A/N: Greetings to all my readers and fellow writers, here is my latest Halloween fic. The following story is a crossover fic of Supernatural and Thunderbirds - two of my loves - I sadly don't own any of the characters, Thunderbirds are the property of Gerry and Sylvia Anderson while Supernatural is the property of Eric Kripke. There is some language use in this story, kind of hard to keep the bad-ass nature of my favorite Winchester brothers without a little language. Please enjoy, review and leave constructive criticism only - I will delete any comments that I view as an attack on me or my writing. This is a community of creative writing, not a professional writer's guild. Have a happy and safe Halloween!
"Hold still munchkin!" Scott said as he focused on tying the strings holding the armor to Alan's arm. "I'm almost done."
Alan squirmed impatiently as he wanted to go trick or treating. He was made to go potty before he went out with his brothers to go door to door – and because of how his costume was put together, it required him taking off nearly every part of his costume.
The older brother fixed his hat atop his head, which had been knocked askew when Alan wouldn't hold still. Scott was dressed as a miner and his hard hat was an important part of his costume. Virgil and John who decided on being the hobbits Pippin and Merry from Lord of The Rings were helping Alan put on the remainder of his costume. John was tying the five year old's shoes and Virgil was making sure Alan's chest plate was on correctly. Their five year old brother was a knight from medieval times.
"Where's Gordon?" Scott asked as he noticed their nine year old brother was nowhere to be seen.
"I don't know. I lost track of him when I was making sure Alan was taking care of business." John huffed.
"I'm right here." Gordon said as he stood at the bottom of the stairs looking at his brothers who were busy trying to straighten Alan's costume. The five year old was growing impatient. "Al, did you have to take everything off?"
"Mm hmm. Johnny said I had to." Alan said as he tried to put the elastic band under his chin which would hold his helmet on his head. When he got it partly on and pulled in the wrong direction, Alan began to pout as his helmet fell on the floor. He crossed his arms and stamped his foot angrily.
"Oh stop it Alan." John scolded when his kid brother threw the tantrum.
Alan gave a whimper and once he finished getting his costume fixed he promptly sat on the floor with his arms crossed over his chest.
"Alan, come on kiddo. It's time to go trick or treating." Scott said as he nudged his pouting kid brother with his foot. His brother grunted but remained sitting. "Don't you want any candy?"
Alan gave a whimper but didn't speak. He picked up his helmet and pouted when he tried to put the portion of his outfit back on only for it to slide off same as it did earlier, proving only to make Alan more upset.
"Come on kiddo, buck up." Virgil said whilst picking his brother up from the floor and depositing him on his hip. "Let's go get hyped up on sugar so grandma regrets letting us go trick or treating."
As the brothers made their way down the stairs, Scott smiled at his grandmother who was puttering around with bowls of candy for the trick or treaters. Giving a wave to the other ladies in the sitting room – tonight was their grandmother's book discussion group and she'd invited her lady friends over for tea and cookies while her grandsons went out trick or treating.
"Bye grandma, we're heading out." John called as he quickly slid gloves on Alan's fingers. The younger boy spotted something and gave a cry.
"My sword!" Alan reached over Virgil's shoulder in attempt to grasp the foam sword where it'd been propped against the couch.
"Here you are darling." Beth Anne said as she pottered over with Alan's sword. The elderly woman smiled, her blue eyes shining as she gazed upon the boys she'd known since they were itty bitty. She bumped a gnarled knuckle under Alan's chin, sneaking in close enough to tickle the child's neck. Alan gave a loud cackle as he hid against Virgil's shoulder.
"There's that smile I know and love." Beth Anne said softly once she'd perked Alan's dower mood to something a little bit more chipper. "You boys go have fun."
"We will Beth Anne." Scott said with a smile now that Alan wasn't pouting anymore. "Thanks."
"No worries." Beth Anne said as she kissed each boy on the cheek. She'd adopted them as her grandsons, she remembered them when they were babies still in diapers and was a close friend of their grandmother's. "You boys be safe. Don't let the goblins, or boogeymen get you."
"We won't Beth Anne. Goblins and boogeymen only try to eat scrumptious little boys, not teenagers." John teased as he tickled Alan's ribs, eliciting a loud laugh from the child.
"See that you keep an eye on your brothers." Ruth said as she placed a kiss on her grandson's cheeks same as Beth Anne did. "Now, off with you."
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Alan shuffled along with his brothers, holding Scott's hand. The boys had hit up almost every house in their small community and had quite a bit of candy to show for their efforts. Stopping outside of a house that was very decorative, the boys looked down at the yawn which escaped their baby brother.
"Getting sleepy Alan?" Scott asked as he looked at the boy rubbing his eyes with his knuckles. Alan shook his head no but still gave another yawn. "Liar. You're almost down for the count."
"Nuh uh." Alan argued even as another yawn – this one bigger than the last came forth.
"Come on. Climb on my back so you can close those peepers." Scott said even as he crouched down in front of Alan. The little five year old sighed before he climbed onto Scott's back and laid his head on the broad shoulder. Scott straightened up, taking the candy bag from Alan and handing it to Virgil.
"Not tired…as if. He's down for the count." John said with amusement. He watched as Alan got comfy on Scott's back, resting his head on Scott's shoulder before he closed his eyes in slumber. The brothers stood still for a few moments, before they progressed up to the doorstep of the house they stopped in front of.
"Johnny can you get the doorbell?" Scott asked as his hands were full.
"Sure." John rang the doorbell and took a step back as he and his brothers waited for the owner to open their door and give them candy.
After several minutes of silence and nobody answering the door, the brothers heaved a sigh as they began to back away from the house. Obviously these people forgot to shut off their light since they were out of candy. Turning away, the brothers began making their way down the walk only to stop when they heard a long and loud creak of a door opening. Turning back they saw a hand beckoning them back to the front doorstep.
Looking between each other, the brothers went forward. Scott since he was the oldest called out first. "Trick or treat!"
The hand continued to beckon them forward and Scott eased forward a little more. It wasn't until he was stood in front of the door that it felt like a rock dropped in the depths of his stomach. The hand was unattached to a body.
"Scott? Whatt are you waiting for? Aren't you going to grab any candy?" Virgil hissed from the bottom stair.
"Huh?" Scott asked as he tried to shake the cold feeling of dread from his stomach.
"Grab the candy and let's go!" John murmured.
"Uh…huh?" Scott squeaked as he looked back out at his brothers. He gulped and gave a Wile E Coyote wave before he and Alan were yanked into the house by the disembodied hand. The brothers screamed and ran when they realized the hand wasn't attached to anything.
"Guys…somebody pinch me so I know that what I saw was just a dream?" Virgil gasped as he put his hands on his knees after they'd rounded the corner. "Ow!"
"Sorry." Gordon said as he pinched himself to be sure he hadn't just fallen asleep. When he looked around, positive that Scott and Alan were nowhere to be seen he knew it was no dream. "Where are Scott and Alan? Where were they taken?"
"They were taken into that house." John said as he peeked around the corner to look at the house. Looking around it occurred to John that something was wrong. "Guys…where's the house?"
The brothers followed the second eldest brother's gaze and took notice that the house they'd lost their oldest and youngest brother had inexplicably disappeared.
"Whoa! Where did it go?!" Virgil asked in shock and fear that the last house on the left had in fact disappeared. "Guys…wasn't that old lady Myrtle's place?"
"Oh my god." John stuttered.
TBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTB
Scott woke up with a gasp. He sat up and looked around only to notice he was in an old time house.
"J-Johnny? Virge…Gords?" Scott's voice quivered with fear when it occurred to him he was in an unfamiliar house and not only were his brothers not with him, but it occurred to him that his baby brother was nowhere in the immediate area. "Alan?"
A whimpering sniffle echoed off the walls in the home and scared Scott. The crying was so loud. He covered his ears as the crying seemed only to get louder.
"Alan! Please quit crying!" Scott begged loudly and he pressed in on his ears a little more when the crying only escalated to screaming wails. "Stop!"
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Alan woke up at the cry of stop. He sat up and looked around, not recognizing the place he was at.
"Scotty?" Alan asked as he got up to toddle around in search of his brother. "Scotty? Can we go home? I don't like this place."
"This is your home now little boy."
Alan turned to look at the form of a young woman. She held the hand of a little girl and she opened her hand to Alan, extending her arm out. "Come join us."
"Where's my brother?" Alan asked fearful of the woman and girl. They had no eyes and that terrified him.
"He's gone. He left you here with me."
"Scotty don't love me no more?" Alan asked as he turned to look at the woman and girl, surprised that they'd gotten so close to him in such a short span of time. "Why do you want me?"
"You're my son…don't you love momma?"
"My mommy went to play with angels…you are not my mommy." Alan said as he looked in the dark depths of the eyeless sockets.
"I can be if you'll let me."
TBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTB
"Grandma! Come quick! Scott and Alan are gone!" John cried as he Virgil and Gordon barreled into the living room.
Ruth looked up from the book she and the other ladies were discussing to see her three middle grandsons were not only pink in the face and breathing hard, but they also seemed to be genuinely scared. She stood up and moved to John and cupped his cheek in her hand.
"Baby, you're shaking." Ruth murmured before she checked John then Virgil and Gordon for fever when she noticed all of them were shaking. "What's this about Scott and Alan missing?"
"We didn't mean to! We accidently went to Old lady Myrtle's place and Scott was carrying Alan on his back! They were dragged into the house by a disembodied hand!" Virgil said hurriedly even as he mimed Scott being grabbed by the collar of his shirt and yanked into the house.
"Alright boys…quit pulling my leg." Ruth said, not happy with being pranked.
"We're telling the truth!" Gordon yelped.
"What sort of candy did you boys eat?" Beth Anne asked as she joined Ruth, checking the boys' eyes for dilation and their foreheads for fevers.
"We're telling the truth I swear! Grandma! You have to believe us!" John said as he begged his grandma to believe them.
"Boy's…Myrtle Crenshaw's house was torn down last year…don't you remember? After she passed away don't you recall the house being foreclosed because it was dangerous?" Ruth asked, unknowingly igniting the boy's fear up another notch.
"Oh my god…" John said as he covered his mouth when it occurred to him that old lady Myrtle's place had been torn down the year prior. She'd been hording a bunch of junk and when the homeowner passed on, it'd been found out that the house was below code standard and was a danger to anyone who set foot inside. He and Scott had watched them tear the house down from a friend's front porch.
"Now where are your brothers…and don't lie to me." Ruth said.
"It's true grandma…they got pulled into old lady Myrtle's place." Virgil said, his face dead serious. Gordon and John backed him up and it was then that Ruth knew it was no joke. Virgil wouldn't lie and neither would John. Neither of them were very good actors and neither of them could lie convincingly.
TBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTB
"No!" Sam Winchester grunted once he'd come back to himself after he'd had another vision. He was lightly shook and he looked up into the concerned eyes of his older brother Dean.
"Dude, what is it?" Dean asked as he searched his brother's eyes for turmoil.
"Where are we?" Sam asked as he gazed out the window in hopes to figure out their current location.
"We're in Topeka…Kansas…why?" Dean asked as he felt Sam's forehead for fever. Sam sometimes got a fever immediately following a vision, which usually also led to migraines.
"We need to get to Lawrence." Sam said as he straightened up and pushed his hair from his face.
"What? But Sam we swore never to go back to where Mom died." Dean tried to talk reason into Sam.
"Dean, two children are in danger…I saw it." Sam said slowly.
"What'd you see?" Dean asked as the mentions of children was brought up.
"Two boys… about the ages of five and fifteen were taken captive…I think by a ghost." Sam said as he dredged the memory of the vision up to the forefront of his mind.
"Did you get an idea of what the ghost wanted with the children?" Dean asked.
"I…I don't know." Sam said as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "I know a ghost woman was trying to lead a child over to the other side and I think it was the little one."
"I don't like this Sam…why Lawrence…why now?" Dean asked.
"I don't know…but Dean trust me. Two children are going to die unless we can save them." Sam said before he turned his gaze toward the window.
"Well let's go then." Dean said as he flipped his blinker and pulled off the shoulder of the highway.
Looks like they had a mission ahead of them.
TBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTB
Alan looked at the lady's hand in front of him and started to raise his hand out to accept the offering. Pausing momentarily Alan looked into the inky blackness of the sockets.
"If I let you try to be my new mommy, what will happen to Scotty? Can he come too?" Alan asked, not wanting to be alone with the lady without his brother any longer.
"He left you here with me remember?" The lady said even as she took a step towards Alan. "Now come along, you'd best be getting to bed. It's way past your bedtime young man."
Alan allowed himself to be picked up by the lady and he snuggled in her arms. He didn't know why he feared her to begin with. She was nice and he felt loved. Resting his head on her shoulder, Alan felt himself falling asleep. He blinked slightly before the lady reached up and closed his eyes, whispering a soft, ssh.
The lady gently rocked Alan, softly singing My Jolly Sailor Bold to Alan as he fell deeper into slumber.
TBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTB
Scott ran from room to room in search of Alan. He needed to find his baby brother. He couldn't go anywhere without him. His dad and grandmother would have his head on a silver platter for losing the youngster.
"Alan?! Alan! Answer me kiddo!" Scott yelled when he threw the doors open, only to be met with an empty furniture less room.
Ssh.
Scott stopped as the hairs on the back of his neck stood up. He looked around and saw a woman cradling a small form.
"Alan!" Scott yelled when it occurred to him that the little form was his brother.
"Ssh. He's sleeping. We don't want to wake such a sweet slumbering angel."
"Please, can I have my brother back?" Scott extended his arms to welcome the weight of his kid brother back into his arms. He shook when the pale woman gave a ghostly chuckle. "What…what's so funny?"
"He's my son…I'd never give him up."
"He's not your son. He's my baby brother and I can't go home without him. Please, can I have him back?" Scott said as he once again extended his hand out. As he reached out, taking a step forward he suddenly found himself thrown back into the wall. "Hey! What was for?! Let me go!"
"He is my son and it's his bedtime. Please be silent before I make you be silent. I don't want you to wake him."
Scott closed his mouth as he noticed something about his baby brother. He was no longer a solid child…he was now like the woman and transparent.
"Please…I don't know what you did to my brother, but I want him back. Please." Scott began to beg.
The woman began to sing and with the lyrics that were spun – Scott felt himself growing weary. The woman sang the same song which she sang to his brother, unknowingly to Scott. He felt himself falling into a slumber and as the song reached its end – Scott succumbed to the spell behind the words and fell into a deep slumber.
TBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTB
John, Virgil and Gordon showed Ruth and the police the exact spot they'd last seen Scott and Alan. The police looked at the ground and one of them snapped a picture of the dirt where a pair of boots left an imprint – yet no steps away from the area.
"I'm telling you, he was right here and the hand grabbed Scott and pulled him inside." John said as he pointed to the last known boot print of his elder brother Scott.
"Kid, Ms. Myrtle's house was demolished last spring…there's no way she could bring a house up from the ground and take your brothers away and take down the house in a matter of moments without help. She was 87 years old when she died." The lead officer said as he looked back at the two teens and pre-teen.
"Are you calling my grandsons liars?" Ruth asked, eyebrow raised in question as if challenging the lead officer whom she'd known since he and his family moved into the area thirty years ago when he was barely seven.
"No Mrs. Tracy…I'm just having a hard time understanding that your grandsons saw a ghostly hand snatch their brothers from this very spot and when they go back to retrieve their brothers the house is inexplicably gone. I'm guessing they may have gotten a drugged piece of candy at some point this evening?"
"We haven't OD'd! Grandma! We'd never lie about this. Where would Scott and Alan be otherwise?!" Virgil squeaked.
"Grandma! Look!" Gordon called pointing off into the forest behind what should have been Ms. Myrtle's place.
The police officer followed Gordon's line of sight with his flashlight and saw a boot laying amongst the shrubs. Gordon, Virgil, John, Ruth and the officer hurried over and discovered Scott in what appeared to be slumber. Ruth lightly shook Scott to wake him up but when the teenager didn't awaken, she shook him harder.
"Scott, wake up darling!" Ruth said as she continued to shake Scott. When the teen continued to not awaken, the police officer got on his radio and called in for some help.
"I have a youth located at the old Myrtle place, unconscious and not responding to stimuli. Request a van to transport him to the hospital." After a brief radio crackling in reply, the officer stood up and looked around the abandoned lot. "What the hell is going on here?"
TBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTB
Sam and Dean sat up the street in the impala the following day and watched as police officers put up caution tape, K9 units sniffing around in attempt to find the missing five year old. Dean reached across the vehicle and dug out ID badges so they could pose as FBI. The night previous to today, when they'd arrived in Lawrence – they'd gotten a room at the local motel and set up shop.
Sam had stayed up through the night, despite the migraine and did research on the town and found that every three years or so a child went missing from the area and usually on Halloween night, at least they had since a year or two after their mother died and Sam and Dean went to live a life on the road with their father.
"Sammy, you sure about this? I thought the night hag just sat on people's chest and gave them nightmares. Not kidnapped children for her own sick tendencies." Dean said as he shook his head.
"I'm not certain what took that child, but I do know that his brother is caught in a battle between life and death and the little boy is currently being held captive. We have to figure out how to get in her world and rescue the child." Sam said even as he continued to pinch the bridge of his nose. His migraine never really left the night prior and he still had it.
"Well, let's go bro. Time to see if we can figure out what this fuggly is and gank it." Dean said even as he opened his door, the loud creak serving a dual purpose of letting Dean out of the impala but also aggravating Sam's migraine.
