Insanity

Dean’s P.O.V

I groaned silently as I chased after Akuma, trying to hide my panting as we move. She moved fast through the trees somehow managing to avoid anything that made noise while I probably sounded like an elephant trampling everything down. The closer I watched her the more it seemed like she was the thing hunting the couple rather than whatever was in this orchard. I sped up a bit to keep her in my sights and frowned at the way she moved. It was kind of creepy how smoothly she ran and dodged around things and how the only sound was her clothing rubbing against itself and her hair swishing. I sighed out of relief as she slowed to a stop and I came up short behind her, looking around frantically. The only thing I could hear was my heavy breathing and the sound of the wind through the trees, though Akuma seemed calm and like she hadn’t even broken a sweat. I opened my mouth to ask a question only to be cut off by an ear splitting scream up ahead.

“Keep up this time.” Akuma snapped at me before taking off again, somehow moving faster than before. I muttered a few curses under my breath as well as a comment of exactly where she could put her head but followed after her, holding my shotgun close to my side as I moved after her. She wasn’t holding a weapon so I wasn’t sure exactly what her plan was if she was confronted by this thing, but it probably wasn’t a smart or safe plan.

I could barely hear anything that was going on, besides my own blood pumping absurdly loud in my ears. It wasn’t long before Akuma collided with the new couple, she grabbed the woman by the shoulders and shook her back into reality to try and stop her from screaming; the man directly behind her. “Get out of here!” I shouted, moving past them as Akuma pulled the woman up and shoved her away. I looked around and lifted the gun, aiming ahead of me at anything that seemed to move, backing up at a fast walk to try and get the hell out of here as soon as possible. I didn’t see anything yet but I wasn’t turning around until I was sure that we were all safe. Just as we passed the last line of trees, and I thought we were home free, the figure of the creepy ass scarecrow approached at an increasing pace. I flinched and shot it directly in the chest but it barely slowed the damn thing down. I swore hard and spun on my heels, running after Akuma and the couple, not sure if I would make it safe. “Move faster!” I yelled, looking over my shoulder and spinning quickly to unload another shell, this time in its ugly ass face. The things slowed a bit this time but not by much, but the tree line and the highway was close enough that I wasn’t too worried.

A few moments later I burst out on to the hard pavement of the highway behind everyone else and rested my hands on my knees while I panted, checking over my shoulder to make sure the mystery monster hadn’t followed us out here. The sight of the empty highway and tree line relaxed me, though I still wasn’t calm. I straightened up and turned to Akuma. “Get them out of here.” I muttered as my phone went off in my pocket. “I got this.” I continued, watching as she nodded before I moved towards my baby, pulling my phone out and flipping it open.

