Ellie let out a groan of annoyance when she spotted cop cars parked in front of the grocery store, blocking traffic. Turning her car around, she parked down the street before walking down to the store. She wasn't going to skip getting apple juice just because the cops were blocking the way.
Slipping through the doors, she immediately headed towards the isle where the store kept her wanted apple juice; greeting townsfolk as she went. "Love me some apple juice," she murmured to herself happily to herself when she finally had the large jug in her hands. Paying for the juice, Ellie stepped back out of the store and ran right into one of the police officers loitering about, who looked relieved to see her. "Miss Ellie, I'm sorry to interrupt your day, but we've got an issue that we'd like your help on," he said nervously.
Ellie could never understand why the people in her town would act so skittish around her, but then go to her for every little thing. Of course, she wouldn't turn them down when asked for help; so, she nodded her head at the officer and motioned for him to lead the way.
The officer led Ellie a few blocks away from the store, up to one of the many houses located there, and through the house's door. "So, what's going on?" she asked as she looked around with a frown gracing her features. "There was a group of teenagers having a sleepover, and one of them swears that a thing called 'Candyman" killed their friend," another officer supplied helpfully. Ellie glanced at the cop, "Where are the kids?" she inquired.
"At the hospital; a few of them were hurt."
She nodded her head, walking into the room where it happened, and blinked at the feeling she got as she stood in the center of the room. "Who did they say killed their friend?"
"Uh," the officer checked their reports, "'Candyman'."
Ellie's eyes scanned the area, looking for any traces of sulfur, but found none. Good; this meant that her town was still mostly under the radar. Since she found no sulfur, she decided to scan through her memory banks in order to see if she had any hidden information on anything named Candyman. As she went through the mental information of her town, two men strolled in. At first she didn't recognise the two, too focused on her task, when one of them spoke, "Agent Murdock and Styles," he began, more than likely showing their badges, "we were assigned this case."
Opening her eyes, Ellie turned around to see who these men were; and her eyes landed on one Dean and Sam, from before. "Well, well, well. Look what the cat dragged back in." she stated with a smile, catching the brother's attention. "Hello again, boys."
"Miss Ellie, you know these men?" an officer asked, and Ellie nodded."Yup. They came through town maybe eight months ago?" she said offhandedly, looking to the brothers for confirmation.
"Uh, yeah. I think it was about that long ago," Sam agreed. "If you'd please, Maybelle." Ellie said, nodded her head towards the door. Getting the hint, the officer, Maybelle, nodded her head, and ushered the other cops out of the room.
"Sam and Dean, what a pleasure seeing you again." Ellie greeted, and the men gave her a smile. "Hey again," Sam greeted back. "So, what brings you two here, to my little town?" Ellie asked curiously, watching them as she moved to sit on the couch. "Heard about the strange death, and was near town so we decided to investigate." Dean answered. Ellie hummed thoughtfully, "I thought you two were journalists of some kind?"
"No. We're definitely people of the law," Dean said, before Sam could say anything. "We just like to write in our spare time."
"Interesting. If you'd allow me, I'd be happy to spare you my time in order to figure out this mystery." Ellie offered. She didn't believe the brothers for one second. She knew who they were. They weren't pulling the wool over her eyes. But she'd play along.
At least until she didn't have to.
"Thank you, we'll come to you if we ever need your help." Sam thanked, and Ellie nodded, rising up from the couch and walking towards the door. "If you're investigating, I'd suggest looking into something named 'Candyman'," she told them, and left the room.
"So get this," said Sam, looking over to his brother, who sat on the bed, seemingly taking a nap. "From what I've gotten so far; Candyman is an urban legend about a guy who dated this woman back during the slavery times. He was an amazing painter, who used sugar in his paint to make extraordinary pictures. A man hired him to make a portrait of his daughter, but in the process, he fell in love. Stories say that because of the color of his skin, and the fact that the girl was white, he had to keep their relationship a secret. But he told his friend, who eventually ratted him out to her father. Hearing this, the dad took a group of townspeople and basically gave him a public death, covering him in honey and throwing him into a beehive where he died."
Dean rolled over and looked at this brother, "And Willy Wonka wasn't happy about it." Dean stated sleepily, and Sam nodded.
"Right before he died, he cursed his friend, swearing he would destroy him, and anyone who betrays another."
"Sounds rough."
"Legend says that saying his name multiple times in a dark room will summon him, and he will stab you to death with candy canes." Sam said, and Dean grimaced. "Really?"
Sam looked back to his brother again, nodding. "Yeah, that's about it."
