is too late to get Sabrina back, but they must rid their family of the wheetigo.

Mackenzie crawls into bed with Kassidy and Tracey. The girls decide not to wait for their mothers before doing something about the wheetigo. They will go to the lake that night, together, because the wheetigo isolates its victims. They reason that they will be safe if they are part of a group. They are, however, nervous. They have never killed anything before and are unsure how to kill the wheetigo.

The next morning, Mackenzie helps her mother knead dough, and the two talk. Her mother apologizes for keeping her out of the loop during her family visits and explains that she would have told her everything she knew about the wheetigo when the time was right. She says that she too is a “bad Cree” because the Cree believe parents are supposed to just guide their children and let them make their own choices. She should have told Mackenzie what she knew so that Mackenzie could make up her mind about how to proceed.

Later, the girls tell their mothers the plan: They are going to go to the woods at night to kill the wheetigo. Their mothers express a desire to accompany them, but the girls are firm that this is something they must do on their own. The night before they go, Mackenzie has a nightmare in which Tracey is frozen, and Kassidy has a dream about the lake. She tells Mackenzie that under no circumstances is she to enter the water. The girls set out. The night is still. Mackenzie, who now knows the crows are her protectors, clutches the crow feather she brought back from her dream.

As the girls make their way toward the lake, the trees appear to be clutching at them, hindering their progress. One of the trees grabs Tracey, but the girls do not realize it until they arrive at the lake. Mackenzie and Kassidy decide to go back for her, but just then, they see the wheetigo, in the form of Sabrina, rising out of the water. Mackenzie feels drawn toward the form of Sabrina, and although she was told not to, she enters the water. The Sabrina-shaped wheetigo has tiny, sharp teeth. She berates Mackenzie for leaving her on the night that she and Tracey disappeared in the woods. Her mouth is bloody. Mackenzie feels terrible guilt and cries out an apology.

Just then a murder of crows flies up and distracts the wheetigo. Kassidy comes into the water after Mackenzie and helps her to shore. They hear a terrifying screech from the woods: Tracey is alone with the wheetigo. They did not follow their mothers’ advice. They allowed the wheetigo to separate them. They run into the woods to rescue Tracey and find her in a clearing with the wheetigo. It looks like Sabrina, but it is bloody, ragged, and covered in ice. Its bones and tendons show through its skin in places. Mackenzie tries to distract Tracey, but she is transfixed. The wheetigo is whispering. Mackenzie removes her aunt’s knife from her backpack and lunges forward, stabbing the wheetigo. The crows arrive in the clearing and fall onto the creature, tearing at it. It is finally vanquished. After they are sure the wheetigo is dead, the girls wash off in the lake and then head home.

The girls go home. Their mothers were waiting for them and are happy that they have arrived in one piece. They clean up and rest, and the next day, they fill everyone in on what happened at the lake. Mackenzie also calls Joli, who finally answers. Joli claims to have received no calls from Mackenzie, and the girls are sure that the wheetigo was keeping them apart. Mackenzie makes plans to return to Vancouver but knows that she will be back for a visit soon and continue to visit her family regularly.

She, Tracey, and Kassidy spend one final night together, walking together to the 7-11 for slushies and beef jerky. Mackenzie realizes that she should have been a bigger part of her family after Sabrina’s death and that she was bottling up her grief. She knows that there is “bad” inside her but also good. On their way back, the girls see a flash of something ominous and unexplained in the woods. They cannot quite figure out what it is, so they try their best to ignore it and make their way home.