“Sam?”

~~~~~~~~~

Alice’s P.O.V.

“Hey and Dean? Don’t do anything stupid.” I was light on my feet as I approached Sam, watching closely as he held his cellphone up to his ear. I sat down in the seat next to him the moment I reached him and pulled my knees up to my chest. It had gotten a little chilly in the bus station since the sun had set and I could feel the cold already seeping through my sweatshirt. Sam glanced over to me and offered a smile, though the expression he wore showed worry. I chewed on my bottom lip as he hung up the phone before turning to me and letting out a sigh.

“Are they okay?” I asked in a whisper, my voice holding all of the worry I’d had since I’d tried to call my sister.

“Yeah, they are fine. They have a few leads on their hunt, Dean says that there’s this scarecrow that comes to life at night and takes both a male and a female victim and that Akuma thinks that some of the townspeople are in on it.” He explained and I relaxed a bit, though I frowned at the mention of a scarecrow taking people. That sounded dangerous, especially if it was taking men and women.

“This sounds like a pretty big case.” I ran my hand over my face, warming my chilled cheeks before I spoke again, wanting to get the thought out and talked about so I wasn’t dwelling on it alone. “You don’t think that this scarecrow thing will go after Dean and Akuma, do you? I mean they are what the monster is looking for.” I pushed, biting my lip and watching Sam. He was quiet for a moment or two and his brows knit together tightly as he thought, a hand lifting to his hair to push it back and away from his eyes.

“I’m starting to get a bad feeling about that hunt.” He answered after another moment, his eyes finally meeting mine. His face was pretty straight but his eyes were filled with worry as he spoke. I fidgeted with a strand of my hair and nodded in agreement, a pit forming in my stomach. There was no way to know if this thing was picky about only having humans or not, but I didn’t want to risk it.

“Me too, Sam maybe we should go help them. I mean, we could still go to California to find your dad after...” I muttered, throwing the part about his dad on as a second thought. I could honestly care less about his dad, especially now. He sounded like an asshole anyways and I still wasn’t fully sure why Sam was so determined to find him.

“No, Alice, I think you’re right. I don’t like the sound of this case. The previous couples are still missing, who knows what the scarecrow does to them.” Sam replied, turning to fully face me at this point, his hand pulling mine away from my face again. He dropped it in my lap and pulled back, holding my gaze as he spoke. All of the worry was gone from his eyes as I examined them.

“So what do you want to do?” I asked, smoothing my hand over my sweat pants to keep my fingers away from my hair.

“I think we should go back and help them, the last thing we need is our siblings kidnapped and locked away in a tiny room together. They could kill each other faster than the scarecrow would.” He joked with a small laugh. I stared at him for a second before breaking out in a small grin. It was true, especially if they were still getting on each other about every little thing. They both liked control a bit too much.

“Then let’s get some sleep now and look for a ride back in the morning.” I responded, stretching out my legs a bit and using my foot to drag my bag closer. I could use it as a pillow and a jacket as a blanket. It wouldn’t be the world’s best sleep but I needed what I could get if we were going to help them.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Akuma’s P.O.V
I stood and watched the couple drive away before looking back towards the impala, watching Dean sit in the driver’s seat as he closed his phone. I turned my gaze to the treeline for a minute and squinted in an attempt for my eyes to adjust to the dark after standing in the headlights for the last ten minutes. I gave up after about two minutes and ran a hand through my hair before walking to Baby, sliding into the passenger seat. “Do you have any idea what this thing is?” I asked, putting my seatbelt on and leaning back in the seat, letting the smell of leather and old cologne, food, and blood wash over me. It was a relaxing smell, though I was surprised I was only picking up on the smell of blood now, but it didn’t smell fresh so I didn’t worry.

“A creepy killer scarecrow.” Dean replied and I rolled my eyes in response, pushing my hand through my hair again and frowning as I pulled out a twig. I loved the length of my hair and would never cut it but weird things ended up in it if I didn’t tie it up on hunts. “But... no. I don’t have a clue. Have you found anything in the journal? You’ve had your nose in it all day.” He grumbled and I peered at him through the small amount of light in the car.

“No I haven’t. But maybe there’s someone in town who knows and won’t kick us out for poking around… though I think that I’ll go alone this time. I’m better a smooth talking people.” I sighed, my tone holding a slightly judging tone. I couldn’t help it, he completely butchered talking to the couple. If he hadn’t been so damned creepy then we probably could have gotten them out of town safe and avoided this entire mess of an encounter. I looked back at the older Winchester and smirked as he glared at me, showing that he had picked up on my tone. “What? You know I’m right.” I pushed, kind of hoping for a reaction. Even if it was small it would be entertaining. Alice’s dad, James, used to tell me that I should have been younger than Alice since I was so good at acting like the younger sibling.