Sam groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose again whilst climbing from within the vehicle. He closed his door softly as opposed to Dean who merrily slammed the door – further aggravating Sam's migraine. The younger man grit his teeth in pain but schooled his features as they approached the group of people.
"Good afternoon officers. I'm Agent Jerry Wanek, this is my colleague Agent Robert Singer." Dean said as he introduced himself and Sam under their alias names. "What's the story?"
The officers and forensic team stood in a gathered mass, discussing the possibilities that Scott was given a drugged piece of candy, while Alan was likely kidnapped by a predator. Dean cleared his throat to bring their attention on him. When they all looked at the two men, Dean and Sam held up their badges.
"What's the FBI being called in for?" The lead officer inquired.
Thankfully Sam stayed up through the night and had done his research. The two youths in question happened to be Jeff Tracy's sons and he was the most powerful person in the US next to the president.
"High profile case, the boys are sons to a powerful man and we need to get to the bottom of this." Sam replied. "We were called on to aid in the search for who accosted the boys. Have you got any ideas yet?"
TBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTB
When Alan awoke, he found he was in bed with the older girl. When he sat up, he noticed his clothes were different. Looking at his clothes, Alan noticed he wore a gown like his grandma wore. He however didn't give much thought to that though. He was thistly. Crawling from the bed he'd slept in, Alan ventured from the room. He opened doors in the house in search of the kitchen but grew distressed when he failed to find what he was searching for.
"Dear what are you doing out of bed?"
Alan looked over his shoulder to see the lady from the night before. He lowered his gaze when he realized she still didn't have eyes.
"Sweetheart?"
"I'm thirsty." Alan admitted as he dropped his chin to his chest. He really was thirsty and he didn't want to go back to sleep until he got a drink. The woman flickered slightly and for a moment she had eyes again that were a soft hazel. She smiled gently at Alan as she held her hand out to him.
"Come with me darling." The woman commanded softly as she offered a hand for him to hold. Alan reluctantly took her hand and let her lead him back to the room he'd been sleeping in. Standing with his hand raised, Alan noticed when the woman produced a wooden ladle. She filled the ladle from a pitcher that sat on the dresser. Lowering the ladle, she prompted Alan to drink from the ladle. Once his thirst was quenched, the woman asked, "Now why don't you go on back to bed?"
Alan nodded slowly before he let the woman pick him up and deposit him in bed. She sang to him again and before she finished, Alan was sound asleep.
TBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTB
Dean and Sam interviewed the Tracy brothers to get the back story. From what the boys claimed, a ghostly hand yanked Scott and subsequently Alan into the house and frightened the other boys which was what caused them to run. Virgil had dismissed himself from the conversation when he looked ready to burst into tears and that led Sam to follow the younger male into the kitchen.
"Kiddo…" Sam started but was cut off by Virgil.
"My name isn't kiddo." Virgil crouched on the floor, covering his head with his arms. He didn't want to be seen when he was crying. "It's Virgil, only Scott can call me kiddo."
"Virgil, what you saw…why did you go to the house if you knew it was the old Myrtle place?" Sam asked as he stood above Virgil, leaning back against the counter, giving the younger boy time to compose himself.
"We didn't think about it. We rarely venture down that way anymore and I guess we thought the old Myrtle place was rebuilt." Virgil said before he lifted tear filled eyes to look at Sam. "My brothers are dead aren't they?"
"No, it's only been a few hours ago…We'll find them." Sam reassured before he inquired once more. "Why did you quit going down by the old Myrtle place?"
"Our dad forbade us from going to visit our friend down that way because he started talking nonsense." John answered as he entered the kitchen to check on Virgil. Dean stood in the archway with Gordon.
"What sort of nonsense?" Dean asked as he found his interest piqued.
"Pete started telling adults that when he was in his tree house at night, he could hear someone singing a hair-raising lullaby. He said he could hear it and usually when he heard the song, he saw a creepy house appear with a lady dressed in white holding the hand of a young girl. He talked about it so much that his parents took him to get medication and our dad told us we could no longer go see him." John said as he shook the chills from his body.
Sam and Dean shared a look before they'd made up their minds. They were going to go talk to the boy – Pete and his family since they lived closest to the old Myrtle place. With hope the Winchester brothers could get some more information from the family and perhaps recover Alan from wherever he'd been taken.
TBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTB
Dean and Sam barely an hour later found themselves sitting on the porch with Pete, his mom and dad. You could see the location of the Old Myrtle place from Pete's house. Pete sat on the front steps with Dean while Sam sat on the swinging lounge with Pete's mom.
"Everyone thinks I'm crazy because of what I told people I saw." Pete murmured even as he gazed out at the now empty lot where Myrtle Crenshaw's house used to be. K-9 dogs sniffed every square inch of the empty lot while police and volunteers scoured the forest behind the empty lot. It'd been a little over sixteen hours since Alan and Scott came up missing, but only fifteen hours since police located Scott unconscious on the edge of the Myrtle property.
"Can you tell me about what you saw?" Dean asked, wanting to get an idea of what Pete had seen.
"Why? It's not like you'll believe me. You'll just think I'm crazy too." Pete said in doubt.
"Not necessarily kid. I'm trying to locate a missing child and I'm not excluding any idea no matter how harebrained or illogical it may be." Dean said as he heard someone in the forest echo a reply that they'd so far found nothing.
"About a year ago, I was up in my tree house at night. I was spying on my neighbors, I thought it'd be fun to see what they got up to at night." Pete whispered. Dean rolled his eyes with a smirk, he knew about some night time activities that people got up to, but he wasn't about to impart that knowledge on a boy so young. "Anyway, I was using my homemade telescope and zooming in on various locations. I brought my scope around and couldn't see anything, when I pulled away to see what was obstructing my vision I saw a house in place of the empty lot. I just stared at the building in shock. They'd only just torn down the building barely three months before and I walk by the house to get to school. I knew they hadn't started building anything in its place yet."
"What was odd about there being a house there besides no signs of any rebuilding taking place?" Dean asked. He glanced over his shoulder at Sam and gave his brother a meaningful glance.
"The pale woman walking through the yard. She was flickering in and out and was holding the hand of a young girl. But the creepiest part about her was her song that she was humming." Pete said even as he got a haunted look in his eyes.
"What was she humming? Do you remember?" Dean asked.
"I don't know the name of the song, but it was creepy. A very slow melody." Pete said.
"Do you remember the melody?" Dean inquired. He wondered if the song had any connection.
Pete started whistling. He whistled slowly and softly, the melody was in fact enchanting and haunting all at the same time. Dean listened but couldn't place the melody, he glanced back at Sam and noticed the look of surprise on his face.
"What is it Singer?" Dean asked, using Sam's alias.
"That song…I know it." Sam said even as he bobbed his head to the whistled melody. "It's called Jolly Sailor Bold…it's a very haunting song."
"Do you know the words?" Pete's mom inquired, the melody sounded familiar but she didn't know it off the top of her head.
"Yeah." Sam started reciting what he knew of the song, seeing the haunted look return to Pete's face as he heard the words put to the melody.
"That's the song! Yeah, when she sang it I found that it was hard for me to stay awake. I fell asleep in my tree house and woke up the next morning. When I woke up there was no house, and no sign that woman or that little girl was there." Pete murmured.
"Hmm." Dean hummed, not entirely sure just what they were dealing with. "Thank you Pete, my associate and I will head on out and let you get back to your day. If you think of anything else, please don't hesitate to contact either of us." Dean said as he handed a business card with his and Sam's numbers printed on them.
When they left, Sam and Dean drove back to the motel to go over everything they'd gathered so far. Once they'd made it in past the threshold, Sam sat on his bed with a groan. His migraine never really left and he was wishing for nothing but total silence at this moment in time.
"How's the head Sammy?" Dean asked as he dug through their first aid kit, searching for Sam's Excedrin migraine relief. His brother had to take two when his migraines got really bad and judging on the pinched look adorning his face, Dean knew the migraine was reaching epic levels.
"It's Sam and I just want to sleep." Sam muttered. He gratefully accepted the Excedrin and gave a deep sigh after he dry swallowed the two tablets.
"So sleep, I'm going to go over our notes and see if I can't find the creature we're looking for. Maybe give Bobby a call and run things by him." Dean said as he brandished his cell phone to Sam. The younger brother sighed as he laid down. Draping his arm over his eyes, he struggled to fall asleep even as Dean went about light proofing the room. He hung the bed spread from his own bed over the windows to ensure that no sunlight came in and he folded a towel and laid it at the bottom of the bathroom door to minimize the amount of sunlight seeping in. He left quickly and silently with the notes Sam had written down and intended on going to the library to do a bit more research.
TBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTB
The phone at Bobby Singer's salvage yard rang shrilly. The retired hunter grumbled as he traveled through the kitchen to answer his phone.
