Supernatural: Scarecrow

A/N: Hello to all of my fans. Just so you know, I had planned to upload this chapter yesterday, but the Christmas holiday got in the way and I spent the whole day with relatives, but I'm here now and it's onto another thrilling adventure with the Winchesters.

Read, review, and enjoy!

Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Supernatural. I just own any and all characters that I just happen create.

CHAPTER ONE: ANOTHER ARGUMENT

Burkitsville, Indiana

One year Ago…

A married couple, Holly and Vince Parker were leaving a café, which was next to a gas station; with them were an older couple, Harley and Stacy Jorgeson, and their teenage niece, Emily.

"And before you leave, one of our apple pies," Stacy said as she handed Holly a white cardboard box. "On the house," she added, smiling.

"Oh, my God, thank you so much!" Holly gasped, delighted by the wonderful treatment both she and her husband had been receiving all day, which had included a free meal while their car had been fixed.

"You're welcome," Stacy said pleasantly.

"Hey, we should get lost more often," Holly told Vince. "I mean, everyone in this town is so nice."

Vince chuckled, agreeing. "Yeah, what's the catch?" he teased and Stacy just laughed.

Harley filled the couple's car with gas before putting the hose away. "You're all set," he announced.

"Thanks," Vince said, gratefully and they shook hands. Just then, Emily noticed an intricate tattoo on Vince's arm.

"That's a cool tattoo," she commented, impressed.

Vince smiled, liking it too. "Thanks."

"So, let's get you back to the interstate," Harley suggested.

Vince nodded. "Yeah, please."

"Take Laskey straight out of town," Harley told them, pointing in the direction that they needed to go.

"And then you're gonna turn right on Orchard Road," Stacy added.

Vince nodded, memorizing the instructions. "Ok. Thank you," he said again as they got into the car.

Harley, Stacy, and Emily all waved goodbye and the couple drove away.

It wasn't long before the couple was driving alongside an apple orchard, when their car suddenly broke down.

"What happened?" Holly asked, startled.

"I don't know. Car just died," Vince answered, trying the engine, but it wouldn't start; sighing, he took his cell phone out of his pocket, and checked for a signal, finding nothing. "Cell phone, too," he added, frustrated.

Holly couldn't believe the sudden bad luck they were having. "How is that possible?" she wondered, and they got out of the car, looking around at the orchard nearby, and in the distance was a building with lights on.

"Come on, looks like a house over there," Vince suggested, pulling on a jacket since it was a bit chilly, and he started walking toward the house.

Holly shook her head firmly, not liking the dark look of the orchard. "No, I'm not going down there."

Vince sighed and faced it. "Holly, we need help, we can't just wait here," he pointed out, which was true since they were out in the middle of nowhere.

"Ok," Holly agreed, but was very reluctant as she followed her husband into the trees.

A few minutes, they were now about halfway through the orchard; noticing a tall pole just ahead, Holly and Vince stopped by a scarecrow that was raised on a wooden post; they exchanged a look and walked closer four a better look. The scarecrow was very human-like, wearing old clothes, and had a old hat planted on its head.

"Check it out," Vince remarked, smirking. "If I only had a brain…"

"We wouldn't be lost," Holly cut in, and nervously eyed the scarecrow since something about it, was giving her the creeps.

"Thanks," Vince said, slightly hurt, and then glanced up at the scarecrow again. "That has got to be the freakiest damn scarecrow I've ever seen," he added, no longer amused by it.

"It scares me," Holly complained and they walked away; she glanced back, just in time to see the scarecrow's head move on its' own, and she gasped, frightened, clutching her husband's arm, startling him. "Please, let's just hurry, okay?"

Agreeing, Vince led them away from the scarecrow and toward the building in the distance. A few seconds later, they heard a rustling in the trees and turned around. But there was no one there.

"Did you hear that?" Vince asked quietly, and Holly nodded. "Hello? Who's there?" he called out, slightly nervous.

There was no answer except for a creepy moan, and they started running through the orchard. A minute later, Holly turned to Vince, and to her horror, he was gone.

"Vince? Vince?" Holly called out as she stopped running for a few seconds when she heard the cracking of branches directly behind her.

Frightened and hyperventilating, she started running in the opposite direction to try and find her husband while escaping whatever it was that was chasing her; glancing behind her, she ended up tripping over something, and fell on to the ground. She turned her head and saw Vince's mutilated body on the ground, the skin on his face was completely gone; she screamed and saw something towering over her.

In the distance, the scarecrow was missing, and the post was now empty, and there was the sound of a blade slashing through the air, and Holly's screams were quickly cut off forever.