Dean shot me another look and I smirked more before sticking my tongue out at him, turning my head to look out the window while I waited for his reply. I was in a pretty good mood from saving the couple so any fights that happened would probably because I was in the mood to irritate Dean, not to mention that it was so damn easy. “... Yeah. You are right.” Dean finally answered, though it sounded as if it pained him to admit that I was right. I smirked again and lifted my eyebrows, half turning my head to him and waiting for him to continue. “We should both get some sleep and then pick this up in the morning… we’ll probably only get a few hours but I’m sure you’re already used to that as well.”

“... yeah I am.” I answered, my tone dropping a few octaves as I spoke. I would honestly rather go have a few drinks in a bar and get laid at this point but I could deal with lying in the car or a bed or wherever we ended up sleeping for a few hours. I doubted I would sleep again tonight or for the next few nights after that encounter with my father. I wasn’t sure what he meant when he said it was like Alice was hiding him from me but I doubted it. He probably wanted me to let my guard down and there was no way in hell that I was doing that. “Are we just going to sleep in here then? Or do you think we’ll be able to get a couple of hotel rooms? I’m fine with either or.”

“It’ll probably be easiest to sleep in Baby… I have a couple of blankets in the back.” He ran a hand over the bottom of his face and I shifted, remembering that I still had his jacket on. I nodded in response as he pulled over to a small dirt road and parked, cutting the engine. “You okay in the front seat?” He asked and I nodded again in response, shrugging his jacket off and handing it to him. I didn’t take him long to get the blankets and he tossed one up to me before settling down in the back seat. I sighed softly and pulled the blanket around me, not bothering to lay down. Instead I rested my head against the cool glass of the window and took deep, steady breaths, rolling my eyes slightly when Dean’s snoring filled the car.

*******************

I blinked hard and rubbed my eyes as I felt the car rumble to life underneath me and stretched with a small groan, feeling a small series of cracks run up my spine. “Morning.” I muttered, sighing at how sticky my mouth was. I wasn’t sure when I fell asleep but I might as well have been up all night anyways, though I didn’t dream about anything. Everything had been black for the night. I rubbed my eyes again and narrowed my eyes against the sun as they adjusted. “Where are we going?”

“Library to try to find something out about this monster… or someone who can help.” Dean said, glancing over at me as I shivered a bit and yawned, pulling the blanket tighter around myself. “Hopefully it won’t take long.”

“Hopefully.” I said, stretching out a bit as the town came into sight, it only took about a minute to get to the library and soon we were inside. “These computers are so old.” I grumbled, moving in through the library and closer to the computers. They didn’t look too old compared to the newer computers but I was used to a laptop or something that wasn’t covered in dust. I sighed and sat down at one of them and watched as Dean pulled up one of the chairs next to me before I pulled up the search engine and typed in a search for legends around the town. “There’s not a lot here... but there is some college professor here that might be able to help us.”

“We should check him out. Hopefully he doesn’t call the sheriff on us.” Dean chuckled as he ran a hand through his hair and leaned back a bit, catching his lip between his teeth. I stared for a moment before I brought my eyes back to his, lifting my eyebrows at how lost in thought he seemed.

“Yeah we should. You can drop me off and then go get us some food. I’m starving.” I groaned out the order as I stood up and rolled my shoulders. My stomach growled as if to back up my words before I turned and led the way out of the library.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sam’s P.O.V.

“Alice, wake up.” I lightly touched her shoulder, shaking it slightly when she didn’t respond. I shook it again after another moment and she sucked in a slow and deep breath before groaning long and low, her eyes staying closed.

“Mm... fuck off just five more minutes.” She mumbled sleepily as she brushed my hand away. She was still grumbling inaudibly, her eyes shutting again as she smiled to herself… maybe she was dreaming. I rolled my eyes and held her shoulder a little tighter, shaking her again, this time it was a bit harder but still gentle.

“You gotta get up. We have to find a ride outta here.” I stood up and stretched, the small seats compressed my body in ways that made almost all of my bones crack once I stretched out my whole form. I glanced over to Alice and chuckled a bit when I noticed that she had tucked her face into her arms to keep herself from waking up. I yawned and reached for the bag that I had stuffed under my seat; fumbling with bag to pull out some more cash or something to try to bribe people with so that we could get a move on. Alice grumbled some more as a result of waking up, she opened her eyes slowly and looked at me with a giant frown. Her hair was a great mess of curls with the odd straightened path from where her head had been resting. If I had to describe the way she looked it would be mostly likely a little, fluffy and grumpy ginger kitten.