Dean looked thoughtful, "So a simple salt 'n burn?" he asked. "More than likely. Now it's only looking for the grave. But it doesn't really explain how he's getting around so easily. Bodies and ghosts are usually together in the same area, and he's buried in New Orleans." Sam responded. "Alright. Look for a grave, and we'll try a salt 'n burn to see if it works." Dean stated, and Sam nodded, turning back to the computer. Dean pushed himself up from the bed and reached over to tug his boots onto his feet. "Well, I'm going to grab a bite to eat." he said once he tied the laces. "Want me to bring you anything back?"
Not looking up from the computer, Sam shook his head. "No. I'll see you later," he responded easily, and Dean shrugged, no sweat off his back. "Alright, I'll see you in a few hours." he said back, leaving the room.
It only took a couple minutes for Dean to find a place to eat at, and after he was sitting and looking through his menu, he sent a text to Sam, telling him where he was in case he needed to know. Once he received a confirmation text from his brother, he set his phone down and went through the menu, debating on what to get.
"I recommend the Porterhouse Steak." a voice said to him.
Head shooting up, Dean's eyes fell on the person who spoke, who he recognised as Ellie. She gave him a smile and pointed to the seat across from him, "may I?" she asked, and Dean nodded his head, so she slid into the booth.
"Where's your partner?" she asked curiously, pointing out a milkshake to the waitress when she walked to their booth. "He's, uh, working on the case." Dean answered after he gave the waitress his own order. "Yeah? How's that going?" Ellie leaned onto the table, elbows pressing into the surface as her hands held her up.
"Pretty good so far. Your Candyman hint helped a bit." Ellie smiled at this, "Oh! Good. I help when I can." She told him.
Dean went to respond, but was interrupted as their orders were placed in front of them. Immediately, Ellie began to drink her shake, grinning around the straw as the vanilla taste danced along her tongue. Dean gave a hum of appreciation as he ate pieces of his steak, and Ellie looked up at him with an amused smile. "Good, isn't it." she asked, and Dean simply nodded in agreement, so they sat in a comfortable silence at ate. While Ellie was distracted drinking her shake, Dean examined her. She was strange, the way she moved about and talked to others. He was suspicious, but not entirely. There wasn't much he could go off that would give reason for his suspicions anyway. And for all he knew, she could just be one of those creepy people that simply liked stories and myths.
As if she felt his staring, Ellie looked up and the two locked eyes. After a few moments of looking at each other silently, she spoke. "See something you like, secret agent man?"
Turning his attention back to his food, he shook his head. "Not really," said Dean. Ellie grinned and leaned back in her booth, crossing her arms across her chest. "So, what'd you find out about our Candyman?" she asked.
"Sam only found a myth about it, but we don't have much information from it." Ellie 'tsk'ed and frowned, looking at her shake in thought, "Nothing else?
Dean shook his head, causing her to sigh. "Alright, thanks for the information so far." She began to grab her things before standing from the booth and taking her shake from the table.
"Where are you going?"
"Home, I suppose. I got stuff I need to do." And with that, she spun on her heel and strode quickly towards the doors. "Hey, wait! Ellie!" Dean hurried after her, throwing cash onto the table before rushing towards the door; but when he left through the door and stood outside, there was no sign of her.
She simply disappeared.
"What…?" Dean furrowed his eyebrows, confused.
"Sir!" someone called from inside the shop, and he turned to see one of the waitresses walk up to him, "You left your money," she told him, and and he took the cash back, still confused. "I haven't payed." he responded, and the woman shook her head. "Your friend payed before she left," she stated. "Have a good day!" she added with a smile, walking back into the restaurant.
"...What the hell just happened?" Dean asked aloud.
Ellie hummed to herself, moving gracefully through her house as she sweeped her hardwood floor. With the brothers on the 'Candyman' case, she felt she didn't need to really look into it. She wasn't stupid. Obviously someone like her knew of the Winchester brothers and what they did. Their lying was entertaining, and was mostly why she decided to help them way-back-when during the catacomb issue. After giving them the needed information on how to deal with the beasts in the underground tunnels, she didn't think about them again, deeming them unneeded information since she decided they probably wouldn't be coming back.
But since they were here again, back and suspicious, Ellie decided to do her best to lay low and stay under the brother's radar. At least for now.
A knock on her door was startling, and she nearly dropped her broom in surprise. She must have been too into her thoughts, because she had never sensed anyone coming to her door. "Coming!" she called, and set the broom down against the wall before rushing towards the door.
Opening it, she was surprised to see Christian. He looked anxious, and kept looking around like he was afraid something was coming. "Christian, what's the matter, hon?" she asked, lightly tugging the boy into the house, who went in with no complaint. "It's Amy. She played th' game!" Christian exclaimed, and Ellie raised an eyebrow. "What game?"
She sat him down in the living room before hurrying into the kitchen, emerging a few seconds later with a cup of cocoa while he talked. "Amy thought that th' Candyman story was stupid, and that it wasn't real. She said his name in her room with her friend, and now she's gone! Her friend looked like she was dead. I called the police before I came over." He looked very worried.
