Ok Friday is technically the weekend and I've been having internet problems out at my apartment again. So since I have access to the internet now, however temporary it might be, I decided I should get this last chapter posted while I could. Thanks to all those who've read and especially those who've reviewed, I've really appreciated the feedback.

WARNING: This chapter does have a darker tone to it - when I posted it on the last site I wrote it for a lot of my readers did say it was darker than they were used to from me. This is the epilogue of my story, even if it is really long but I've combined two chapters together, so that's why it is so long. But dark scenes ahead, very graphic and scary tones. You've been warned.


The ride back to the barn was quiet, Jesse didn't seem to have anything to say to either of the brothers, and both of them were watching Jesse anxiously. Ranger bobbed his head up and down and nickered eagerly when the barn came into view and picked up his feet a little bit more, his gait picking up a little as he looked forward to returning to his stall. Ebony chomped on her bit and shook her elegant black neck as a few flies danced around her ears. She snorted and perked her ears forward as a few long blades of grass swayed in a light breeze. Buck's ears swiveled around on his head and his tail swished lazily as a few flies hovered around his hindquarters.

Dean shot a look at Sam but Sam just shook his head subtly and stared ahead as they approached the barn, and Sam was sure that at least Randy would be there to meet them. As they got closer to the barn Jesse stiffened and pulled Buck up abruptly. The bay tossed his head and snorted, stomping one hoof angrily and chomped on his bit. "Oh great," Jesse moaned as he stared past the barn to where the brothers had parked the impala earlier that week. A new car was parked next to it, a pale blue convertible with the top down. The sun glinted off the windshield making the light bounce off a few of the closest trees and the leather seats gleamed a little under the hot sun.

"What is it?" Dean asked as he nudged Ranger up next to Buck before bringing him to a halt.

"Callie," Jesse said simply as he scowled at the convertible, clearly not happy about seeing it.

"I'm sorry who?" Sam asked as he wiped the perspiration away from his brow. His dark chestnut locks had begun to stick together in wet clumps as the sun got hotter, his shirt was already sticking to his back.

"Callie - Stephen's girl friend," Jesse explained as he nudged Buck forward again. The bay immediately responded and picked up into a trot, eager to get back to the confines of the barn. Jesse pulled him up a little and Buck snorted in frustration. He swished his tail, the long coarse hairs hitting Ebony's face and she tossed her head angrily.

"You don't like her?" Sam hedged, shooting Dean a quick sharp look as Dean smirked.

"She's ok I guess," Jesse said with a slight shrug. "She's just really weird."

"Weird?" Dean asked.

Jesse shrugged again but didn't explain further.

Randy emerged from the barn as they approached the outside fence, his face tense and worried, a frown pulling at the corners of his mouth. He crossed his arms over his broad chest and watched them as they dismounted their horses and lead them forward, Sam and Dean having the good sense to look abashed as they approached.

"Are you boys ok?" Randy asked as soon as they were close enough that he didn't have to shout at them.

Sam and Dean nodded in unison.

"Next time you boys want to go out on the trail let us know and someone will go with you. You had us worried that something had happened to you this morning," Randy said his tone a bit miffed but he looked more relieved than anything that they hadn't been injured.

"Sorry about that, Randy," Sam said quickly. Dean let Sam do the talking, his little brother had always had that gift of making people calm down quickly, it was best that he let Sam work his magic. "Jesse just showed us something really interesting on the trail yesterday and we wanted to go see it again."

"What was that?" Randy asked as he cocked an eyebrow inquiringly at his son.

"The dead tree off the west trail, guess the story of the horseman really got their imaginations going," Jesse teased as he grinned up at his father. "They thought that there was more to the legend and thought they'd be able to catch the horseman so they went to investigate the tree."

Randy's eyebrows rose incredulously and he look at Sam and Dean in surprise. "You boys realize that the horseman is just a legend around here right? There's no such thing."

Sam and Dean nodded, looking solemn.

"Good," Randy said with a slight nod. "We've had enough people getting hurt around here lately, don't want you boys to be next." Then he turned back to his son, clamped his hand on Jesse's shoulder for a brief second before he headed for the house, probably to let Jean know that Sam and Dean had made it back safely.

Jesse grinned at the brothers as he lead Buck into the barn, Sam and Dean followed him. They took their horses to the cross ties and took the heavy saddles off their horses' backs. Their horses seemed relieved to have the saddles off of them and they nickered to each other. Jesse took the saddles back to the tack room while Sam and Dean began to brush the dirt and sweat from their horses' necks and coats.

"Better hose them off too," Jesse said as he returned. He gestured to the far corner of the cross ties where a coiled hose was already attached to the faucet. "It'll help cool them down faster."

Sam nodded and started for the hose, but paused when the clicking of approaching heels caught his attention. He saw Jesse tense and then Jesse became suddenly very interested in Buck's mane, trying to disentangle the smooth mane.

"Jesse, have you seen Diamond's saddle?"

Jesse flinched and pretended that he was working on untangling a bit of Buck's mane.

Dean stared at the new comer, sure that this was Stephen's girl friend Callie. She was short, much shorter than he was, probably only a little over five feet if he was to make a guess. She had rich chocolate brown hair that fell just below her shoulders, it gleamed under the barn lights in strange ways, almost making it look as if she had highlights, but it was obvious that this girl had never dyed her hair before. It was impossible to get such a rich color from dye. Her face was oval, but round in the cheeks. Her hazel eyes were almond shaped, but hidden under heavy brows, which had met over the bridge of her round nose. Her cheeks were pink and her lips a bright red. She wore a black spaghetti strap, which seemed to be too big for her because the straps kept slipping off her delicate shoulders. She'd fidget with them, pulling them back up but they kept slipping off again. The shorts she wore hugged her thighs and stopped just above her knees, although they were a bit uneven and ragged, as though she'd just cut the legs off a pair of jeans and made the shorts herself. Her boots were tall and black with heels that looked uncomfortable to even stand in, let alone walk. But she stood with confidence, her arms folded across her chest, seeming unaware that the straps on her spaghetti strap had slipped off her shoulders again as she stared at Jesse.

"Did you check the tack room?" Jesse asked, not looking at her.

"Yes, it isn't there," Callie said hotly, as if knowing that Jesse was going to ask her the obvious question.

"Then go check the shed out back, maybe one of the stirrups needed to be replaced and Dad forgot to bring it back in," Jesse said shrugging his shoulders.

Callie huffed impatiently then seemed aware of Dean's scrutiny. She turned to him, her hazel eyes narrowing and her red lips pursing as she glared at him. She shifted her weight a little, her shorts tightening at her hips as she shifted them. She ran her fingers through her long brown hair, sweeping it away from her face.

"Can I help you?" She demanded hotly.

Dean shook his head and gave her a slight smile, but it faltered as her gaze grew colder.

"Then what are you staring at?"

"Nothing," Dean said turning away and returning his attention to grooming Ranger.

Callie huffed and pulled the straps of her spaghetti strap back onto her shoulders then she turned away, walking swiftly back the way she'd come her heels echoing off the barn walls. Dean stared after her, his eyebrows pulling together a little and his lips tightening to a thin line.

"Real winner isn't she?" Jesse asked as he tossed the mane comb into Buck's grooming bucket.

"She always like that?" Sam asked as he turned the hose on Ebony. The mare's ears went flat against her head and she turned her neck to look at him as the cold water ran over her hot sweaty body. She swished her tail a little then nickered and turned away from him, shifting her weight to her right side.

"No I think she is in a good mood today," Jesse sighed and then looked at the watch on his wrist. "It's almost time for lunch."