Dean, Liz, and Sam were sleeping in their respective beds, exhausted after everything that'd happen earlier at the asylum; between the beds was a nightstand, and on it was Dean's phone, which started ringing.

The sound woke Sam up and he groggily glanced at it, wondering who could be possibly calling at six in the morning. "Dean," he mumbled, but he didn't wake up; sighing, he picked the phone up and answered it. "Hello?"

Somewhere in California, John Winchester was using a payphone. "Sam, is that you?" he asked, having expected Dean to answer, but was also glad to hear his youngest son's voice once again.

Sam sat up in his bed, his eyes wide with shock. "Dad?" he whispered, trying not to wake up either Dean or Liz. "Are you hurt?"

`"I'm fine."`

"We've been looking for you everywhere," Sam told him, relieved to hear that. "We didn't know where you were, if you were okay."

`"Sammy, I'm all right,"` John assured him. `"What about you, Liz, and Dean?"`

"We're fine," Sam answered as both Dean and Liz started wake up. "Dad, where are you?" he asked, as they both sat up in the bed, wondering who he was talking to.

`"Sorry, kiddo, I can't tell you that,"` John said apologetically.

"What? Why not?" Sam asked, surprised and hurt.

"Is that Dad?" Dean asked, now fully awake, and even Liz was fully alert now, but Sam ignored them.

`"Look, I know this is hard for you to understand,"` John said regretfully. `"You're just gonna have to trust me on this."`

"You're after it, aren't you?" Sam asked while Dean and Liz both pulled their shirts on. "The thing that killed Mom," he added, having guessed.

`"Yeah,"` John answered. `"It's a demon, Sam."`

"A demon?" Sam repeated. "You know for sure?"

"A demon?" Dean echoed, sharing a confused look with Liz. "What's he saying?" he asked.

"Sam, let us talk to dad, please," Liz requested, moving to the edge of the bed.

"I do," John confirmed, hearing Dean and Liz's voices in the background. "Listen, Sammy, I, uh…I also know what happened to your girlfriend. I'm so sorry. I would've done anything to protect you from that," he added sadly.

Sam nodded, believing that with all his heart. "You know where it is?" he asked.

`"Yeah, I think I'm finally closing in on it."`

"Let us help," Sam offered.

`"You can't,"` John said seriously. `"You can't be any part of it."`

"Why not?" Sam asked, hurt.

"Give me the phone," Dean requested, holding out his hand, but Sam ignored him again.

John sighed, already guessing where this was heading. "Listen, Sammy, that's why I'm calling," he said, cutting to the chase. "You, your sister, and your brother, you gotta stop looking for me," he requested. "Alright, now, I need you to write down these names."

"Names? What names?" Sam asked, but his temper was flaring up, and turned away from Dean, who was reaching for the phone now, and Liz, who had questioning look on her face. "Dad…talk to me, tell me what's going on," he demanded.

`"Look, we don't have time for this,"` John lectured. `"This is bigger than you think, they're everywhere. Even us talking right now, it's not safe."`

"No. Alright? No way," Sam protested.

"Give me the phone," Dean repeated, but Sam wasn't about to give it up.

"I have given you an order," John snapped. "Now, you stop following me, and you do your job. You understand me? Now, take down these names."

Fed up, Dean grabbed the phone from Sam, who was now breathing hard, and spoke into it.

"Dad, it's me. Where are you?" he asked, and his face turned serious as John spoke to him. "Yes, sir," he said and reached for a piece of paper and a pen. "Uh, yeah, I got a pen. What are their names?" he requested, switching the phone to speaker so that Liz could listen in and wrote down the names while Sam just fumed.

After relaying more instructions to Dean and Liz, John hung the phone up and sighed, resting his forehead against the payphone container; he hated fighting with Sam, but there was no way he was going to let any of his children near the demon that'd killed both their mother and now Jessica. 'I'm sorry, Sammy, but until I can kill this thing, we can't be together.'

Dean and Liz both did some quick research based on their father's information and packed all their stuff up, they were soon on the road, and Sam was driving for a change.

"Alright, so, the names Dad gave us, they're all couples?" he asked, apparently calmed down.

"Three different couples," Dean confirmed, using a flashlight to read over some papers he'd printed up, and Liz was reading over his shoulder. "All went missing."

Sam nodded. "And they're all from different towns? Different states?"

"That's right," Dean agreed. "You got Washington, New York, Colorado. Each couple took a road trip cross-country. None of them arrived at their destination, and none of them were ever heard from again," he added.

"Well, it's a big country, Dean," Sam remarked. "They could've disappeared anywhere."

"Yeah, could've. But each one's route took 'em to the same part of Indiana," Dean explained. "Always on the second week of April. One year after another after another."