“Right… do you think we could get a trucker to get us there or at least close to?” Alice spoke, more awake now yet she was still rubbing her eyes. I watched as she tried to smooth her hair down and keep it under somewhat control, but she gave up and pulled it all back into a really messy bun after about three seconds. I chuckled at her attempt, grinning as she rolled her eyes at me. She stood up slowly and stretched, her whole body cracking just as mine had. These chairs are really uncomfortable to sit in, not to mention to sleep in. I was looking forward to hot food and a nice hotel bed.

“Yeah hopefully... if not we’ll have to figure something else out. Walking will take too long. If worst comes to worst we could just take a car.” I ran a hand through my hair, I desperately needed to take a shower. I felt a small pain of worry start to build in the pit of my stomach when I checked my phone and there was no messages from Dean. I turned to Alice about to ask her if she got any messages from Akuma when I saw her shove her makeshift blanket back into the duffle from under her seat and sigh.

“Well I’ll grab food and then we should start looking for a ride.” She suggested and I nodded in agreement as she studied my face. “You get anything from Dean?” She gestured to my phone and I shook my head before raising my eyebrows at her in a silent question. “Nothing.” Alice grumbled, worrying her bottom lip before she turned and wandered off.

I let out a small sigh as Alice walked away before I turned my attention back to my phone, dialing Dean’s number and pressing the phone to my ear. The phone only rang twice before a click and the crunch of something that sounded like a burger wrapper signalled that it had been answered.

“Hello?” Dean asked and I rolled my eyes. I could hear him chewing on food before he stifled a yawn.

“Hey.” I answered, hearing the worry in my voice as I spoke. I felt more relaxed now that I knew Dean was alive and shoving his face full of food as usual but I wouldn’t feel fully alright until I was sure they were safe. I hadn’t slept well and had used my laptop to look up some things last night and if my theory was right then they could be in more danger than I originally thought, especially if the townspeople were all in on it.

“What’s up?” My brother mumbled around a mouth full of food. I rolled my eyes again and rolled my shoulders before cracking my neck and responding. A sudden pain grew in my stomach followed by a loud growl. God, I’m starving. I would be thankful for a burger or something other than chips and granola bars right now.

“Nothing… Just wanted to check in and make sure that everything was alright.” I mumbled, trying to keep the worry out of my voice as I spoke. I was sure that my brother wouldn’t appreciate it if I thought that he couldn’t take care of himself, whether it was true or not.

“Yeah it’s all fine... we saved the couple that was supposed to be the next two victims last night… And we found a mythology guy that Akuma just went to go talk to.” Dean’s voice was clearer and easier to understand this time and I assumed that he had swallowed whatever he was eating.

“That’s good… I actually looked into that last night and have an idea about what’s going on.” I sat down again and stretched my legs out, sighing at how my back immediately lit up in pain. Sitting here made me want to take back any complaints I had about sitting in a classroom chair for a few hours or even the Impala for hours on end. At least the seats in Baby were cushioned.

“What kind of thoughts?” I could hear the low hum of music in the background, Dean was probably waiting for Akuma to get back. My eyes shot around the room for a moment hoping to see Alice, but she wasn’t there, I was guess that she was in the bathroom.

“I looked into it and I think it is a pagan god that belongs to the Vanir group… they are gods associated with fertility, wisdom, nature, magic, and the ability to see the future. They take sacrifices in exchange for things like healthy crops or fertility for women… That’s why the town would be having such good crops while others are failing… they are all definitely in on it so be careful.”

“So it could be a pagan god? Alright well, I’ll text Akuma and let her know so she can ask the guy some stuff.” There was a pause on his end followed by the sound of beeping and fumbling as Dean answered the text before putting the phone back up to his ear. “Thanks Sam.” I smiled briefly, and then frowned when there was another long pause. “You know I actually kind of wanted to talk about something else.”

“Yeah? About what?” I shifted in my seat already assuming what he wanted to talk about. I ran my hand over my face and sighed, waiting for him to respond.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Akuma’s P.O.V
“Thank you, you’ve helped inspire my paper a lot. Pagan gods have never been my strong suit... I’m prefer the Greek ones.” I offered an easy and somewhat flirty smile to the professor as I stepped out of his apartment, holding my hand out for him to shake while I held the book he gave me in my other hand. The guy was very nice and very helpful and didn’t seem to be in on anything going on in town. He had mentioned that he just moved here not too long ago though and that he was still teaching out of town, so that was probably why. Either way I was grateful that this had been so easy and hadn’t ended up with the sheriff escorting me and Dean out of town again.

“No problem Ms. Longley… You have my card. Please call if you have any other questions.” The man answered, taking my hand and giving it a firm shake as he smiled before releasing it and closing the door. I shoved my hands into my pockets and made my way out of the building, frowning when I got outside and saw the Impala running but empty.