"Singer…" Bobby answered to which was interested when he heard Dean's voice on the other side. "Dean, what are you idjits up to?
"Bobby…I need some help with a case Sam and I are working." Dean replied as he drove through Lawrence to the library. It wasn't a far drive, but he was keenly avoiding some locations in favor of finishing this case quickly.
"Where are you and Sam?" Bobby asked.
"That's the thing…Sam had a vision again. It brought us to Lawrence." Dean admitted to which he failed to get a reply from Bobby.
"Lawrence? You mean to tell me that Demon is playing games with Sam again?" Bobby asked incredulously.
"Not quite…at least I don't think so. Look, Sam had a vision about a day or two ago…Halloween to be exact. He said he saw two children, a five and fifteen-year-old being taken by some ghost woman in white. The older boy was found not long after he was taken, but he's not waking up and he's in the hospital. Police think he was given a drugged piece of candy. The other boy however, the five-year-old is still missing and there are no signs that the house they approached is even there. I have a boy about thirteen or fourteen that lives down the street saying he's seen this mystery house and ghost woman with a ghost girl." Dean explained. "I don't know what we're dealing with yet, but apparently she was singing a song when the kid that lives close by saw her about a year ago."
"A song? What kind of song?" Bobby asked.
"Sam called it Jolly Sailor Bold or something to that effect. I don't know…but apparently it's a very haunting lullaby." Dean said even as he recalled the sound of the melody being whistled by Peter. "The boy whistled it for us and it's chilling."
"I've heard the song…it's a very creepy song indeed. It was a song a maid of the sea sang in some pirates movie I saw." Bobby admitted.
"Maid of the sea?" Dean asked.
"Yeah, she was a mermaid. You don't think we're dealing with a mermaid do you? Because I doubt they exist. Selkies I'd believe, but not mermaids." Bobby said as he pulled out a tome to start reading up on Selkies and the possible mermaid. "Selkies can live on land, if their seal skins are taken and hidden or destroyed. Mermaids I doubt, they keep their fins and can only exist in water."
"But a selkie this far inland? We're in Kansas…there are no oceans around here." Dean said in astonishment at the possibility. "Can their songs bewitch a person into lasting unconsciousness?"
"Not that I know of, but anything is possible I guess. I mean the mermaids in that Pirate's movie and the legend of sirens made it likely that their songs can bewitch anyone who hears their songs. Maybe Selkies have that ability also?"
"So what about the possibility of a ghost?" Dean asked, unsure for probably the first time in a long time.
"Ghosts, as far as I know don't have the ability to bewitch a person. This doesn't make any sense." Bobby said as he pored over his tome in search of the information they were looking for.
TBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTB
A beautiful young woman that held the hand of a small girl walked through the gardens in the yard. She smiled and laughed, her laughter sounding like bells chiming in the soft wind. The little girl that looked like the older woman, smiled before she placed a small hand against the woman's stomach. A small swell was visible beneath her hand.
"Are you going to have my baby brother or sister soon?" The little girl asked in wonder.
"Yes, it'll be a few months yet but soon he or she will be here." The young woman with hazel eyes smiled widely at the little girl.
Flash forward a few hours and the woman was arguing with a man. He pointed an accusing finger at the woman's stomach as he yelled. The woman covered her belly and turned her back, but the man was angry. He moved forward fast and grabbed the young woman by her arm. When she turned to yell at the man he slapped her across the face. The woman was taken by surprise and she covered her reddened cheek. The man yelled at the young woman before he yelled for the young girl. When she entered the room, the man grabbed her arm and proceeded to drag both mother and daughter outside.
Outside waiting was another man, he took the little girl from the man that initially brought her out and held on to her. The man that had the young woman started pushing her towards a small pond on the property. The young woman fought it, but the man eventually got her in the water and fully submerged as the little girl screamed from the shore. The young woman struggled beneath the water for a few moments before she ceased all movements.
The little girl screamed and cried for her mommy and when she was let go, she ran to her mom who was floating face down in the water. Her bonnet strings hung down by her shoulders and she paid no mind to her wet outfit. She grasped her deceased mom and cried as she shook her, trying to wake her up.
While her back was turned, she failed to notice the two men that lingered. The man that drowned her mom hung his head with a deep sigh before he reached out and grabbed the little girl by the shoulders and hugged her. She fought against him, trying to move out of his grasp. She visibly shuddered when he kissed her on the temple. When she turned to yell at him, she froze.
"Daddy, why did you have to kill mommy?! She had my baby brother in her tummy!"
The man that the girl called daddy didn't offer an explanation before he placed both hands on his daughter's shoulders and forcefully shoved her beneath the surface of the water also. The little girl didn't put up as much of a struggle as her mom and it too was over soon after it began.
TBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTB
Sam came awake with a gasp. He coughed as he felt like he had inhaled a bunch of water. He struggled to get a good breath as he sat up in bed. When he managed to gain a hold on his breathing, he quickly moved out of bed and to the table across the room where his laptop was plugged in. He disregarded the still pounding of his migraine in favor of pulling up a search engine and typing in the words 'mother and daughter murdered in Lawrence, Kansas.' When that one failed to produce an article, Sam changed the wording. 'Listing of murders in Lawrence, Kansas.'
He changed the wording so many times over the course of an hour that he'd lost count. He glanced at the clock to see that it was just after five in the evening. He knew Dean would be back soon. Putting in one last search, Sam heaved a sigh. 'Double homicides, in Lawrence, Kansas.'
He wasn't expecting to get a hit on that last search, but he leaned in close to the screen as he read through the article.
'May 1752,
Darcy Penn, wife of Augustus Penn and mother to Tabitha Penn was found deceased on the morn of the 16th after what appears to be a murder suicide. It is believed that Darcy Penn in an act of sorrow killed her only child and herself after her husband Augustus admitted his wife miscarried the babe she was pregnant with. Both mother and daughter will be laid to rest on the eve of the 18th.
Sam sighed as he read and re-read the article. He found it incredibly hard to believe that the woman in his vision was Darcy Penn. In his vision she was being murdered as was her daughter. Their clothes fit the time period. He'd done a lot of research papers when he was in both high school and college, so he knew the clothing the woman and daughter were wearing were the skirt, bodice, aprons and the head coverings were coifs. He assumed the vision he saw took place roughly around the time of the Pilgrims, but he wasn't positive. They may not have been pilgrims, but just villagers. Villages still existed to this day.
Now he wondered where the whole thing took place. If this took place in the town of Lawrence, he wouldn't be able to find out until Dean returned. Hopefully with books.
TBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTB
Alan woke up and looked over at the little girl that lay in bed with him. She looked normal, when her eyes were closed. When she came awake though, Alan was surprised to find her eyes visible and they were the same hazel that his new mommy had.
"Who are you?" Alan asked softly, somewhat fearful of the little girl.
"I'm Tabby, don't you remember me?" The little girl asked.
"No, I don't know who you are." Alan whispered softly. He noticed that both he and the girl…Tabby were wearing similar sleeping gowns.
"I'm your sister…" Tabby whispered back.
"Where's my daddy?" Alan asked as he noticed his daddy wasn't there.
"Daddy's not here…he never will be." Tabby said, her voice becoming a soft, yet harsh whisper.
"Why?" Alan asked. He wanted his daddy, he missed him and his brothers.
"Because…daddy killed us. We can't see him ever again." Tabby said, to which made Alan go silent.
TBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTB
Dean's cell phone buzzed in his pocket even as he climbed into the impala after leaving the library.
"This is Dean." Dean said without looking at the caller ID knowing it'd be one of two people that would be calling him
"Dean, I had a vision and I think I know what we're dealing with." Sam's voice echoed down the line.
"What is it do you think?" Dean asked before he put the key into the ignition.
"I had a vision of a young woman and her daughter being murdered. When I did some research on the murders I found a small paragraph online detailing how it was believed that a woman back in 1752 murdered her daughter before killing herself after suffering a miscarriage. However, my vision showed me that they were murdered by the woman's husband. He drowned them in the pond on the property." Sam explained.
"Okay, so you think we're dealing with a vengeful spirit?" Dean asked.
"No, I did a little more research and I found a creature known in Slavic and Eastern European folklore. It's called a Rusalka." Sam said.
"A Rusalka?" Dean asked, he'd never heard of that creature before and he'd been in this business for a long time. "What the hell is a Rusalka?"
"A Rusalka is believed to be the spirit of drowned girls. In my vision, the mother and daughter died after they were drowned by the woman's husband. The woman and her husband had been arguing and I think it was about the baby the woman was pregnant with." Sam went on to explain. I looked it up and a Rusalka is said to be the spirit of young girls that drowned, young women that committed suicide by drowning or young women that died a violent death in or near a body of water. I'd classify murder by drowning a violent death, wouldn't you?"
"Yeah…so how can we destroy these Rusalka?" Dean asked, not quite sure how to do it.