Dean's stomach growled, he hadn't realized that they'd been gone so long, or how hungry he was. But now that Jesse mentioned food he found he was suddenly ravenous. He quickly picked out each of Ranger's hooves then accepted the hose from Sam, running the cold water over Ranger's body from neck to hind quarters. Ranger seemed to enjoy it, he bobbed his head up and down then tossed his head in the air and made a strange noise that made Dean smile a little. He patted Ranger's neck affectionately and unclipped the cross tie hooks from Ranger's halter. The gelding followed Dean willing down the aisle towards his stall.

Dean rubbed the gelding's nose softly as he looked up in those big brown eyes, Ranger's ears swiveled forward and he nickered gently. Dean shook his head, quickly took off the halter and let himself out of the stall. Sam was already outside of Ebony's stall, looking down the aisle with a puzzled expression on his face.

"What is it?" Dean asked as he joined him.

"Hmm?" Sam asked absent-mindedly, as though Dean had pulled him out of some deep thought. Then his cheeks darkened a little in embarrassment and he gave his brother a crooked grin. "Oh, nothin' just thinkin' is all."

"Care to share with the class there, Sammy boy?"

"It's just - did you see the necklace Callie was wearing?"

"She was wearing a necklace?"

Sam frowned at him. "Yeah, Dean, she was - a horseshoe."

"Hmm," Dean said biting his lower lip and rubbing the back of his neck. "You think that means something?"

Sam's frown deepened. "Probably not - most people wear them for good luck charms, the horseshoe is supposed to hold good luck in but it also repels evil spirits, devils and supposedly witches. There isn't any scientific proof that they actually work, just folklore and superstitions mostly," He shrugged.

"Did you see her tattoo?"

It was Sam's turn to look surprised his eyebrows shot towards his hairline and his mouth popped open in shock.

"See, I do pay attention," Dean said with a grin.

Sam shook his head a little and stared at his brother incredulously. "What's a tattoo got to do with anything?"

"She has a black widow on her left shoulder."

"A black widow?" Sam asked a little puzzled, "Are you sure?"

"Pretty sure," Dean said sounding a little annoyed. "Why?"

"Well, that would contradict the horseshoe's powers," Sam said frowning again.

"How's that?"

"Well, the black widow itself is always a dark symbol, people always associate it with dark beings - the devils and witchcraft. Others see the female black spider as one who will always be looking for love because she always kills the male after mating, eating him - even during the mating at times."

"Whoa, hold up," Dean said throwing up his hands and staring at his brother in disbelief. "They eat them while mating? How is that even possible?"

"Well, the male will somersault his abdomen in front of the female's mouth and she'll often start to eat the top part of his abdomen, he is able to pull the lower half of his abdomen, including reproduction parts away from the upper half and will go down and mate with the female while she's distracted. After he's done mating she'll either finish eating him, or he'll die on his own."

"How do you even know this crap?" Dean demanded incredulously.

"Just some stuff I learned in one of my biology classes in high school," Sam said with a slight shrug.

"And you remember it?"

Sam ignored that.

"Ok, so the black widow is the she devil of the spiders, what about the tattoo?"

"A lot of people associate the black widow as being a silent killer, beautiful but deadly often under estimated because of her small size. She's a silent killer, something that could appear harmless at first glance, but she's just waiting for the right opportunity to make her attack. Some even think that the tattoo of a black widow represents independence, mostly because she'll never be able to find true love as widows never stay with their mates. It's not an every day tattoo, Dean. They're quite rare in and of themselves, it just seems strange that she'd have one, but also be wearing the necklace..." Sam trailed off looking puzzled.

"Maybe it has something to do with her personality," Dean joked lightly, nudging Sam in the ribs with his elbow as the two of them left the barn and headed up the house for lunch.

Sam gave him a weak smile and chuckled lightly. "Yeah, maybe."


After a lunch of deli sandwiches, various kinds of chips, soda, and strawberry ice cream with mashed strawberries on top Sam and Dean returned to their cabin. They'd been lucky, Jean hadn't asked any questions, probably because Randy had already filled her in on Sam and Dean's where abouts so the conversation hadn't been as strained as they'd expected. Stephen and Callie had gone outside with their lunches preferring to be alone. Apparently Callie had been out of town for a few weeks and Stephen had been very excited to see her again. Jesse had shifted uncomfortably during most of the meal, picking apart his sandwich and crushing the chips between his fingers. He barely ate anything, Dean wasn't sure if that was because of what they'd told him about what was really going on out there, or because of the bodiless head that had rolled towards him that morning.

"So how are we gonna get the horseman to come out?" Sam asked as he closed and locked the cabin door behind him. Dean walked over to the couch and plopped down on it, his stomach bulging with the recent meal.

"We're gonna have to lure him out some how," Dean answered simply.

"Lure him? How are we supposed to do that? The only people he comes after are the people who watch the cursed movie, Dean."

"Well, maybe we should watch it," Dean suggested.

"Are you high?" Sam asked his voice rising a pitch. "If we do that the horseman won't be coming out just for kicks, he'll be coming out to kill us and add our heads to his collection!"

"You'd rather he go after someone else?" Dean asked raising one eyebrow.

"Of course not!" Sam snapped.

"Well then we don't have much choice do we? We need the horseman to come out if we are gonna see if he really is comin' out of that tree."

"That's true, Dean, but he isn't going to just come out of that tree - he's gonna come out of that tree swingin' and he's not gonna go back into that tree until our heads are hidden inside that tree with all the others."

"That's not gonna happen," Dean said confidently with a wide grin.

"And how do you know that? Last time I check we aren't invincible, Dean."

"Maybe," Dean agreed his smile not wavering. "But we've got one advantage over this ghost."

"Oh yeah," Sam spat as he crossed his arms over his chest and glared at his brother. "And what the hell would that be?"

"We know he's comin' for us."

Sam shook his head incredulously. "This will never work."

"Hey if you've got a better plan I'm listenin'," Dean said sharply starting to sound annoyed for the first time.

Sam clenched his jaw and glared at his brother. He didn't like this, this plan wasn't smart and both brothers knew it but what other choice did they have? Wait until the horseman went after someone else? Tried to kill another innocent person on the ranch? It was either that or figure out who was controlling the damn thing, and break whatever hold they had on the horseman in order to free him.

Sam pursed his lips and glared at the floor for a minute. "Why don't we try breaking the hold on the horseman first?"

"We don't even know who's controlling him, Sam."

"No, but didn't Jesse say that Jean and Randy were fighting about the future of the ranch a lot lately? It could be possible that Randy has somehow managed to harness the horseman into doing his bidding. He seems desperate enough to sell this place to do anything for it. Jesse himself said that all Randy did was complain about the maintenance and cost of this place. If he thought that with the reputation of the deaths going around that business would slow that perhaps Jean would see his side of it."

"You really think he'd kill the people bringing in his income?"

"If he was desperate enough he would - people can do strange things when money is tight and relationships are strained."

"What time does he do the afternoon feedings?" Dean asked as he wiped at his upper lip and shut his eyes.

"Around two I think," Sam said cautiously. "Why?"

"Well I'm guessing if it is Randy he would have to have the horseman's head stashed somewhere, but he wouldn't be stupid enough to hide it in the bedroom or barn, anywhere that a lot of other people go right?"

"That would make sense," Sam agreed.

"But what about a private study, someplace that he goes to be alone, to do paperwork or does book keeping? Somewhere secluded where he could hide the head somewhere easily inside it?"