I moved closer at a slow pace, my body tense as I looked around the parking lot, narrowing when I noticed that it was empty except for Baby and the cars belonging to the tenants of the building. My gaze dropped to the ground after another scan of the parking lot and I swore softly when I noticed Dean’s phone laying on the ground with a small amount of blood on and around it. Looking inside the car I saw a bag that presumably held food with a half-eaten burger beside it and I swore loudly, not hesitating before I slammed the book in my hands onto the ground. After a few seconds of deep breaths I bent down, picking up both the phone and the book before I shoved the food off of the driver’s seat and into the ground in front of the passenger's seat. Dean had clearly been taken and I was ready to kill someone if Sam didn’t get here and kill me first.

At the thought of Sam I realized that I should probably call the younger Winchester and let him know. I let out a groan and rolled my shoulders before sliding into the driver’s seat, being careful to keep my anger under control as I picked up Dean’s phone and called Sam, noticing that Dean had ended a call with his brother about five minutes ago. The phone only rang twice before it was answered.

“Dean?” Sam questioned, his tone filled with confusion as he answered the call. I could hear someone trailing off in the background but I didn’t pay much attention to trying to listen, there were more important things at hand.

“Wrong.” I replied, my voice surprisingly smooth and calmed when compared to the rolling waves of frustration and stress in my voice. “Dean’s gone. I’m pretty sure that the townspeople took him. Thought I’d let you know, I’m about to go kick some ass and find out where they’re keeping him so I can get to him before they try to feed him and some other poor soul to a creepy ass, skin wearing scarecrow.” I ranted, slowly hearing the anger pick up in my voice with every word until it was nearly a growl. I bit down on my lip and squeezed my eyes shut, resting my forehead against the steering wheel and taking in a long and deep breath.

“.... Alice and I are trying to find a way out of this bus station so we can get to you two. Don’t do anything stupid Akuma. Help my brother.” Sam sighed, worry clear in his tone. My stomach rolled again and I said nothing, just closed the phone off and straightened up, pulling the door closed and pushing the car into drive, taking off towards the gas station. I wasn’t sure where they would have Dean but I knew the old crazy couple at the gas station would know. They were hiding something but they wouldn’t be hiding it for long when I got my hands on them. Whether I had to do it by physical force or somehow getting them to think hard enough about it that I could read it from their minds, I was going to get some fucking answers about this town. It took less than a minute to speed into the parking lot and come to a full stop. I got out and closed Baby’s door gently behind me, saving my anger for the shop and its owners.

“Where the fuck is he?!” I demanded the moment I was inside, the store’s door slamming hard behind me, almost shattering the glass. A quick glance over my shoulder showed a spider web crack crawling out from the middle. The sight gave me some pleasure as I turned around again to face the old couple, anger rising again when I realized that only the old man was here, his face a mask of shock that quickly turned to anger before being smoothed over by condescension. I was going to punch this fucker right in the mouth and when I did he wouldn’t be waking up for a month.

“Who are you talking about dear?” He purred, his tone holding anger but also something else I was unsure of. However I didn’t think twice before I stormed across the store to him, only the counter standing between us. I wasn’t playing games with these people anymore. I caught a flash of something that gave a feeling of dark and damp, but in this town that could be anywhere. The forest was pretty dark and damp around this time too.

“You fucking know who. Where the hell did you guys hide him? Is he already out in the forest ready to be fed to your lazy ass pagan god that’s too indolent to even gets its own fucking food? This man is NOT going to be a fucking sacrifice for anything, let alone one that god damned LAZY”

“Pagan god? Are you high or something?” Came a panicked voice to my left and I spun, noticing the woman named Emily standing there and looking at me with a deep frown on her face. I stared at her in shock in response, feeling the emotion clear on my face. I wasn’t sure why or how she didn’t know but she did now. I didn’t have time to respond before the older woman walked into the room, her face dark.

“Emily honey why don’t you go back into the other room? We can talk about this later.” The older lady soothed as I spun to face her, taking a few steps forward. I was so concentrated on getting to the old couple that I didn’t notice that anyone was behind me until something heavy crashed down on my skull.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Dean’s P.O.V.

I wasn’t sure what time it was or exactly how long I had been in this cold, damp cellar but I was grateful when the doors were pulled open and the sheriff walked down the stairs. My relief was cut short when I noticed that it was nearly dark and I realized that I was probably one of the next victims. I hoped to god that Akuma was hiding somewhere, ready to save my ass as well as the ass of the poor girl they sent out to be sacrificed with me. That hope was cut short as well when the sheriff pulled me up and out of the cellar and I noticed her unconscious and propped up in the back seat of the sheriff’s car. I swore hard and looked around, noticing a larger group of people. Emily was standing not too far away, looking extremely uncomfortable as I was shoved into the police car and she was led to another car.