"I don't know…I read that you can repel them with iron and salt, but it doesn't tell how to kill a Rusalka." Sam said with a sigh.
"Hang on…can Rusalka bewitch a person with singing?" Dean asked as he thought of the teenage boy unconscious in the hospital still.
"They can hypnotize with song. It's often a method to lure young men to their deaths. They're similar to the sirens that led maritime sailors to their deaths." Sam said as he continued to scroll through the website which he'd read information from. "Hold on, it says that a Rusalka or Rusalki if there are more than one can only be stopped when her death has been avenged."
"Damn it…now how are we supposed to avenge a ghost's death from centuries ago? The guy is worm food now." Dean cried incredulously.
"I don't know…we're probably going to need to look up the Penn family name and see if there are any surviving relatives that may have an heirloom that we need to destroy. Something that Darcy and Tabitha are attached to." Sam said absent mindedly.
"You said there was a pond on the property…didn't you?" Dean said as a thought occurred to him. Something that Darcy and Tabitha were attached to.
"Yeah…why do you ask?" Sam inquired.
"You said they both died by drowning…what if the pond they died in was never filled in?" Dean asked.
"Oh my god…they're attached to the land." Sam said as it occurred to him what Dean was getting at. "They're not in need of avenging Dean…they're trapped. I can't believe I didn't see it. If they were murdered there, back in the 1700's the dead were buried. They weren't often cremated. Their bodies must be buried on the property somewhere and because it was their death place as well as their final resting place – they're earth bound."
"But why kidnap the little boy?" Dean asked.
"The woman…Darcy was pregnant. She's attached to that little boy because she believes he is her baby. We need to make her move into the light, her baby is probably already passed through and she and her daughter Tabitha are remaining because they are waiting for the baby. They'll drain the life force from that little boy if we don't hurry Dean."
"We'll save him Sam; we won't let an innocent be lost." Dean reassured even as he returned inside the library to look at a map of the area, old ones too. He wanted to see if he could locate properties with ponds still intact. Maybe they were on to something.
TBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTB
Darcy hummed softly, as she walked around the property. It was late at night and she was carrying Alan in one arm while holding the hand of Tabitha. She milled around aimlessly as if in search of something. Alan leaned his head on Darcy's shoulder, looking out at the lay of the land. When they ventured into the forest, Alan couldn't help but to close his eyes. He was afraid of the dark.
He gasped when he felt the tips of his toes get wet and he opened his eyes to see his new mommy and sister were wading into the water. It was a small pond, but the water went about chest deep if not deeper. He looked up at his new mommy to see she had her eyes closed. Her hair and clothes were sodden as were Tabby's. Before he knew it, he was being submerged beneath the surface of the pond.
TBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTB
Dean and Sam didn't bother being quiet when it came to closing the doors of the impala. It was urgent. Peter had called them when he swore he heard the ghost woman humming when he was once again up in his tree house. At first she hummed that creepy sailor bold song, but then it changed into her vocalizing. Sam heard her voice echo from deep within the forest behind the empty lot.
He gasped out a breath before he took off sprinting into the woods. His longer legs gave him a longer stride and Dean struggled to keep up with his younger brother. Dean had a rucksack of supplies commonly used to bless land and to banish negative energy. He also had a container of salt and consecrated iron rounds in his sawed off shotgun. He didn't want to be firing the shotgun, considering it'd draw a lot of attention. But he had it if worse came to worse.
"Dean!" Sam yelled from in the forest, prompting Dean to run faster. When he arrived, he saw Sam. His younger brother had gone out as deep as possible in the pond that nobody knew was there before he took a deep breath and went below the surface. The water was horrifically dirty; it was more of a swamp now instead of a pond.
Dean counted the seconds as he started to break out the smudging tools. He held a lighter underneath the smudging stick he held and lit the sage on fire. When it started to smoke, Dean smudged the smoke around himself first. Pastor Jim had once said during a smudging he'd been present for that to smudge oneself was a way to disarm any negativity felt during the cleansing. Once he'd smudged himself, Dean started reciting the blessing Sam made him memorize before they came out to rescue the little boy. They hadn't had much time left to save the boy. Turning North, East, South and West – Dean repeated the blessing over and over. His intent was to cleanse the area at least for the time being until they could get someone, a spiritual leader of sorts out to properly bless the land. They'd put in a call to Pastor Jim and he called one of his contacts who happened to be an Arapaho shaman right there in the state of Kansas. He was on his way to perform a blessing of the land and to properly cleanse the land.
Once his part was done, Dean turned to where he'd anticipated Sam coming out. He'd taken notice that Sam had been under water for a while, but when he attempted to go close to the water – a voice in the back of his head told him not to go in. He watched the water, counting the seconds before he planned to go in after Sam. Almost five minutes under water and Sam finally broke the surface, a little boy held tight in his arms.
"Sam!" Dean yelled as he took a step into the water to help haul his brother out. Sam was covered in stagnant water and he smelled awful, but Dean chose to overlook that in favor of prying the little boy from Sam's arms and carrying him inland a distance before he dropped to his knees in the circle of salt he'd poured. He laid the little boy, Alan flat on his back and grasped Alan's chin. He felt for a pulse and when he failed to find one, he was quick to listen for a heart beat in little Alan's chest. "Come on kid!"
Dean leaned down and placed his mouth over Alan's after pinching his nose and beginning to breath for him. He was quick to offer two rescue breaths before he started giving chest compressions. Counting to thirty seemed to take forever, but he didn't stop. Once he'd given the compressions, Dean gave two more rescue breaths. Once given, Dean leaned his ear down by Alan's mouth and nose while looking at Alan's chest for signs of movement or breathing. When that failed to produce movement, Dean started on his second round of compressions. He cursed when he had to give two more rescue breaths but he continued the CPR on the little boy.
Sam was kneeling inside the large salt circle, shivering in his sodden clothes. He'd had to cut Alan out of the algae that had since grown in the pond. It took forever and he'd only had Darcy and Tabitha approach once, but Sam had put on an iron cross necklace before going on the rescue, because he'd had suspicion that Darcy would have taken Alan into the water. He watched as Dean started the eighth round of chest compressions and he was beginning to fear he and Dean were too late.
"Come on kid…" Sam whispered as he felt the hope dwindling.
"Don't you die on me kid!" Dean growled as he leaned down to administer two more rescue breaths. He pulled away and was just getting ready to start the ninth round of compressions when suddenly water burst from Alan's mouth. "There we go, come on kid spit it out."
Sam helped Dean turn Alan onto his side as water continued to spill forth from his mouth and nose. Sam and Dean didn't know if it was water or tears but it appeared to them that Alan was crying as he coughed the water up. Sam reached out and offered good strong pats onto Alan's back to help dislodge the water and was amazed at the amount of water inhaled.
"Good coughing kiddo, keep it up." Sam encouraged as he noticed Alan quit coughing. Alan gave a cry instead. Dean pulled Alan up from the ground when the little boy tried to sit up and he held the boy tight, intention to warm him up.
"It's okay, you're okay." Dean whispered as he patted the little boy on the back. He could feel Alan shivering and knew Alan needed to get warmed up. He opened his jacket and pulled Alan in close before he zipped it up around Alan. Cradling the little boy in his arms, Dean stood. "We need to get the both of you out of the cold and into the warm. Let's go."
With a start, Dean and Sam looked around. Darcy and Tabitha weren't lurking around anywhere…visibly anyway. They grabbed their supplies, or Sam did. Dean took to bouncing on the balls of his feet and swaying in attempt to calm the sobbing child that was practically strapped to his chest via his jacket.
"I want S-Scotty." Alan hiccupped.
"Scotty huh? Is he your big brother?" Dean asked in attempt to get the child to think about something other than his terrifying experience. He looked down at Alan and felt bad for the child. His eyes were already red and puffy from all the water works and he had snot streaming from both nostrils. Dean used the heel of his hand and gently wiped away the tears from the child's face.
"Y-Yeah…" Alan sniffled.
"We'll get you to him. Come on." Sam said as he re-entered the salt circle with the rucksack. The brothers didn't waste time and they hurried from the forest. When they arrived back at the impala, Dean unzipped his jacket and removed it after he placed Alan in Sam's lap. He quickly covered both sodden boys before he ran around to the driver's side of the car and started the engine. He turned the heat up onto high and took comfort in the warmth chasing the cold from their bones. He hesitated in taking Alan straight to the hospital especially sopping wet. But he didn't want to spend money on a child he probably wouldn't see ever again. His brother on the other hand could probably use some warm and dry clothes.
Thinking to himself, 'You know what? Screw it, warm jammies for the kid too.' Dean drove until he saw a Walmart. He pulled up and parked the Chevy close to the building before he went in. He left it run so the heat continued going and ran in, grabbing a blue hand basket. He went back to the kid's section and quickly browsed the clothes before he settled on a pair of green and black checkered flannel pajamas. He struggled on what size to get the boy. He was about to grab just a pair that he thought might be big enough when he saw a Walmart associate walking by.