"But how would we know if he even has one?" Sam said still frowning, he wasn't sure if he liked where this was going.

"We can ask Jesse," Dean said as he rose swiftly from the couch. "When Randy is out doing the afternoon feeding one of us will have to go in and check out the office, the other will have to keep an eye out."

"Ok then, let's go talk to Jesse," Sam said quickly, still looking a little doubtful but he had the sinking feeling that this was their only chance. Either they find the head and break the hold on the horseman, or they watch the cursed DVD and hope to hell that they were faster in destroying the horseman than he was with his sword and ax.


"All clear?" Dean asked his brother as they looked nervously over their shoulders. The house was quiet, Stephen and Callie were out riding together, Jean had gone into town for supplies and Jesse was out in the barn with Randy helping with the afternoon feedings. Sam nodded once but didn't turn his head away from the only door in sight, listening for any sounds of a returning car or feet crunching up the gravel pathway.

Dean twisted the knob to Randy's study, it turned easily in his hand and he slipped inside. The room was large and had a slightly musty smell to it, kind of like one would find at the library surrounded by books. Randy' had several bookshelves lining the walls, each shelf was jammed with books, all of them collecting a fine layer of dust. A large mahogany desk sat in the middle of the room with a single chair behind it. A computer sat on one side of the desk humming quietly, the only noise aside from the large face clock hanging on the wall. Papers were overflowing from each of the organizer drawers and several stacks of papers teetered precariously on the edge of the desk.

Dean closed the door softly behind him and started at the desk trying each drawer but finding that each of them opened easily with the slightest of pulls. He found nothing more exciting than some pictures of horses, what looked like overdue bills, schedules for the horses and an order form for more feed. He walked around the study, checking the bookshelves, looking for a secret panel hidden behind some of the books but he came up empty handed.

Disappointed, Dean rejoined his brother and shook his head silently at him. Sam too looked disappointed, but with a resigned nod at his brother they started back for their cabin. Sam wasn't happy with this, and he knew that Dean wasn't any happier about it but they were out of options. With their only lead coming up empty they had to try and lure the horseman out and they'd rather the horseman go after them than someone else.

"So," Dean said with a wicked grin as the brothers left the house and stepped into the mid afternoon sun. "Should we ask Randy where they keep the popcorn?"

"Dean, we aren't watching this movie for fun," Sam said hotly.

"Come on, Sammy boy, lighten up," Dean said grinning even more widely. "Who doesn't like Sleep Hollow? That Katrina chick is hot."

Sam rolled his eyes and shook his head. There was no point in even commenting on that - he knew Dean would never change.


"Sam...Sam! Sam, wake up!"

Something poked him roughly in the shoulder and Sam lifted his heavy lids. When had he fallen asleep? He blinked owlishly at his brother sitting next to him on the couch, Dean was frowning at him, and Sam could hear music coming from the TV. From the corner of his eyes he could see the credits rolling.

"'Bout time, dude, I've been calling your name for five minutes," Dean said his frown melting as he grinned crookedly at his brother.

Sam blinked again and stretched his back, wincing a little as a couple of the joints popped. "How long have I been asleep?" He asked, yawning on the last word.

"Right after the movie started, you missed the whole thing," Dean pushed the button on the remote and turned the TV off. "Guess the horseman won't be goin' after you after all."

Sam's eyes widened in horror and he gaped open mouthed at his brother who was sitting there so casually next to him, his eyes alight with patient tolerance, as if he knew the horror that Sam was feeling and knew the tirade that was coming his way.

"Why didn't you wake me up?" Sam demanded hotly.

Dean shrugged but didn't answer.

Sam frowned at him. "You didn't want me to watch the movie did you?"

Dean cleared his throat and rose slowly from the couch to eject the DVD from the player.

Sam glared at his brother's back. "Dean!"

Dean's shoulders stiffened a little but he didn't look at him.

"Dean!" Sam shouted as he straightened to his full height.

Dean turned back to him, his face just as angry as Sam's. "No, Sam, I didn't."

"You want the horseman to go after you?"

"Of course I don't want him to come after me, but what choice do we have, Sam?" Dean said hotly as he tossed the DVD case towards the vacated couch. It landed with a light thump on the edge of the cushions and fell to the floor. "But we have a better chance of stopping him if he isn't after both of us. And since I'm not at my top form you're gonna have to be the one to stop him while he goes after me. You have the best chance of stopping him and you know it."

"How the hell am I supposed to do that?" Sam demanded.

"You have to find who's controlling this thing and stop them, get the head. If the horseman has his head back he should stop killing people. That would take care of him for good."

"Dean, we have no idea who is behind him! How am I supposed to find out who it is before the horseman comes out tonight?"

"We'll just have to keep lookin' around. Someone has to be controlling this thing, there has to be someone else who doesn't want the ranch to stay open. If we can find whoever it is that has a grudge against this place we might be able to find wherever it is that they're keeping the head."

"What about Callie?" Sam asked.

Dean frowned. "Callie? Stephen's girlfriend Callie? Why would she want to close the ranch?"

"Never mind," Sam said casually.

Dean's frown deepened. "No you had to have a reason for suggesting her, Sam, why would you think it's Callie?"

Sam sighed and looked at the floor, he suddenly seem interested in his boots. "It's just a lot of little things, the way she talks to Jesse, the black widow tattoo, the horseshoe necklace. Something just doesn't feel right, Dean."

Dean pursed his lips at his brother. "You think Stephen wants the ranch to close so he and Callie are working together to close it?"

"Maybe," Sam said shrugging his shoulders. "Or Callie could be working alone, we have no idea what we're dealing with here, Dean, and that's the thing that makes this case so hard. All we know is that someone is controlling the horseman, and we know the reason behind why they're controlling him. But that doesn't mean we're any closer to catching who it is."

"True," Dean agreed as he began to pace the length of the room. "But we know it has to be someone connected to the ranch and that cuts our list down to five."

"But it could be one of the prospective buyers too, Dean. If they were really anxious to get their hands on this land they might be willing to do anything to make Randy and Jean loose all their business so they have no choice but to sell."

"Great, and we have no idea on who is offering to buy this land from them, so that could make the possibilities endless," Dean grumbled he stopped his pacing and rubbed his ribs gingerly. "So what do we do now?"

"Try and get some more information I guess," Sam said looking at the window and frowning at the sinking sun. "And we'd better do it fast, we only have a few hours before the sun sets and then the horseman will be here." He glared at his brother, setting his jaw and balling his hands into fists. "And thanks to your stupid stunt he'll be after you."

"Well, let's just hope that we'll be able to give him what he's really after before he tries to cut my head off," Dean said walking to the door and stepping out into the early evening air. Sam glared at the DVD case sitting innocently on the floor where it had fallen after Dean had tossed it. The top of the case caught the sun and reflected it back to Sam. Sam's foot moved on its own accord and suddenly the case was against the opposite wall, the case broken and the DVD lying on the carpet, split in two pieces. Sam hurried after his brother, vowing silently to himself that he was going to stop this horseman, he would save Dean from this thing, no matter what the cost.


"Did you talk to Jean?" Dean asked when the brothers met up in the cabin almost two hours later.

"Yeah, she didn't know anything - and I searched the bedroom too," Sam said his cheeks a little pink.

"Sammy, you dirty little..."

Sam cut him off. "There wasn't anything in there, Dean, so Randy and Jean aren't the ones controlling this thing."

Dean sighed in defeat. "Well Jesse didn't seem to know anything else, he's still having a hard time accepting that we're telling the truth about this whole thing."

"So what do you want to do?"