The drive was short and soon I was being pulled out of the car by the old man from the gas station while the Sheriff lifted Akuma from the other side, tossing her over his shoulder. I groaned softly as she shifted, her head lifting or a moment before dropping down. I wasn’t sure if she was awake or it was just the way he was moving but we were both soon tied up to a large tree too close to the scarecrow for my liking, the sun now nearly gone. “I hope your apple pie was friggin’ worth it!”

“Dean...” Akuma groaned and I turned, watching as her head lifted a bit while the group of people retreated. “Shut up. We need to get out of here.” She continued, though her tone changed drastically. It sounded dark and held a low growl, something that was almost like a predator. I frowned at her and waited for her to lift her head more but she kept it with her face still out of sight and her hair covering what would have been visible.

“Well let me know if you have any ideas of how to get through these god damned ropes. Unless you have some sort of super strength then I think we’re fucked.” I snapped, not having patience for her at this moment. It was obvious that we needed to get out but they tied us up good with rope that was thick and digging into my skin. Akuma laughed and I rolled my eyes at her as she lifted her head completely, her eyes bright and almost glowing as the sun completely disappeared.

“Well I guess we’re going to die then.” She growled, her mouth forming a straight line. She looked like she was straining and her pupils had dilated, leaving only a slight ring of colour before they constricted back to normal again. She turned away from me again and stared in the direction of the scarecrow, pulling her arms against the rope, clearly trying to get out. “Don’t you carry a knife or something? You should. The jackass took mine when he knocked me out.” She continued, her voice sounding smoother this time, though she still sounded off. As if sitting tied to a tree in a creepy forest waiting to be eaten by some sort of god wasn’t creepy enough, Akuma was acting weird as well.

“No. I didn’t think to grab a weapon while I was knocked out and kidnapped.” I snapped back, tugging harder at the ropes this time. I turned my head sharply at the sound of approaching footsteps. My first thought was that it would be the scarecrow, but after I listened more closely, I noticed that there were two sets of footsteps… not to mention that the scarecrow didn’t really make a sound when it had been chasing the couple we saved.

Sam and I managed to grab a car and get on the road as soon as Sam had gotten off the phone. Sam wasn’t really sure how to hotwire it so I had to do it instead, though he watched and caught on. I claimed driving rights because I knew I’d be faster. My foot was heavy on the pedal as we sped towards the town, my eyes never leaving the road as I wove in and out of traffic, completely ignoring any and all laws.

“Akuma said something about an orchard, I think we should start there. It’s our best hope right now.” Sam spoke quickly, and I turned my gaze towards him. I could tell that he was nervous about his brother’s safety, just as I was about Akuma’s. I was truthfully worried for both of them, mostly for Dean’s physical safety. I knew Akuma could physically take care of herself... and probably both of them but there were still things to worry about.

“I agree, I’m worried about Akuma. What if she...hulks out...you know?” I cracked the knuckles of my left hand against my leg before returning the hand to the wheel, my eyes turning back to the road. She usually had control over herself, especially when the stakes of someone finding out were high, but this was a dangerous mission and if something happened to one or both of them then she might end up losing it to protect whoever was in danger. Sam said she had sounded off on the phone… I hadn’t talked to her myself but if her temper got any worse it could get the best of her and end badly.

“I’m sure she can handle herself.” Sam replied and I shook my head a bit. He wasn’t thinking big enough or about how dangerous it could be for Dean at the time she lost it, IF she lost it, or for her after because her losing it would lead to Dean finding out what she was.

“Maybe…” I glanced to the horizon as the sun started to go down. There was a pit in my stomach that I couldn’t quite shake as I moved my foot to the break, slowing down as we pulled up to this old, and what looked to be abandoned, orchard on the outskirts of town. There were no vehicles parked anywhere and I could only assume that Akuma would have taken the Impala and driven somewhere; that is unless something happened to her as well. My heart started to beat harder against my ribcage, pounding hard as I thought of everything that could have taken place.

“Here.” Sam muttered and I parked the car, taking the handed flashlight that Sam held out to me. The sun had just gone down but the more light that we could have the better. We simultaneously opened the doors to the car and glanced around, taking in the very eerie scene. My feet hit the pavement hard once a shrill scream echoed through the trees. Recognizing the pitch, I raced off ahead of Sam and into the trees. I could hear Sam calling out after me, but I was too concerned as to what had made Akuma scream like that, and yes, I knew it was her. I had only heard that scream once before and I would always know it. The light from my flashlight danced around frantically as I zig-zagged around the trees, not wanting things to get worse. The last time I heard that scream was in my nightmare from not too long ago.