"Excuse me…miss?" Dean asked, practically pouring the honey into his speech. "I'm watching my nephew and he had an accident. His dad didn't leave me with any clothes for the kid, just up and left so I don't know what size to get him…can you maybe help me out?"
"Sure…where is he?" The young woman asked.
"He's in the car with my wife…was throwing a bit of a tantrum about his dad leaving him so short notice so she's trying to calm him down right now." Dean said in all seriousness 'Sorry Sammy…' Rolling his eyes, Dean continued the charade. "He's got major separation anxiety and seems to like my wife over me. So I got stuck trying to find junior some clothes."
"Okay, how old is he?" The associate asked with a tilt of her head.
"My brother said he was five…he's only about this tall." Dean said as he held his hands up and gave a rough estimation of Alan's height. The associate browsed through the clothes which Dean had been looking through before she selected a pair of 6T pajamas. "Yes, those should fit perfectly. Thank you miss."
"No problem sweetie. Good luck in watching your nephew." The associate said before she left. Now that Dean had an idea for clothes for Alan, he decided to splurge a little and he grabbed a pack of underwear and socks that hopefully would fit the kid. Then he moved on to grab a new shirt, socks, boxers and jeans for his own brother. Hurrying through a checkout, Dean grabbed his purchases and moved to the impala.
"Here we go, and I even grabbed you a candy bar to split with Sam. That ought to ward off the shock." Dean said as he set the bag of clothes on the floorboard by Sam's feet. "We'll stop in at the motel very quick so you two can get warmed up and changed then we'll take you to your grandma's." Dean meant well, but Sam knew they'd have to go to the hospital first.
"Dean we have to take him to the hospital." Sam said as he ignored the fact that he had a small soaking wet child sitting on his lap.
"Sam, look at him. He's soaking wet and so are you. It wouldn't be fair to let you change into warm dry clothes and force him to stay wet where he can get sick. I'm taking you both back to the motel and we'll let him go in and change. He needs to get dry or else he runs the risk of coming down sick and so do you. It's November for Christ's sake. He's practically blue even with the heater and my jacket." Dean replied emphatically. They'd already saved Alan from the fugly, he wasn't about to let this kid catch pneumonia.
"Fine." Sam said with a roll of his eyes.
"Thank you." Dean replied sharply as he put the car into drive. They drove down the road and when they pulled in to the motel, Dean reached over and plucked Alan up from Sam's lap. He snagged the bag of clothes from the floorboard before he went in. He carried Alan on his hip before he went in and set Alan on the floor. "Okay kiddo, time for you to take these and go into the bathroom and change."
Alan looked at the clothes in Dean's hands before he looked up at the young man. He looked down at his clothes and looked back up at Dean. When Dean actually looked at Alan, he realized the problem. Alan's clothes were still his costume that he wore for Halloween. Biting his lip, Dean knelt down on the floor and proceeded to help untie the ties of Alan's knight costume. Once the majority of the costume was shed, Dean ushered Alan into the bathroom with a pair of socks, underwear and the pajamas he'd purchased for him.
Sam had by that time entered the room and since the kid was in the bathroom, Sam stripped from his clothes and changed into a dry outfit. Dean sat on the foot of the bed he'd claimed and he stared blankly ahead. The bathroom door creaked open and Alan came walking out. He walked up to Dean and looked silently up at him. Dean looked down into the blue eyes that stared soulfully up at him.
"What is it kid?" Dean asked. To which Alan held up a sock. Dean looked down to spy naked little feet. Sighing more to himself, Dean reached down and picked Alan up and set him on his lap. Taking the socks from the child, Dean proceeded to cover his feet so they could warm up some. "There we go, nice and warm."
"Where's Scotty?" Alan asked.
Dean held Alan on his lap, he didn't know what to say to the young child. He and Sam went to the hospital just before they'd gone to rescue Alan and the teen was still unconscious. Doctors confirmed he was stable, but they didn't know why he wasn't waking up. They'd run a toxicity screen and there were absolutely no drugs in his system. Now Dean was left with trying to explain to the child that his older brother wasn't waking up.
"He's sick. He's in the hospital." Dean said simply.
"Why?" Alan asked from his place on Dean's lap.
"Kiddo, I don't know." Dean whispered as he looked into the soulful eyes of the young child. "We'll take you to him soon."
"I'm sleepy." Alan whispered.
"It about your bedtime now kiddo." Dean said softly as he turned Alan so that the boy was resting against his chest. "You want to go to bed?"
"Mm-hmm." Alan hummed as he rubbed at his eyes. Dean nodded before he stood and used one hand to pull down the blankets of his bed. He took great care when it came to tucking little Alan into bed. He turned out the light directly above the bed and moved over to the table where Sam was sitting currently.
"So, what now?" Sam asked as he looked over towards the bed Alan was sleeping in.
"What do you mean what now? We have to find a way to gank the son of a bitch rusalka, break the hypnotic spell the kid is under." Dean said softly.
"But what about the boy?" Sam asked "We can't just keep him from his family."
"I know…but we need to figure this out. We can't just walk up with Alan, say here you go saved him from a rusalka. That's sure to get us locked up in a loony bin."
"So what are we gonna do?" Sam asked again.
"I don't know…just. I'm gonna go out for a drink. Stay here with the kid and salt the doors. I don't want that rusalka bitch trying to take him again." Dean said before he stood and grabbed his jacket. He shrugged it on and paid no mind to the dampness of the inner fabric. It'd warm up eventually. Grabbing his keys, Dean left the motel room without another word and closed the door with a soft click.
"Thanks, I might want a whiskey too." Sam mumbled under his breath before he went to sit on his own bed. He turned on the television and sighed as he observed the static channels. Shutting off the tv, Sam grabbed his laptop and proceeded to do some more research. He started looking up information in regards to Darcy and Tabitha Penn's final resting place. Despite them now being rusalki and no longer human, they were still classified as spirits and he figured that their bones could be salted and burned as additional protection.
Remembering what Dean said, Sam stood and prepared to salt the door when he noticed movement outside the window. He looked up and parted the curtains before he hurriedly closed them. Darcy was standing outside the room and she certainly didn't look happy. She was standing in her nightshirt, long blond hair wet and stringy. She looked like one of those creatures of the undead. Sam quickly laid the salt lines before he poured a circle of salt in the middle of the room. He picked up Alan and the bedding and knelt within the circle. Dialing for Dean's cell phone, Sam tried to remain calm even as he heard a haunting song.
"Sam…what?" Dean's voice carried through the line.
"It's Darcy, she's back!"
TBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTB
Dean immediately jumped into action when he heard Sam say Darcy was back. He threw a ten down at the bar and ran from the room. Sam had either hung up or the reappearance of Darcy caused interference. Regardless, Dean called Bobby and didn't bother to hesitate when Bobby answered with a grumble.
"Look Bobby, I know it's late but we think it's a rusalka that took those boys. I need to know if you can find a sure fire way to destroy a rusalka! Sam and that little boy are in danger!" Dean said as he gunned the engine and drove with reckless abandon to get back to the motel.
"I'll see what I can do Dean." Bobby said though he didn't make any promises.
TBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTB
When Dean arrived outside the motel, he barged into the room when he saw the door hanging barely on the hinges. He ran in to see Darcy and Tabitha trying to lure Alan from the salt circle. Sam was holding the child tightly to his chest, one hand covering Alan's ears and pressing the other ear to Sam's chest. Sam on the other hand had his head bowed to his shoulder, covering one ear with his free hand and using his shoulder to cover the other ear.
As soon as he heard the singing, Dean mimicked Sam and used his shoulder to cover one ear while he covered his other ear with his non-dominant hand. Reaching along the window sill, Dean grabbed a large handful of salt before he yelled to get the rusalki to look at him. Once their attention was off Sam and Alan and on himself, Dean threw the handful of salt at the rusalki. They hissed before they disappeared and with who knows how long they had before the sons of bitches reappeared, Dean reached into the circle of salt and grabbed Sam by the arm before bodily hauling his kid brother and the small child from the circle. Sam stumbled as he hurried to stand up and before he could throw a punch in defense of him and the boy he heard Dean.
"Come on Sam!" Dean bellowed as he dragged his brother from the room and to the impala.
"Where are we gonna go?!" Sam asked as he held tight to the little boy in his arms.
"I figure that they're spirits right? Maybe they can't set foot onto hallowed ground!" Dean said sharply as he put the pedal to the metal and sped from the parking lot. He sped down the highway, the hounds of hell could have been on his heels and he wouldn't have known it.