Dean shook his head, if he was going to be honest with himself he didn't know what else he could do.

"Did you talk to Stephen?" Sam asked inquisitively.

Dean shook his head again. "He's still out somewhere with Callie - their horses are gone."

"Did you want to try and find them? They could have the head hidden in the woods somewhere..."

"No, we have no idea where they've gone, there are a lot of trails out there and they could be on any one of them. We'd be out there for hours trying to find them and if we're out on the trail when the horseman comes out then we'll be sitting ducks. Those trails are his territory."

A soft knock at the door stopped their conversation, the brothers looked at each other briefly then Dean walked over and pulled the door open a bit his shoulders stiff and tense as a result of their situation and recent conversation. They relaxed a little when he saw who was on the other side of the door and pulled it open all the way. "Jean," he said his voice as friendly as he could make it. "Something wrong?"

"Nope, just wanted to let you boys know dinner is in five minutes," Jean said she looked over Dean's shoulder and waved at Sam. "We'll see you boys then."

"Thanks, Jean." Dean said then closed the door as Jean headed back for the house. He turned back to Sam his face once again serious and somber. "Think Stephen and Callie will be there at dinner?"

"Dean, you can't be serious!" Sam sounded annoyed.

"What?"

"How can you think of food when you know the horseman is going to try and kill you in a few hours?"

Dean paused a minute then grinned. "Well, if I go down at least I'll have one last good meal and not the stuff we usually have to warm up at a Quicky Mart microwave."

Sam glowered at him but Dean ignored him.

"Come on, I'm hungry," Dean said and he hurried outside to get to the house. Sam followed reluctantly.

"So what if they are there at dinner, what are you gonna say?"

"Nothin'," Dean said simply. "We'll have to talk to them after dinner."

Sam nodded in agreement. He knew that with as much as they'd been talking about the horseman today it'd seem fishy if they kept bringing it up. He knew that Randy and Jean just thought that the story was a myth that went with the land, but they were bound to bring in the straight-jackets if Sam and Dean didn't stop asking about him.

Dean sniffed appreciatively when they entered the main house and rubbed his empty stomach as they made their way to the dining room. Sam marveled how Dean could even have an appetite at a time like this. Sam felt sick and wasn't sure if he'd be able to eat anything, he was trying hard not to let the fear that the horseman was going to try and take his brother away from him in a few short hours. The more he thought about that the more he was sure that he wouldn't be able to stomach anything. His throat felt swollen and he could barely swallow, his breath caught in his chest and his heart beat loudly in his ears.

"Sam!" Dean's hand was suddenly on his arm and Sam blinked looking at him.

"What?"

"Dude, are you ok? You went white," Dean was looking at him in concern, his eyes scanning Sam's face. He had the same look on his face Sam had seen a million times before, one that Dean had whenever Sam was hurt, sick, or trying to hide something from him. The look that Sam had come to call the big brother look where the responsible side of Dean came out despite any other feelings that he might have been feeling towards Sam moments before were always trampled with Dean's worry for him.

Sam cleared his throat and nodded. The last thing he wanted was for Dean to be worried about him. Dean couldn't afford his attention to be split tonight, he needed to have his mind in the game if he didn't want his head to join the horseman's collection. "Just hungry I guess," Sam lied.

Dean's frown deepened and he looked at Sam for a few seconds longer before he seem to accept Sam's explanation and grabbed Sam's arm, pulling him into the dining room with him. He walked over to their usual seats and made Sam sit down before sitting down himself.

"Hey guys," Jesse greeted as he came in through the opposite door and sat down across from them.

"Hey, Jesse," Dean greeted with a strained smile. Jesse didn't seem to notice.

Randy came in with a big bowl full of baked potatoes. "Jesse, why don't you go into the kitchen and bring in the peas and biscuits?"

"Ok, dad," Jesse said easily, he rose swiftly and darted into the kitchen to do as he was asked.

Randy set the bowl of baked potatoes in the middle of the table. "Hope you boys are hungry, Jean made one of my favorites tonight."

Jesse came back out of the kitchen, carrying a basket of fresh biscuits in the crook of one arm while both hands clutched the large bowl of peas. He set them down next to the potatoes and rubbed his hands quickly on the sides of his jeans.

"Stephen and Callie still out on their ride?" Sam asked casually as Jesse sat down opposite of them again.

Jesse rolled his eyes. "Are you kidding, sometimes they go out for a couple days at a time, but it helps the rest of us stomach it."

"Jesse," Randy warned dryly.

Jesse had the good sense to look properly abashed.

Jean came in then, carrying something wrapped in tinfoil. She set it down and carefully unwrapped the foil away from whatever was inside, she had to frequently pull her fingers away as the foil was still hot. After a minute or so she finally got the foil open to reveal a large side of fish. It was pink and the butter she'd cooked it in still bubbled a little. Green little flakes covered the top of the fish and the sweet scent of cooked fish filled the dining room.

Dean's nose wrinkled a little. He'd never cared for fish, and he wasn't all that excited about eating it now.

"Help yourselves," Jean said as she forked a baked potato and put it on her plate. She twisted the vegetable at both ends and it broke apart, steaming bits of white potato fell onto her plate. Jean used her fork to get the rest of the potato out of the shell.

Sam helped himself to some of the fish, it broke apart easily under his fork, the fine layers of pink fish meat were juicy and soft. Sam had a hard time getting some onto his plate but after a few minutes he managed to get himself a good sized portion. Then before Dean could protest Sam grabbed his plate and piled some of the fish onto his plate too. Dean accepted the plate with a glare when Sam handed it back to him.

"Just eat it, Dean," Sam whispered as his brother glared at the fish.

"Health food," Dean grumbled but he stabbed his fork into a potato and opened the shell, spilling bits of potato over the fish.

"So, Dean, Jesse said you boys wanted to go on a camp out tonight?" Randy asked as he helped himself to a large portion of the fish.

Sam almost choked on the peas he had in his mouth. He forced himself to swallow, took a drink of water and then looked at his brother incredulously.

Dean didn't look at him, he was putting sour cream on his baked potato. "Yeah, that is if it's ok with you guys. Our stay ends the day after tomorrow and we wanted the full experience."

"Of course," Randy said with a warm smile. "Jesse will be with you and he knows the best places to have that. You boys need to pack up your saddle bags after dinner and head out before it gets too late."

Dean stuffed some potato into his mouth and nodded.

Sam's jaw clenched and his hold tightened around his fork, the edges of the utensil dug into the soft skin on his palm but he barely noticed. Dean refused to look at him, pretending to be interested in his plate, but any bit of an appetite that Sam might have had disappeared with a sickness that he couldn't suppress. His stomach was churning and he was sure whatever he had manged to eat was going to make a reappearance.

Dean could feel Sam's eyes on him and he picked up a bit of the pink fish gingerly on his plate, he looked once at Jean, was not surprised to see her looking at him, then popped the fish into his mouth. He was pleasantly surprised. The fish was juicy and tender and had a sweet taste to it that he'd never experienced before. He felt his eyes widen without him actually thinking about it and could hear Jean's soft chuckle from across the table. He looked back up at her and could see her eyes were alight with amusement.

"That's about the same reaction I get every time from someone who normally doesn't like fish. You aren't the first one I've made this for, Dean." Jean said giving her husband a fond look.

Randy chuckled too. "I hated fish until I tried Jean's salmon, best fish I've ever had."

"Most people who come here don't like fish but they love this once they've actually tried it." Jean said as she finished her potato.

"I can see why," Dean said helping himself to another bite.