“Akuma?” I shouted into the darkness, hearing how panic filled my voice was in between the pants as I ran. The air was already dropping to freezing temperatures and stung my throat with every intake of breath but I wasn’t going to stop until I reached her.

“Alice? Alice, is that you?” Came Akuma’s loud reply, though it wasn’t anything like I would have expected after that scream. Her voice was low and slightly garbled, like she had something in her mouth, but the next moment I skidded to a stop, hearing both Akuma and Dean bickering at each other. I almost broke into laughter with happiness when I pointed the light at them, relief flooding through my chest when I noticed that neither one was injured other than some red marks from the ropes. Sam came to a stop behind me seconds later, panting even harder than I was.

“Oh man, is it good to see you.” Dean chuckled at Sam, a grin spreading across his face. His body was held up by the ropes but you could see it relax at the sight of us. Akuma on the other hand had offered a quick smile before dropping her head, her body still tense under the rope. “Quick, that scarecrow is going to come to life at any moment.”

“What scarecrow?” I turned to Sam, a frown coming over my face as I spoke. “We didn’t see any scar…” We heard a crinkle of leaves and twigs behind us and I darted forward and cut the ropes off Akuma as Sam had done to Dean. I turned sharply to search the trees for this scarecrow, seeing shadows dancing all over the place from the flashlights as well as the dull glow from the moon. I thought I saw something not too far away, but I couldn’t be too sure with all of the moving shadows.

“Come on!” Akuma shouted and took off, leaving us all to run behind her, Dean on the other hand was practically sprinting, leaving me to think that he was more afraid of this whole situation than anyone else; it was always terrifying when the hunter becomes the hunted. Akuma stopped suddenly and changed direction, moving fast. I could tell that she was up to something and I knew that she could sense that something was wrong. I noticed that Dean had done a double-take after Akuma had stopped and I turned to face her. She turned quickly and glanced at me, her eyes completely black. They shone in the dark but still managed to absorb some light, though I only saw it for a second before she turned away again. I shuddered hard, just glad she was in control, and flicked my head to watch as Dean’s expression morphed from the dark fear that I had seen earlier to a strange confusion. Sam grabbed him by the shoulder and pulled him out of the way so that we were all following her. I could still hear the twigs break behind us and my heartbeat slowly starting to pound in my ears now. I could barely keep my breathing under control as the adrenaline pumped through my small body, giving me the ability to keep up with everyone else and their long legs. My eyes caught something running beside us and I gasped as I accidently ran square into Akuma; she had stopped hard in her tracks and I knocked us both over with a loud thud. I glanced up to see three people standing in front of us, two of them men that had guns and a woman who stood with her arms folded over her chest.

“I don’t think so.” The man in the uniform spoke in a deep, greasy voice as I stood up, though Akuma stayed on the ground, though she pushed up a bit. Her shoulders were heaving as she breathed hard before standing, though she kept her gaze turned towards the ground.

“You don’t understand, we all need to leave. Now!” Sam called out, his voice panicked. I glanced over my shoulder and saw that the boys stood less than a foot behind us. Sam was flicking his gaze between the strangers, though Dean’s gaze was burning into the back of Akuma’s head, his expression still confused.

“Well, now he have two sets of boys and girls. I’m sure it will be happy now.” The woman laughed before there were a set of hands that appeared from behind her and clawed at her face, snapping her neck. The two men screamed and parted ways and Dean held out his hands as if to protect us but Akuma had taken the gun that Sam had in his back pocket and started to fire at the monster. The man in the uniform, I could now see that he was the sheriff, was being dragged off into the orchard, followed by the screams of the other older man. My eyes fell to the woman, blood smeared her face where the scarecrow had ripped apart her skin. I shut my eyes for a second and Akuma tugged on my arm hard trying to get me to follow. I let Akuma guide me through the trees for a moment before I opened them, noticing that the break in the trees was now in sight. I could see the stolen car on the other side of the road and I sped up, not daring to look back now; I wasn’t about to tempt fate. We reached the car and stopped, all of us panting hard.... well except for Akuma. Damn I wish I was her right now. I felt Akuma wrap her arms around me tightly and I guessed she was as glad to see me as I was to see her. My eyes fell on Sam and Dean, watching as they embraced each other in a hug as well.

“Shit that was too close.” Sam gasped trying to catch his breath. I nodded in agreement with him and Dean and Akuma laughed nervously. I let out a slow breath and slowly peeled myself away from my sister before I opened the door to the car, which was the signal for everyone to get in so that we could leave.
~~~~~~~~~~~~