Ellie handed him the mug as she sat beside him, and he greedily drank the liquid as Ellie began to speak, "Well...did Amy or her friend have any secrets that you know about?"
"I dunno. I don't think so," he responded, and Ellie hummed. "Ok. Do you feel in danger? I'll call someone to make sure you're safe until I figure things out, if you'd like."
Christian nodded, and Ellie stood up again to grab the home phone from the coffee table before sliding out into the hallway, out of hearing range from Christian. "Hello, this is Ellie," she greeted after dialing a number into the phone. "I'm looking for a Sam or a Dean? Officers; one is very tall with floppy hair." she paused, listening to the customer service. "Yes. Yes. Ok, thank you." she ended the call before pressing a few more numbers into the phone, and pressed the device onto her ear once it started ringing.
"...Hello?"
"Officer Sam Styles!" she greeted as Sam answered. "I need a favor of you…"
Twenty minutes later found both Sam as well as Dean at Ellie's house; staring down at the fidgeting Christian on the couch. "So, basically, what you want us to do is to babysit Christian here," Dean nodded towards the boy, "while you go off to do things in which you can't tell us about?"
Ellie nodded her head; not even looking in their general direction as she moved about, grabbing things and stuffing them into her satchel. "Yup. I'd appreciate if you could just do this for me. I've helped you guys twice now." she told him. Dean opened his mouth to protest when she interrupted.
"If he gets hungry, he's been here enough times to know where everything is to make something. He also knows my mobile, if you need it. I promise I'll be back as soon as possible. Thank you guys so much!" and with that, she rushed out the house. Immediately after the door was closed, Dean stepped up to open it and protest some more; but saw nothing but the darkness of evening. "Dean, relax. It's not that big a deal. I thought you liked kids." Sam said from the living room. He rolled his eyes before closing and locking the door and heading back to Christian and his brother.
"Besides," Sam continued, watching whatever was on the TV, "you were willing enough to come."
"I thought she had information on our resident Candyman." Dean grumbled in return. Christian looked up at the mention of candyman, "I hope Miss Ellie doesn't go after him. I hope Amy is ok." he murmured quietly, like he was mumbling this to himself. The brothers shared a look, "What're you talking about?" Dean asked him, and Christian looked surprised at being addressed. "Huh?"
"About the Amy person. What do you mean?" Dean clarified. "Oh, uh, my sister. She said Candyman 'cause she was tryin' to prove to me that it wasn't real, but now she's disappeared. I think Miss Ellie went off to find her."
"What?!"
Ellie fluttered silently onto stable ground and look around the dark forestry. She had immediately flown towards where she felt Amy was as soon as she had left her home. She could still sense her somewhere nearby, so Ellie began walking in the direction she thought she'd be. "Amy!"
Of course, she received no answer, so she continued to walk. Possibly fifteen minutes or so later, she stopped and called Amy's name again, and this time she could hear a quiet, muffled banging noise. She turned towards the noise, and spotted a moving pile of wood in the ground.
Taking the faux flooring away revealed a hole in the earth, Amy inside. "Miss Ellie!" she cried when her eyes settled on the woman. "Amy, are you ok?" asked Ellie; rushing to pull the teenager from the hole. "Yeah, this shadowed man took me and put me here, though." Amy responded, looking mildly concerned. "I thought I was going to die down there!"
'If I hadn't have come, you probably would have.' Ellie thought grimly to herself as she helped pat away the dirt from the girl's clothes. "Do you know where the shadow man went?" Ellie asked her, and Amy shook her head. "No, he just disappeared into thin air after bringing me here." she denied. Ellie sighed, but nodded. "I'm going to look for him, alright? I will be just fine. I just need to know if your friend had any secrets that she told you. Ones that would destroy relationships, possibly." she explained, and Amy shifted her feet, thinking.
"...I don't think so. Not any that she's told me." She said honestly.
Humming, Ellie patted the girl's head and subtly snapped her fingers. "Alright. Down this trail right here, is my car. I want you take it down to my house. Your brother is there, waiting for you to come back, with two people I trust to protect you both. Go straight there, and tell them I'll come as soon as I'm able. You understand?" she asked as she pointed towards the trail where the newly-placed car would be located.
"I-I understand." Amy agreed, and Ellie smiled at her before dropping the keys into the teen's awaiting hands. "Be safe, Amy." she warned, and Amy nodded. "Thank you so much, Miss Ellie." she said graciously; then departed for the car. Ellie watched her carefully, making sure her walk down to the vehicle was safe. After she was safely situated in the car, and began driving off to Ellie's house, Ellie frowned and looked around the area.
"Right, then. Candyman." she murmured to herself, and then flew towards where she was positive Candyman was buried.