The meal continued in silence, Sam knew that Dean's eyes flashed to Sam's plate every few minutes and then a frown pulled his lips down when he saw that Sam had barely touched his food. Jean seemed to notice too.

"Not hungry tonight, Sam?" She asked as she rose and started to clear away the plates.

"I feel a little sick actually," Sam admitted.

Jean suddenly looked concerned. "Are you boys sure you should go out tonight then? If you aren't feeling well, maybe it isn't such a good idea."

"He's fine," Dean said nudging his brother in the ribs when Sam opened his mouth to speak. Sam clenched his teeth together and glared at his brother, but Dean matched it with one of his own.

"You sure?" Randy asked, he too looked concerned.

"He's just excited is all, when Sammy gets this excited he always gets a little sick to his stomach."

Sam's glare darkened but Dean seemed oblivious.

"If you're sure," Jean said uncertainly as she came back into the room with a few small bowls that had chocolate chips, sprinkles, and cherries, she had a canister of whipped cream in the crook of one arm and carmel and chocolate syrup in the other. "Honey, will you go get the ice cream?"

Randy wiped his mouth with his napkin and nodded then hurried into the kitchen. He came back with a large tub of vanilla ice cream, banannas, and long oval shaped bowls.

"Tonight is make your own banana split," Jean said happily as she placed the bowls next to each other on the table with the syrups and whipped cream on the end.

Dean grinned.


"This is a bad idea, Dean," Sam said as he tightened the cinch on his saddle.

"We don't have a choice, Sam," Dean said as he unhooked Ranger from the cross ties and started to lead him out of the barn. Their saddle bags were already tied behind their saddles along with their sleeping bags and some food Jean had packed them for breakfast.

Sam scowled at his brother's back. It was well after nightfall now and Sam felt very uneasy about this.

"You ready, Sam?" Jesse asked as he lead Buck away from the cross ties as well.

"Yeah," Sam grumbled as he tied the cinch and unhooked Ebony from the cross ties. He pulled gently at the lead rope and followed Jesse out of the barn.

"You still want to go down to that tree?" Jesse asked Dean as they exited the barn.

Dean was already sitting on top of Ranger and had been patting the spotted horse gently on the neck. "Yeah, it's where the horseman will be comin' up so that's the best place to be."

Sam's eyes widened in shock. "Are you insane?"

"Sam, if we stay close to where he's comin' out then we'll have a better chance of making sure no one else gets caught in the cross fires," Dean said heatedly.

"Yeah and a better chance that he'll get you!" Sam shouted angrily. Ebony tossed her head and snorted at the loud noise.

"That's a chance I'm willing to take," Dean said casually.

"Well I'm not," Sam growled.

"Sam, I'm doing this with or without your help," Dean snapped turning to glare at his brother. "Now are you comin' or not?"

"Fine," Sam snapped as he mounted Ebony, he jerked her towards the fence and kicked her sides hard. Ebony tossed her head, snorted and jumped forward her gait a little jerky. She chomped at the bit and headed for the open gate.

"You guys really think the horseman is going to come then?" Jesse asked as he and Dean followed after Sam, their horses gates matched perfectly and both seemed excited by the night time ride.

"I'm sure of it," Dean confirmed as he stared at his brother's back several paces in front of them.

"Sam thinks so too?"

Dean sighed and bit down on his lower lip. "Yeah, he's sure of it."

"So why isn't he happy? I mean won't you guys be able to stop this thing if he's there?"

"We can't stop him unless we have the horseman's head. And we have no idea who has it."

"So why do you want to go to the tree? Isn't that where the horseman is supposed to come out?"

"Because we need to try and stop this thing, any way we can." Dean said with a determined glare, he dug his heels into Ranger's sides and clucked his tongue. Ranger responded and picked up into a canter and the three of them entered the woods.


Camp didn't take long to set up, and they'd managed to find a clear patch of ground not far from the dead tree, much to Sam's dismay. As the hours passed Sam grew more and more agitated, he began to pace around the campsite, ignoring the fire that Jesse had built while Jesse and Dean roasted marshmallows on the same iron spits they'd used to roast hot dogs a couple of nights ago.

"So when is the horseman supposed to come?" Jesse asked as he withdrew his marshmallow and tested it with his fingers. The marshmallow's outer skin cracked and the gooey insides escaped and burnt his fingers. Jesse licked the marshmallow off his fingers then pulled the marshmallow off the spit and tossed it into his mouth.

"Any minute now," Sam said looking at his watch.

"Relax, Sam," Dean said as he pulled his own marshmallow off the spit and popped it into his mouth. He reached for the bag and stuck another marshmallow onto the end and stuck it into the fire. The fire licked at the delicate marshmallow making it blister and brown while Dean turned the spit around in slow circles so the marshmallow would cook evenly on all sides.

"You know I think you guys are wrong about this whole horseman thing," Jesse said as he put down his spit and walked over to his sleeping bag. He unrolled the top and sat down, covering his legs with the soft warm material.

"How's that?" Dean asked as he pulled the marshmallow out of the fire to test it. He frowned and put it back in the flames.

"What if someone is calling the horseman? Summoning him at will?" Jesse suggested.

Sam froze and looked back at Jesse, his face suddenly going white. "Why would you think that?"

"Well," Jesse said and suddenly his face split into a horrid grin, something that looked unnatural on his face. "Because I've been the one summoning him."

The iron spit that Dean had been holding fell from his nerveless hands and he rose swiftly to his feet as Sam lurched towards him. "You...you've been what?" Dean's voice cracked in surprise and shock.

"You heard me," Jesse said standing now, and for the first time he held a purple pouch, it was large and was obvious that it held something odd shaped inside. Dean felt suddenly sick. "I'm sick of taking people out on trail rides, of mucking out stalls, getting up at the crack of dawn to take care of animals that I don't even care about." Jesse said his voice sharp his eyes narrowed, his body tense. "For as long as I can remember I've been helping out with the horses, I was taught to ride before I could even walk. You have no idea how frustrating it was to see all these businesses want to buy up the land, offering deals with enough money to put my children's children through college. But Jean refused every time, she loves her precious horses too much. I tried to talk to Randy, told her to make her see reason, with that much money we could go do something else, this place has been in the red for years, always eating up more money than what it was bringing in and it wasn't hard to make Randy see things my way. But Jean wouldn't even listen to him, she was too set to have this ranch, she loved it too much so Randy eventually stopped trying and it seemed like I'd never be free."

"So you started to kill people?" Dean demanded.

Jesse laughed, it was high and cruel and bounced off the trees. "No, no, you have me all wrong. I had given into my fate, and knew that I was bound to clean up horse manure for the rest of my life. But then along came Callie. She met my brother in school and they started to date, I was spell bound by her, she was the prettiest girl I'd ever seen. I was delighted when she and Stephen began to have problems, when Stephen's responsibilities for the ranch took priority over their relationship, I made my move, Stephen was unaware. Callie was just as taken with me as I was with her, and after we'd been together for a few months, secretly behind Stephen's back of course, I told Callie how I felt about the ranch and Callie told me that she could help me close it down for good."

"How did you do it? How did you find the horseman's head?"

"It wasn't hard," Jesse snarled, but his face remained just as calm and pleasant, it made it even more unnerving. From somewhere behind them they could hear the creak of roots as they started to part. "Callie had heard all the old stories of course, so all we had to do was look around. Of course the head could have been anywhere on the property but this old tree has always been strange. No birds will ever nest in it, though it would protect their babies well, no animals ever eat the leaves, though they eat from all the trees surrounding it, and the horses always spook here. When Callie noticed these things we started to dig, and after a couple of weeks we found it. Callie created the curse and bound the horseman to us, quite useful her being a witch. Stephen never wanted her to embrace her practices but he has always been blind to other ways. I knew that by having the horseman in our power we could control the ranch, make it impossible for them not to sell it and I would at last be free."