Turning sharply, Dean navigated the curve into the cemetery. The leather of Dean's jacket creaked as he leaned with the car as she turned tight on her axel. Once beyond the gates of the cemetery, Dean slowed down marginally before making a stop in front of a mausoleum. He and Sam climbed from the interior of the car, Sam holding Alan close.
"How are we gonna get rid of them Dean?" Sam asked as he panted deeply.
"I don't know." Dean said even as his cell phone rang making all three of them jump out of their skin. "Bobby, please tell me you have something."
"Get to some hallowed ground if you can, a cemetery or church. That should protect you for now. "Bobby said.
"For now?! Why only for now?!" Dean asked incredulously.
"They'll figure out a way to get in. If you can last until morning, I've called Pastor Jim. He's gonna get on a flight and haul ass out to meet you boys, but he won't be there until morning at the earliest. I've called the shaman from that Arapaho tribe just east of you, he's got a few members that know what we do and they're going to come out and do a blessing and ceremony. I told Sal to go to the local cemetery or church, he's gonna get there soon and he knows ways to banish spirits for a while." Bobby explained.
"Why is Pastor Jim on his way if Sal has it under control?" Dean asked.
"I had him doing some research and he has an idea of where the bodies are buried. He's gonna come out at daylight and help you to dig them up so you can salt and burn their bones so that they can be put to rest." Bobby said.
Dean didn't know he'd been holding his breath, but he exhaled sharply when he heard the news. "Thanks Bobby."
"No problem son, you and those boys stay safe and get some rest if you can." Bobby said before he disconnected the call.
Dean looked to Sam once he'd gotten off the phone only to see his younger brother was rocking the little boy who'd been crying during the car trip out to the cemetery. "Let me take him Sam, you get some sleep."
Sam started to argue, but Dean gave him a look and that made Sam begrudgingly agree. Taking Alan from Sam, Dean tucked the little boy into the corner of his arm. Alan rested his head on Dean's shoulder as his bottom lip trembled.
"Hey now, no more waterworks." Dean whispered as he patted Alan on the back.
"I want my daddy." Alan whimpered as tears shone in his eyes.
"I know buddy; you'll be back with your family soon. I promise." Dean whispered again before he started humming Good Night by the Beatles. It was one of his kryptonite's. He liked listening to the Beatles, on occasion. It wasn't something many people knew about him, but it made him feel closer to his mom. She loved the Beatles. And it was the only song he could think of that might put the little guy to sleep long enough for him to think of a plan.
Dean sat up until the sun broke across the horizon. He cradled Alan against his chest as the child slept on. Looking to his right, Dean noticed Sam was sound asleep himself, face pressed against the glass and drool dribbling from his opened mouth. He wished he could access his phone to get a picture, but he knew he couldn't at the moment. Alan was sleeping on the side that Dean's phone was on. Dean was tired, but he'd had worse. He could stay awake for a while before he'd crash and need some sleep. If Sam and Alan were getting some, that was enough for him.
Looking into his rearview mirror, Dean noticed a pickup truck pulling up behind the impala. He kept a hold on the boy in his arms but leaned Alan forward just enough so that he could roll down the window and get some proper circulation going in his arm. A truck door closed softly and a man with long grey hair braided over his shoulder came forward. He was wearing a cowboy hat and was sporting a flannel and jeans.
"Hey, you Dean?" The man asked.
"Who's asking?" Dean replied.
"I'm Sal…Sal White Cloud. Bobby Singer told me you were in need of some help." Sal said to which Dean nodded.
"Yes, you know the kind of help." Dean said.
"I do, I brought my daughter and son in law along to help me with the ceremony." Sal said as he looked into the car to glimpse the little boy asleep in Dean's arms. "Your son?"
"No, a little boy that I rescued from the malevolent spirit. She won't leave him alone, keeps wanting to take him back to her place of death to take him with her." Dean said as he stifled a yawn. "I brought him to hallowed ground in hopes that would repel her for a while."
"As was the right thing for you to do. Malevolent spirits cannot dwell long in places of hallowed ground. When they are awake, if you would I'd like for you to take me to the land we are blessing to see if we can't lay her to rest. She needs to cross over." Sal said as he lowered his voice. "I am going to go to the airport to pick up Pastor Jim, we are familiar with each other and he's going to do what he can to help bless the land and maybe see about blessing the boy to break the connection between him and the spirit."
"That sounds good to me." Dean said as he reached up with his free hand to lightly push the little boys bangs from his face. "Do you think it'd be okay to take Alan to see his family or not?"
"Until we break the connection, I don't think it'd be a good idea. She might go after his family if she views them a threat." Sal advised.
"Alright, I'll figure out something for Sam and the kid to do while we hunt ourselves a couple of ghosts." Dean said.
"Bring them to the blessing ceremony. I want to smudge the negative energy from the boy and Pastor Jim is planning on spritzing him in holy water. It's one way to break the connection, or so I've heard." Sal commented before he turned to walk away. "Once the spirits have been released, then it should be safe for the boy to return to his family."
TBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTB
It was another hour yet that Alan and Sam slept. When they woke up, it was Alan that squirmed around on Dean's lap waking him from his light slumber.
"Hey kiddo where's the fire?" Dean asked.
"Gots to go potty." Alan said with a grimace.
"Oh…hey Sam, you want to take him out to find a tree?" Dean asked.
"Dean, we're in public. I don't think it'd be wise to let him take a leak in a local burial ground. Let's go find a diner so we can get some breakfast in him and let him go there." Sam said.
"Have you forgotten something Sam? He's a local around here. Anyone that sees him will know who he is and who he belongs to…we're supposed to be FBI." Dean replied, noticing Alan was squirming more. They didn't have long.
"I did research Dean and I know he's Jeff Tracy's son, but due to the paparazzi constantly trying to get a picture of the boy – he's pretty much kept on a leash on the family farm. They don't go anywhere except to the store on occasion because they have their own produce and meat. The matriarch, Jeff's mother keeps the boys at the farm house. She home schools each of the boys to keep them out of the public eye. I don't think many people will recognize the kid. He doesn't even look like his pictures online." Sam said.
"Sam, it's too much of a gamble." Dean argued. "What if we get found out?"
"Then we say we're cousins of Jeff's and that we're in town visiting. I'm telling you nobody is going to ask." Sam insisted. "Let's get the kid into town before he bursts a pipe."
Dean looked at the little boy and frowned in sympathy. Five year olds can only hold it for so long. "He's not gonna make it Sam."
"He won't if you don't get the car started and drive us up main street. He'll be fine until we get to a diner." Sam maintained once more.
"Well, you're cleaning it up if he doesn't make it." Dean said to which he moved Alan onto the bench seat between him and Sam before making sure he was buckled up. Alan's face was red as he clenched his eyes closed. "Let us know if you're about to have an accident…okay kid?"
Starting the impala, Dean took care driving out of the cemetery. He managed to avoid the couple potholes in the road before he located a diner not even five minutes down the road. Parking the impala, Dean picked up Alan and swiftly entered the diner. He made a b-line to the restrooms and walked in before placing Alan on the pot. He would have left the kid to do his business on his own, but his feet dangled high off the ground, he was afraid the kid would fall and hurt himself. Leaning against the wall, Dean closed his eyes so that the kid would know he wasn't looking.
"I'm done." Alan said softly to which Dean helped him off the big boy toilet. Lifting Alan up, Dean held him so the boy could wash his hands. "Let's go get some breakfast, okay kid?"
Walking back out into the diner, Dean set Alan on the booster seat that Sam grabbed. They all looked the menu over before Sam called the waitress over. She came over and started cooing over how cute Alan was. Dean took the credit for the kid being his kid to avoid suspicion, he had blond-ish hair while Sam had brown hair. It just wouldn't work if the kid was Sam's kid.
"Can I have a pancake?" Alan asked as he looked at Dean. His big blue eyes looking huge in the bright diner lights.
"Sure kiddo." Dean said before he ordered a pancake and scrambled eggs for Alan with a chocolate milk, a lumberjack stack for himself with bacon and hash browns while Sam ordered a garden omelet.
They waited for a bit, Sam excused himself to the bathroom after a few minutes and two cups of coffee. Dean played with his fork for a few minutes as Alan looked at him without wavering.
"Didn't your mother ever tell you not to stare?" Dean asked as he felt uncomfortable with Alan's staring. Those big blue eyes were practically staring into his soul. Alan shook his head slowly. "Well, she should have."
"Mommy's dead." Alan said softly. "I made her go away."
"No, kiddo. You didn't make her." Dean said not realizing what Alan meant.
"My birthday…mommy dead." Alan said softly. "Daddy don't like me…make him sad that mommy dead."
And it was then that Dean realized what Alan meant. Alan's mom was dead, she died when he was born. His dad was away a lot according to Sam and Alan must have understood his dad's absence as him being mad at Alan.
"I'm sorry kiddo." Dean apologized. He knew what it was like not to have a mom seeing as how she died when he was four.