"Too many to be random," Liz added, frowning.

Sam did a quick math check in his mind. "This is the second week of April," he said slowly, realization dawning on his face.

Dean and Liz both nodded. "Yep."

"So, Dad is sending us to Indiana to go hunting for something before another couple vanishes?" Sam asked.

"Yahtzee," Dean answered with a confirming nod as he sorted through the missing people pictures. "Can you imagine putting together a pattern like this? All the different obits Dad had to go through? The man's a master," he commented.

This statement was too much for Sam; annoyed, he surprised his siblings by pulling over to the side of the road and turned off the car.

"What are you doing?" Liz asked, surprised, her own face mirroring the confused expression on Dean's face.

Sam shook his head, having come a decision of his own. "We're not going to Indiana," he declared.

"We're not?" Dean and Liz both asked, wondering what Sam was getting at this time.

"No. We're going to California," Sam informed them, having done some research of his own. "Dad called from a payphone. Sacramento area code."

"Sam-" Dean began while Liz groaned, not liking where this was heading.

"Dean, Liz, if this demon killed Mom and Jess, and Dad's closing in, we've gotta be there," Sam told them. "We've gotta help."

Dean sighed. "Dad doesn't want our help," he reminded him.

Sam refused to listen, his mind was already made up. "I don't care."

"Not this again," Liz groaned.

"He's given us an order," Dean stated.

"I don't care," Sam repeated firmly. "We don't always have to do what he says."

"Sam, Dad is asking us to work jobs, to save lives, it's important," Dean protested.

"Alright, I understand, believe me, I understand," Sam agreed, but he wasn't about to change his mind. "But I'm talking one week here, man, to get answers. To get revenge."

Dean sighed again. "Alright, look, I know how you feel."

"Do you?" Sam asked in a angry tone that left both Dean and Liz shocked. "How old were you two when Mom died? Four? Jess died six months ago. How the hell would either of you know how I feel?"

"Sam!" Liz snapped, hurt.

"Dad said it wasn't safe," Dean said angrily, furious at the jab at both him and Liz. "For any of us. I mean, he obviously knows something that we don't, so if he says to stay away, we stay away."

"I don't understand the blind faith you have in the man," Sam stated, ignoring the hurt expression on Liz's face. "I mean, it's like you don't even question him."

"Yeah, it's called being a good son!" Dean yelled.

Now thoroughly pissed off, Sam got out of the car; both Dean and Liz also got out, too.

Sam moved around the car to the trunk, and was about to open it when Liz smacked his hand away, hard. "Ow! Liz!"

"Don't you dare use that tone of voice with me Sam Winchester!" Liz screamed, surprising him and Dean, both taking a step away from her. "I've had with all of this fighting, and what you said just now was below the belt! For two months after mom died, all I had was nightmares of us all dying in that same blasted fire, and the only reason I didn't give up then was because I had promised after you were born to always look after you, and now you're doing this!"

She took a deep breath and continued, not giving either of her brothers a chance to cut in. "Something is killing couples…married couples, once a year and all you care about is getting revenge, just like dad. You think after the Wendigo, Bloody Mary, the shape-shifter, that cursed land with the bugs, and just recently the asylum that you both would've figured out that whenever you two argue and I have to step in, things go south and we all almost get killed. Think about it."

"I have," Sam said honestly and gently moved her to the side as he opened the trunk. "I'm truly sorry, Liz, but this time, your peacekeeping skills aren't going to work," he added.

While tears streamed down Liz's cheeks, Dean watched Sam unloading his bags from the trunk. "You're a selfish bastard, you know that? You just do whatever you want," he stated while Liz turned away, unable to watch. "Don't care what anybody thinks."

"That's what you really think?" Sam asked, wishing that Liz would look at him.

Dean nodded. "Yes, it is."

"Well, then this selfish bastard is going to California," Sam declared, putting on his backpack and started walking back the way they came.

Dean was still standing by the open trunk and Liz, who was now crying openly.

"Come on, you're not serious," he protested.

"I am serious," Sam answered, not looking back.

"It's the middle of the night! Hey, I'm taking off, I will leave your ass, you hear me?" Dean called after him with one last-ditch effort to stop him.

Sam stopped walking and turned around. "That's what I want you to do," he declared, and they stared at each other for a few seconds, waiting.

"Goodbye, Sam," Dean said finally, closed the trunk, got Liz into the front passenger seat, got in the car on the driver's side, and drove away. Sam watched them leave, and then started walking again.

A/N: Sam can be real jerk sometimes, and turning on Liz like that, for shame. R&R everyone!