"Do you have any idea on what you've done, Jesse?" Sam demanded as he glared at him. "You've put a dog leash on a great white - when this thing gets free, and trust me he will, you are the one he's going to go after. You and Callie."

"That's only if we set him free," Jesse said with a smile. The roots behind them creaked again and something snorted. "And he never will, not so long as I possess this." Then Jesse turned the pouch over and a withered old skull fell into his palm.

Just then a horse screamed and Dean turned around just in time to see the old tree's roots part and the tip of a horse's nose came bursting out, followed quickly by the rest of him, with a headless rider astride him. The black horse's eyes glowed red and he tossed his head in the air then reared, pawing angrily at the air. The horseman withdrew his sword and waved it wildly above his headless torso, then he jammed his heels into his horse's sides and they charged forward, right towards Dean.


Thundering hooves beat against the ground, small pebbles and debris bounced on the ground as the headless horseman's horse galloped towards them.

"Uh, Sam, no pressure or anything...but what the hell are we supposed to do now?" Dean asked his eyes not straying from the flashing sword in the horseman's hand.

Sam's throat seemed to close off and he found swallowing was nearly impossible. He couldn't help but be a little irritated with Dean for watching the stupid DVD in the first place. If Dean hadn't watched it then the horseman wouldn't be after him now. But of course there was nothing Sam could do about that now.

Jesse began to laugh, a high pitched and unnatural sounding laugh that made the hairs on Sam's neck stand on end. He glared at him, his stomach clenching uneasily. How could Jesse just stand there and laugh when the horseman had every intention of removing Dean's head from his body? How could Jesse want that for anyone?

"Dean, run!" Sam ordered. Dean cringed and turned towards him, a look of disbelief on his face.

"That's your big idea? Run?" Dean snapped.

Sam glared back at him. "Get to Ranger and try to get back to the barn!"

Dean hesitated. "But what about you?"

"He's not after me he's after you!" Sam shouted his voice just shy of shaking. "Now go!"

The horseman's horse whinnied loudly and reared, his long powerful front legs hitting the empty air in front of him. Dean turned his attention back to the horseman just in time to avoid a swing from the sword that would have removed his head. He ducked and rolled and then jumped up again running back to where they'd tied the horses earlier. The horseman jerked on his horse's reins spinning him around and dug his heels into the black horse's sides. The horse snorted and tossed his head wildly but jumped forward, racing after Dean.

Sam hurried to their duffel and retrieved one of the shotguns; he quickly took aim and fired at the horseman's back. The rock salt hit the black horse's hindquarters and it bucked in surprise and turned its majestic big black head around to glare at him, its eyes suddenly glowing with the flames of Hell. It tried to turn back towards him, showing his teeth at him and screaming in rage, but the horseman yanked the reins again, pulling its attention back towards Dean.

"Damn it," Sam muttered as he slid another rock salt shell into place. He cocked the shotgun and fired again, this time it hit the horseman's back, but he didn't seem to even notice it as he charged after Dean, he no longer held onto the reins but rather had his sword in one hand his axe in the other.

"It's no use, Sam, your brother is going to die - and you're next," Jesse said with a cocky smile.

Sam turned on him. "Let him go, Jesse! Call him off!"

Jesse shook his head slowly his grin spreading even wider across his face. "He can't be stopped. He'll only stop when he gets his quarry."

"If you hurt him, I'll kill you myself," Sam growled through his teeth.

Jesse laughed again, and tossed the aged skull in his hands as one might do with a basketball. "Oh, Sam, please! What makes you think I'm going to give you that chance? Once the horseman has collected Dean I'll send him after you. You don't have to watch the DVD for the horseman to want you of course - it was just a little something to make things more interesting. There is no curse, that's just for show. I couldn't make it seem as if someone was actually calling the horseman now could I? People were suspicious enough already, what with Tish's death and then poor little Kari. Too bad to - she was quite a looker."

Sam's stomach clenched uneasily. Jesse didn't sound apologetic at all. In fact he sounded amused, as if he enjoyed watching the horseman kill people, which Sam guessed, he probably did. "So what?" Sam snapped angrily. "You kill off everyone who comes to the ranch so you guys loose business and your parents are forced to sell the place and then what? You think you can just walk away from this? From what you've made him do? He isn't going to let you get away with this, Jesse, you have to know that. Once the horseman has his head back he's going to be going for you and Callie as well. He's not going to be very happy that you've made him kill for you. Even if he was blood thirsty in his life - he's not going to take too kindly to being controlled."

"That's only if he gets his head back," Jesse said calmly as he brushed a bit of dirt off his sleeve. "But you assume that we are going to give the head to him - or put it back where we found it. We have no intention of doing that, Callie has already thought of the consequences to this plan of course - and that is why we plan on purifying the skull and burning it. That way the horseman can never have it back and he'll never come looking for us."

"Or that'll just break your hold on him and he'll come after you anyway," Sam spat.

"I doubt it - according to the legends we've read up on controlling spirits that should destroy them or send them on to whatever world waits for them hereafter."

"Why don't we just leave then? We'll leave tonight if you want - we won't come back. Then you can burn the head and forget all this, with all the recent deaths around here anyway I doubt many people would be interested in staying here anymore. Your parents will sell and you can get rid of the horseman."

"That's not enough, Sam, you guys know the truth now - I can't just let you go," Jesse said angrily. "No, after you two this will hopefully be over, my parents won't have a choice but to sell the place and then yes I will get rid of the horseman then."

"I'm not going to let you hurt my brother, Jesse," Sam growled. Tossing the shotgun aside he leapt at Jesse, an angry cry escaping his lips.


"Come on, come on!" Dean urged as he leaned over the appaloosa's neck, his fingers wrapped tightly in the tangled mane, his legs tight to the horse's sides. He kept his head low, avoiding any over hanging branches that might knock him off his mount, which could've been pretty easily since he hadn't had time to put on ranger's saddle. He found riding bareback very uncomfortable, the ridge at the base of Ranger's neck kept hitting him in a very uncomfortable place. Plus he found using the lead rope he'd used to tie Ranger to the tree with was not as easy to use as the reins were. Ranger was responding easily enough to Dean's commands, but Dean had to use all his concentration to keep himself from falling off the horse's back. The trail twisted and turned and became uneven. Dean clung tighter to the horse's mane, and ground his teeth together, the muscles in his jaw tightened and his knuckles went white with the effort of keeping his hold on the horse.

He could hear the horseman gaining on him, the thunderous beat of the black horse's hooves on the ground drowned out everything else around him, it was the only thing he could hear. He didn't believe in prayer, he didn't think there was anything out there watching over him, Mary had and it hadn't done her any good in the end. So why start now? If he was going to believe in anything he was going to believe in Sam. Sam would get him out of this - Sam would find a way.

All of a sudden Ranger stumbled and lost his footing. Despite his grip on his horse Dean found his balance tipping, as Ranger once again found his footing and began to gallop once more Dean lost his grip and began to slide sideways off the horse. He refused to let go of the horse's mane, knowing if he fell and had to get away from the horseman on foot he wouldn't have a chance.