"Here's your breakfast gentlemen, and here is a special smiley pancake for the big boy."
Alan's face lit up as he saw his pancake smiling back at him. He turned to Sam who sat next to him not even a minute later and lightly poked Sam's shoulder. Sam looked over at quirked an eyebrow at the boy's non-verbal request.
"He wants you to cut up his pancakes for him." Dean said, understanding the language of 'little brother'. Sam looked across the table at Dean with a look of his own making Dean sigh. The older hunter reached across the table and grabbed Alan's plate and utensils. He started to cut up Alan's pancakes for him and when he'd finished, he placed Alan's plate back in front of him.
"Thank you!" Alan chirped as he started shoveling food into his mouth.
TBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTB
Barely half an hour later, Dean and Sam were back in the impala with Alan heading back towards the old Myrtle place. Alan was curled up against Dean, nestled beneath his arm like a baby bird hid under a mother hen's wings. Dean didn't say anything about it, just liking being useful even if it was as a cuddle object for a child missing his family.
When they pulled up, Dean and Sam climbed from within the impala. Alan crawled out after Dean and ran up behind him, hanging on tight to the bottom hem of his leather jacket. They came to a stop in front of Pastor Jim and Sal White Cloud. They'd only just made it past introductions when they started getting down to business.
Sal, who had changed into a pure white outfit started preparing for the ceremony which would bless the land. His son in law knelt down and lit a stick of sage in a bowl to catch the ashes and used a tool made of feathers to smudge the pure smoke into the area. Taking the bowl of sage from his son in law and the feather, Sal proceeded to move the smoke in the direction he faced; wafting the smoke four times. He turned to the East first.
"Spirit of the East, Great Spirit of the Air, cleanse and inspire this space." With that said, Sal turned to the South. "Spirit of the South, Great Spirit of Water, strengthen and bring peace to this space."
Sal's son in law and daughter both closed their eyes and turned their hands palms up as they prayed for peace be brought to the land.
"Spirit of the West, Great Spirit of Fire, energize and protect this space." Sal turned once more, this time to the North. Smudging the smoke four times more he began to say the prayer. "Great Spirit of the Earth, ground and cleanse this space."
Dean would never admit it, but just prior to the ceremony once setting foot on the property he could almost feel an oppressive sort of weight bearing down on him. With the prayers being said, he could feel the weight lift from him. He watched Sal as he looked towards the clear blue sky.
"Great Father Sky, guard this space from above." Once said, Sal leaned over and smudged four times towards the ground before speaking again. "Great Mother Earth, nurture this space from below."
Sal laid his tools to the side and stood in silence with his eyes closed. Dean looked around to see everyone had closed their eyes…Pastor Jim had picked up Alan and rocked him for a little bit, making the boy fall asleep so of course his eyes were closed. Dean hadn't closed his eyes yet and he felt stupid doing it, but he decided to try it. After a few minutes, Dean heard Sal and the man whispered his thanks to the spirits of the East, South, West and North…as well as the spirits of the Sky and Earth. Dean himself didn't believe in those kinds of things, but he wasn't about to say that in front of White Cloud and his family. He didn't want the blessing ceremony to fail because of his disbelief in a higher power.
Once the blessing had been completed, Jim passed Alan to Sam before he pulled a vial of water from his pocket. He removed the lid and replaced it with a cap that allowed him to shake the vial and to spritz Alan. He muttered a blessing of his own over Alan while White cloud smudged some sage smoke over Alan.
When all was said and done, White Cloud let himself be led into the forest by Sam after the younger Winchester passed the slumbering little boy over to his older brother. He was planning to say a blessing over the location of death in hopes that it would further release Darcy and Tabitha's spirits.
Once they were alone, Dean went to sit on the hood of his car, Alan held against his chest and he wished he hadn't been left alone when Darcy made an appearance in broad daylight.
"You're not taking him again." Dean warned as he held his gun in front of him in preparation of shooting the spirit.
"I'm not going to take him again. I wanted to thank you." Darcy said, her image distorting. "Because of the blessings to the land, it's broken the curse that's been keeping Tabitha and me bound to the plot. We can leave now; I just want to thank you for watching him." Darcy said softly.
"What about the other boy? The one in the hospital?" Dean asked.
"He's awake now…the blessings broke the curse keeping me and Tabitha trapped here. The curse was broken, so now we can leave and our spell is broken on the older boy." Darcy said before an echoing voice called out.
"Mommy! Mommy, I found him!"
Dean and Darcy looked over in the direction of the voice and there was another little ghost with Tabitha. It was a little boy who resembled Alan, an almost eerie resemblance.
"It's Tabitha and Alexander, I'm free – I can go home. Thank you again. Thank you." Darcy said before she turned to be rejoined with her children, including the son she never got to know. Dean watched as Darcy picked up her two children before looking back at Dean with a smile. The three of them disappeared without another word and with their disappearance, came a feeling of peace, serenity and love washing over Dean. He might have shed a tear at the overwhelming feelings, but he'd never admit to it.
TBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTBTB
Once Sal White Cloud and Pastor Jim finished blessing the land, Sam and Dean went to the Tracy homestead. They didn't need a cover story, there wasn't any way they could tell a fib – not with Alan talking non-stop once they'd taken him to his grandma's place. Blowing whatever cover story Dean and Sam planned to tell the family.
Ruth smiled obligingly at her grandson as he spun the tale of Darcy and Tabitha taking him to another place. The older boys didn't know what was real and what was fake, they were used to Alan's tall-tales. As Alan continued prattling on about Darcy and Tabitha to his brothers, Ruth motioned with her head to Dean to join her in the kitchen.
Dean nodded before he stood, leaving Sam to be the baby sitter.
Ruth offered Dean a cup of what Dean assumed was coffee as she stood in the kitchen. Dean had barely taken a sip when Ruth revealed a hidden truth that not even Jeff knew about.
"Darcy was my mother's great-great-great-great grandmother you know? Tabitha was the second born child to Augustus and Darcy Penn. They'd had another child, that child was away with Darcy's sister, so was unharmed. They all lived in a homestead where Myrtle Crenshaw's place used to sit. After Darcy and Tabitha's murder, it was revealed by Darcy's sister that Augustus had a terrible temper and that he'd committed the crime, not Darcy. Augustus was hanged for his crime and their child who'd survived lived with her Aunt and Uncle who'd later built their new homestead where we're currently residing at. Most families would probably hide details like this, but my family told the story of Darcy and Tabitha's murder. It's no surprise to me that Alan would have been taken by Darcy, especially if she was a relative from many years past." Ruth admitted to which Dean's jaw dropped.
"Seriously? You don't find the talk of spirits or ghost, ghouls and goblins crazy?" Dean asked.
"I have grandsons that live and breathe stories of ghosts, ghouls and goblins – it's nothing unusual to me. I'd have liked to meet Darcy, but I know now that her soul is at peace and that's all that matters to me. Her spirit has been avenged, and you have my eternal thanks." Ruth said before she stood up. "As my thanks, I'd like to offer you and your brother a place to stay for the night. Seeing as how Darcy and Tabitha destroyed your room and the current motel owner is the only one in a hundred square miles. He's not too happy that the room he rented to you was destroyed. Though I know it wasn't your fault."
Dean was about to refuse but the promise of a warm bed sounded perfect to him. He knew he wouldn't make it to the next town over, he'd probably end up in a corn field somewhere – scratching up his baby's paint job. Dean nodded slowly in agreement as he felt his eyes closing slowly. He wondered what Ruth had put into her coffee when he looked down to realize too late that it wasn't coffee. She'd given him a mug of warm milk as a way to relax him. She was a grandmother; he knew she'd known a thing or two about how to make pesky young boys go to sleep. He didn't think that would include him too.
"Alright, let's get you settled into bed and I'll wake you when it's time for some dinner." Ruth said as she led Dean up the servant stairway and to the guest rooms upstairs. Ushering him into a room, Dean practically melted into the bed. He hadn't realized how tired he was, but then three nights of no sleep was bound to catch up with him at some point.
Once Dean was taken care of, Ruth lured Sam into the kitchen and did the same to him, ensuring they both would still be there when she'd returned from bringing Scott back from the hospital. She was going to leave John and his brothers here, since her neighbor Rhonda had come over to make sure the boys would be safe. Ruth ran in to town and picked up Scott after he'd been released. The teen had no idea what had happened, and Ruth decided she'd let Alan chatter Scott's ear off. Scott probably wouldn't believe any of it anyway.
End
A/N: Greetings to all my readers and fellow writers, here is my latest Halloween fic. Please go to my wall if you're a follower of my Never Look Back story series as I've posted another poll. We tied in 1st place results and I want your input on the tiebreaker between the two tied opponents. I will keep this poll open until November 3rd.
Thank you for your support and ya'll are awesome! Lots of love and high fives to you all that have stuck with me through my bouts of absence.
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