Which was, coincidentally, in New Orleans.
The moment she landed onto the graveyard, shovel in hand, her phone rang loudly in the dark. Startled by the sudden noise, she nearly dropped her shovel, and took a few seconds to compose herself before taking her phone out.
Written across the screen was her home phone's number. Worried that something had happened, she answered immediately. "Yes?"
"Where the hell are you? We were expecting you to come back with the sister." came Dean's voice; snappy and irritated.
"I'm so sorry, I just have a thing I need to do and then I'll be on my way home, I promise." Ellie stated, shifting the phone onto her shoulder in order to grab the shovel better.
"That didn't answer my question, Ellie."
Ellie rolled her eyes, even though he wouldn't be able to see it. "I'll talk to you later, Dean." she simply answered, and ignoring his loud protests, ended the call and turned the phone on silent.
"O~kay." she murmured to herself, and scanned the graves briefly until her eyes landed on a specific grave.
Owned to one Daniel Robitaille.
A smile graced her features, and she handled the shovel before pushing it into the dirt. It was time to start digging.
Roughly ten minutes later, Ellie found herself standing in a giant hole in the ground, looking at the coffin of Robitaille. She hit the lock with the metal of the shovel, and the coffin opened up; revealing a skeleton. She fumbled for a brief moment with the salt canister, but managed to sprinkle it over the decomposed body. After lighting a match and throwing it into the coffin, she took a moment to watch the body burn, then flew back to her house.
Candyman was definitely done.
She landed on the porch of her home, and she moved to go inside when she heard a flutter of wings. Turning around her eyes landed on a tall man in a trench coat, staring at her with seemingly unblinking blue eyes. A few seconds passed between them before she spoke, "Can I help you, sir?"
"What are you," the man asked, "I cannot sense anything in your presence."
Ellie blinked, confused at the statement. "Excuse me?" she asked. he man walked up the porch steps and continued to look at her. "You are not human, but I can't sense anything else."
Oh! An angel, then. That was strange, though, since she hadn't seen an angel in nearly a millenium. At the very least, she was glad that her angel-warding seals were working.
Deciding not to answer, she turned and strode into the house; the trenchcoat angel following silently. "Hello?" she called, "Christian? Amy?"
Almost immediately, she could hear the pitter-patter of footsteps upstairs as they rushed down the stairs. "Miss Ellie!" Christian cried, and launched himself into her. She easily managed to avoid falling over when he rammed into her stomach, grunting. "Amy got home alright?" she asked him, Amy, Dean and Sam following. "Yeah. She parked your car in the back," Christian told her.
Ellie hummed and pulled away from the teenager, "Good."
"Cas, what are you doing here?" Dean asked, and the group turned to look at the man standing behind Ellie.
"You and Sam disappeared suddenly, so I came to find you," Cas (Castiel, Ellie's mind supplied helpfully) stated, turning his attention to the green-eyed man.
"Disappeared? We've been here basically all night." Sam told him, confused.
"Around twilight, you two disappeared from my senses, so I came to the last place I felt you," Castiel turned to look at Ellie with narrowed eyes, "Here," and turned back to the brothers, "to find you."
The three turned their attention back to Ellie, who gently ushered Christian and Amy up the stairs with the quiet order to go watch something on the TV in the guest bedroom. After affirming that they were indeed upstairs, Ellie brought her attention to the three, "Yes?"
"You going to explain?" asked Dean, narrowing his eyes at the blonde. "Explain what? My amazing warding?" she responded, "I know what's out there. I'm not going to live defenseless."
"I thought you were just a storyteller," Sam stated aloud. Ellie rolled her eyes, "Of course not. I wouldn't know all these tales and then not have ways to protect myself from what's in them." she remarked. "I'm not a stupid individual." she sounded offended at the suggestion.
"We aren't saying you are," Sam soothed, "We just want information."
Ellie sighed and crossed her arms, "Ask and you shall recieve." she replied.
"What are you?" Dean Immediately asked, frowning at her. Ellie turned her attention to the man. "I'm like your friend over there." she said, nodded towards Castiel. The brothers both turned to the direction and laid eyes on him. "You're an angel? Of all things?" Dean looked incredulous at the idea. "Which angel?" Sam asked at the moment Castiel asked "What is your name?"
Ellie was hesitant. Did she really want to put herself out there again, after all these years of silence? The grace in her screamed 'yes,' dying to come out and finally stretch itself to the fullest. But her mind screamed 'no,' scared that she wouldn't know what could happen to her. What they would do (or try to do) to her. She didn't want to harm anyone; she was a defender, and never fought unless provoked. So if they came at her, she would have no other option but to fight back. And there was no guarantee that they would defeat her.
Yet she threw caution to the wind, decided that she would be able to handle herself.
"Raziel. My real name is Raziel."