Akuma’s P.O.V

I left from the motel early the next morning, heading to the gas station on foot. If what the professor had told me was right we had to salt burn the object that the scarecrow was attached too. I was sure that it was the tree the townspeople had tied Dean and I to, but I wanted to see if Emily knew for sure and if she wanted to help. The thing had killed the only family she had, the family that had raised her after her parents had died. There was no other way that she could get revenge and I was determined to help her. I wasn’t sure where I expected her to be, but I was shocked when I walked into the store and saw her behind the counter. She looked as if she had gotten just as much as I did, which was none.

“Good morning.” I said softly as I moved further into the store, watching her slowly turn her gaze towards me. I felt my lips form a thin line as I met her gaze. She looked dead and like she didn’t know what to do and my heart went out to her.

“Morning…” She muttered, her voice low and flat as she spoke. “Can I help you?”

“I’m pretty sure that I know how to kill this god. I wanted to know if you want to do the honours. It’s the best way to get revenge as well as the safest….” I offered, my tone soothing as I moved around the store, grabbing a large canister of lighter fluid and a large bottle of salt. I turned to look at her again, meeting her confused and mildly conflicted look. I lifted my eyebrows at her and waited patiently for a few moments before she nodded. “Come on then.” She moved around the counter carefully and we both walked out of the store, heading for my car. I had retrieved him last night on my own and taken my time to calm down, even though Alice fought tooth and nail to come with me.

The drive there was silent and fast, the only sound coming from the purring of Sirius’s engine and the crunch of dirt once I turned onto the side road. The walk from the car was less than a minute but we both stood staring up at the tree for a long time.

“You up to this?” I asked, turning to face Emily after a moment. She only nodded in response and soon the tree was in flames, heat radiating from it in all directions.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Meg’s P.O.V
I leaned back in the seat of the big rig that had picked me up and looked out the window, smiling as the traffic became sparser. I had good news and he would be pleased with me. I only waited a few more minutes before turning to the old guy driving the semi. “Pull over.” I demanded, smirking at the shocked look he gave me, though he did as I said. “I need to make a call.”

“I have a cell you can use.” He smiled as he turned to face me, his seat belt was off now. With one swift movement I pulled a bowl and knife from my bag, slitting the man’s throat and smiling as the blood easily filled the bowl.

“It’s not that kind of call.” I dipped my finger in the warm liquid and start to stir the blood with a sick smile plastered on my face... “Tire quiero patem me a di.” The blood swirled around inside the bowl and I grinned as the ‘call’ was connected. “It makes no sense. I could’ve stopped Sam. Hell I could’ve taken both him and that red headed bitch. Why let them go?” I paused, listening as the response bubbled through the blood. “Yes.” I frowned, stopping again to listen. “Yes, Father.”