A large tree loomed out of no where and Dean heard a sickening smack, he didn't feel anything at first, he was too confused by the fact that he suddenly found himself on the ground. Something warm and sticky trickled down the side of his face and the bitter scent of copper filled his nostrils. Blood. And then the pain hit - his head felt like he'd cracked it open, he could feel the hot blood as it continued to trickle down his face, curving around his eye and down his cheek. He lifted his hand and touched where it hurt the most. He could hear the fading hooves of both Ranger and the horseman's horse and guessed that the horseman hadn't realized that he'd fallen off yet, but it wouldn't take him long to figure that out. Dean had no idea where he was, or where the barn was from here, Ranger would be able to get back on his own, Dean was sure of that. Most animals had a good sense of where home was and could always find it if they had to. But that didn't do him any good now. Slowly and shakily he got to his feet but fell again almost immediately a sharp pain making the breath rush out of his lungs in a gush.

Gingerly he ran his hand down his leg biting his lip to stop him from making any noise - and then his stomach dropped a little as he felt something hard and jagged sticking out of his pant leg. He could feel the same warm sticky substance drenching his pant leg and knew that this bleeding was much worse than that of his head wound. If he didn't get this bleeding to stop he wouldn't have to wait for his head to be disconnected from his body because he'd bleed out on his own. Not that that was any more appealing than the horseman. In the dark Dean couldn't tell what was sticking out of his pant leg. It could be a thick sharp branch that had impaled his leg when he'd fallen, or, Dean's stomach twisted at the thought, it could be his bone. If he had broken his leg there would be no way he could get away from the horseman. As it was he doubted he'd get far in his condition, he could barely move and if he wanted to get anywhere he'd have to drag himself.

Shivering a little from the cold and the shock Dean slowly unbuttoned his button up and slid it off before pulling his t-shirt up and over his head. His hands trembled with the effort as Dean grabbed hold of the bottom of his shirt with his hands and put the other end in his teeth. He tugged quickly and firmly and the shirt ripped. Shivering violently now Dean ripped up a few more strips and then went to work putting a tourniquet around his leg and wrapping the injury as best he could. When he finished he lay back gasping, trying to get his body back under control. But he was finding it difficult, he couldn't move, he couldn't walk, couldn't fight back when the horseman came for him. He was easy prey and he had no idea where Sam was or if Sam was even ok.

As he lay looking up at the dark sky above him and listening to the fast beating of his heart and the slight wheeze in his breathing he realized that something else was breathing. Closing his mouth and holding his breath Dean waited, straining his ears. Had he heard right?

The sound of approaching hooves got louder, their even gait making the ground tremble with the weight of the big animal as it got closer. The animal's breathing was heavy and even, he hadn't heard wrong then. Dean's breathing turned to hyperventilation and his body went numb. This was it - the horseman had come back for him, and he had no way to fight it off. The hooves approached him quickly and were soon right on top of him, he could hear the horse snorting loudly as it pushed itself to its limit. Dean closed his eyes.

"I'm sorry, Sammy."


Sam panted heavily as he got shakily to his feet, his chest heaving, his legs shaking, his knuckles bloodied and sore. But he didn't mind that part, Jesse was down, at least for now and that was what was important. Jesse's face was bloodied and bruised, several deep lacerations lined his cheekbones and one nasty cut was right by his left eye. Sam knew that he was going to have a black eye himself, and his lip was bloodied but other than that he felt fine. Jesse hadn't been much of a fighter, but it hadn't stopped him from getting in a few good hits of his own. Sam had finally knocked him out with a head bunt, that had left Sam himself a little light headed but it was better than having some psycho kid in control of the ghost that was trying to kill his brother. Sam's eyes darted around the small camp area, looking for the head, Jesse had dropped it when Sam had lunged at him and Sam hadn't seen where it had gone. The pouch that had held the head in it when Jesse had first show it to them was over by the campfire, but Sam could see that it was empty, the pouch was flat and the string were sizzling as a few flames licked at them. But the head had to be around there somewhere didn't it? It couldn't have just gotten up and walked away and the horseman hadn't come back for it yet, no doubt he was still after Dean.

"Looking for this?" A sweet high-pitched tone asked casually.

Sam jumped and turned, he hadn't noticed her before because she was hiding behind one of the tall spruce trees, leaning casually against the trunk, her legs crossed at the ankles her chocolate colored hair limp around her face. She was smiling at him, but her eyes were cold, it made a cold chill run up Sam's neck. In her right hand was the hideous decomposing skull, the jaw was coming loose and there was a hole in the top of the skull. The empty sockets seemed to stare right through him and Sam shivered again. Callie's grin widened when she followed Sam's gaze, as if enjoying the discomfort she saw there. Sam was used to seeing skulls, not that she knew that, but this was different for some reason. This skull without its body wasn't what was bothering him, if he was going to be honest with himself he could almost see those empty eyes looking hungrily at his brother knowing that his brother was being hunted down by the very ghost who's skull this belong to, and unless Sam could get it back to him he wouldn't be able to stop him.

Callie stepped slowly away from the tree, she was still wearing the same black spaghetti strap she'd been wearing earlier, with jeans that hugged her hips and clung to her legs in a very flattering way.

"Your brother won't get far you know," Callie said with a wide grin, her eyes alight with delight at the thought.

Sam's teeth ground together and he glared back at her. "You don't know my brother very well, he can take care of himself."

Callie laughed loudly then as if Sam had just told her the most amusing joke. "Sam, the horseman won't stop until he's collected your brother's head - and you're next."

"Yeah, so I've heard," Sam growled through his teeth.

Callie's grin faltered for the slightest second and her eyes darted to Jesse's motionless body. Then she turned her glare back on Sam, her expression darker than before.

"I will stop him," Sam promised.

Callie's lips tightened a little. "What makes you think you can? The horseman is under my control - only I can set him free."

"With the head?" Sam demanded.

Callie shook her head grinning again. "The head is a prop, Sam, no matter what Jesse thought it was. It's just like the DVD but I'm sure that Jesse has already explained that one to you."

"You guys sure went through a lot of trouble to close this place down."

"Jesse wanted me to," Callie said with a little laugh that made Sam's insides boil. "You see he never cared for the ranch and when Stephen and I started to fight because he spent more time with those smelly horses than with me Jesse was the one who comforted me, who made me feel like I was wanted and loved. Oh I pretended that Stephen was doing better, that he was playing the 'good boyfriend' so he wouldn't get suspicious of Jesse and I but Jesse was practically made for me - and I for him. We're meant to be together him and I and I wouldn't want it any other way. When this ranch closes down for good and Jesse's family is forced to sell their land and their horses Jesse and I plan on leaving together for good."

"So why not just do that now? Leave the ranch alone and just go?"

"Because Jesse's parents would never let him leave with a ranch to run - its too much work for them with him here, let alone if they found themselves without an extra pair of hands. Jesse feels like a regular ranch hand without the crappy pay. He's tried to talk to his parents, tried to convince them to let him go, but they always told him that things were too tight, that they needed him here, that he wasn't ready to go out and face the world alone. But if we had money - if they sold the ranch and Jesse didn't have the responsibilities of being committed to this life anymore then we could leave and they wouldn't be able to stop us this time."

"You really think that Jesse is going to get the money if they sell the ranch?"

"He will if his parents and Stephen are killed after the sale is closed," Callie grinned at the horrified look on Sam's face.

"You're planning on killing them too?"

"We're not doing anything - the horseman is."

"Callie, that horseman is going to turn on you - when he breaks free of the hold you have on him and he realizes that you've made him kill for you he isn't going to be very happy."

"And why wouldn't he be? The horseman is just as blood thirsty in death as he was in life. It's in his nature to kill, and so he does - we just point him in the right direction."

"Yeah but these aren't people he would've killed unless you pointed him in that direction!" Sam shouted at her he could feel the vein in his temple pop out a little in his anger. "You are making him go after people you don't want around, making him kill for your own personal gain. He isn't going to like that, whether he likes to kill or not - he's not going to take to being controlled and forced to kill for you against his will well. Now you can either give me the head and I can stop him or you can pray that your time in Hell isn't as bad as it should be when the horseman comes for you and Jesse."

Callie froze, staring at Sam with suddenly blank and staring eyes and her lips were white. Then she glared at him, and her free hand curled into a fist her nails digging into the soft skin on her palm.

"You don't know what you're talking about - the devil gave me control over the horseman and it is in his name that I vow to finish you all!"

"Then I guess it's up to me to stop you," Sam spat and he jumped at her.


A friendly nicker made Dean open his eyes and he felt his jaw drop and his eyes bulge a little in surprise as the black and white appaloosa stood patiently in front of him, the lead rope dangling around his front legs. Ranger lowered his head and blew softly out of his nostrils, his large black eyes staring at Dean inquisitively.

"Ranger," Dean breathed still not over the shock, barely daring to breathe or blink afraid that the friendly horse would disappear. He wasn't sure entirely sure that Ranger had come back to him and was pretty sure that his mind was playing tricks with him. Either that or the horseman had already disconnected his head from his shoulders and he was dead and only seeing Ranger in the hereafter.

Ranger stared at him for a long moment, then to Dean's utter astonishment, bent his front knees and knelt on the ground before lowering his back half so he was low enough that Dean could easily scramble onto his back. He nickered again and bobbed his head up and down a couple of times as if answering Dean's unspoken question. Dean dragged himself a couple of feet forward, the pain in his leg radiating through his whole body making it hard for him to stifle the noise, but he held his breath, refusing to let himself utter the slightest sound as he made his way to the patient horse.

Ranger turned to look at him as Dean grabbed a handful of Ranger's mane, using it to help drag himself onto the horse's broad bare back. Ranger didn't move as Dean tried to adjust himself, tried to pull his leg over Ranger's other side but found he couldn't, in horror he realized he'd have to ride the horse sitting sideways. He wasn't sure if he could do this - even if he had a saddle, but it beat having his head disconnected from his shoulders at least. He sat deeper onto the horse's back and reached for the lead rope attached to Ranger's halter, pulling it around and gripping it firmly in his left hand while his right hand still clutched at the mane tightly.

Ranger was in motion without a single command from Dean. Pushing off with his front legs Ranger's hindquarters rose first and Dean grabbed onto the horse's neck awkwardly as he felt his body shift on the horse's back. Ranger's front end quickly straightened and he began to head back down the trail towards Sam and the camp at a brisk trot. Dean's balance was precarious and the pain in his leg was blinding him but he clung to the horse as best he could. He knew that Ranger had come back to give him a fighting chance and he was going to do his best to beat this horseman if it was the last thing he did. Hell he'd been through worse before, he wasn't going to let some horseman take him down.

"Come on, boy," Dean said patting the horse's sweaty neck while still managing to maintain his balance.

And then Dean heard something that chilled him to his bones, the sound of approaching hooves coming up behind him, and they were coming much faster than he and Ranger were going. The other rider would be on him in seconds at this rate.

Not sure if he was making the best decision Dean clucked to Ranger with his tongue and used the end of the lead rope to slap Ranger's neck. Ranger immediately responded and broke into a gallop, his head held high but his ears flat against his head, as if he too had heard the horseman's horse. Ranger stumbled along the rocky path and Dean clung tightly to his neck and mane, trying to keep himself from falling off again. The horse behind them picked up its gait again and Dean could hear it gaining on them.

"Come on, boy," Dean urged the horse beneath him. "Come on, come on, you can do it - keep going."

Ranger turned a bend in the path and Dean was relieved to see the flickering of their campfire straight ahead. He leaned closer to Ranger's neck and clung tighter to Ranger's mane. "Come on boy, almost there, you can do it - don't stop now."


Callie's nails dug into the skin on Sam's undamaged cheek and tore at the soft flesh. Sam cried out and jerked his head back, already feeling the warm blood begin to trickle down from the fresh wounds. He glared at her and she glared back as they circled around each other, sizing each other up, planning for their next attack. But both of them paused when the sound of thundering hooves approached, the beats so loud they even drowned out the crackling fire. Sam turned and squinted into the dark shadows that surrounded them.

"Sam!" Dean's voice cried out for him and Sam's stomach clenched. The cry of his name was familiar, but the tone Dean had used wasn't one Sam liked hearing. It was the one when Dean was terrified, when he was desperate, and when he was hurt.

"Dean!" Sam shouted back all thoughts of Callie forgotten.

And then Dean was there Ranger galloping through the trees, his front right knee was scraped and bleeding, but Sam wondered if the horse had even noticed. Dean was sitting sideways on the horse's bare back, leaning close to the horse's neck, his face above his collar was bone white and his lips were pressed tightly against his teeth. Even from here Sam could see the sweat on Dean's face as it glistened in the firelight's glow. The side of Dean's face was crusted in blood and a long deep wound on Dean's temple told Sam how it had gotten there. Sam's insides began to boil and he felt the anger rise in him like a tidal wave. His brother was hurt and Jesse and his twisted girlfriend Callie were responsible for it. As Ranger circled around the fire Sam saw why Dean's face was so bone white - it wasn't the head wound it was the thick long branch sticking out of Dean's leg. Sam could see Dean's pant leg was already soaked in blood and he was sure that if he didn't get Dean help it wouldn't matter if the horseman got him because Dean would bleed out anyway. He had to get Dean out of here and now!

Sam turned back to Callie who had seemed to have gotten over her shock of seeing Dean come bursting through the trees now too. She was glaring at Sam but her fingers curled around the skull while Ranger and Dean stopped a few feet away both of them panting from their long run.

"Doesn't look like the horseman has much left to do - your brother doesn't look too well, Sam."

Sam shook his head and jumped at her again but she dodged away, holding the skull over her head like a prize.

"He's here, horseman!" Callie screamed into the dark shadows. "Come and take him!"

And then Sam heard the second set of hooves pounding away at the ground. He looked desperately at his brother who looked close to blacking out and then to where Callie was standing at the tree line. The hooves were coming closer and Sam feared that this was indeed the horseman coming and this time Dean and Ranger weren't in any shape to get away from him.

The big powerfully built horse burst out of the dense trees, his red eyes glowing and white steam blew out of his nostrils with every breath. He reared and pawed violently at the air, neighing loudly but that quickly turned into a scream. The horseman raised both his hands into the air, the sword and axe still clutched in both hands.

"He's there, horseman!" Callie said pointing at Dean. "Get him!"

"No!" Sam lunged at her knocking her down and the skull rolled out of her hands. Sam grabbed her shoulders and pinned her down while she struggled beneath him. He found her bony body hard to hold onto and he gripped tightly to her - but he wasn't expecting her to snap her head back and hit him in the nose. His eyes teared up and he dropped her instantly, he felt her wiggle free but he couldn't see her through the water in his eyes.

"Horseman!" Callie screamed again.

And then there was a horrific scream that could only be made by a horse. Sam blinked his eyes clear and turned just in time to see Ranger's front hooves leave the ground as he reared. Dean, unexpecting the sudden move, fell off the back, his head hitting the ground with a resounding crack that made Sam go numb with fear. Dean didn't move, he lay perfectly still, his face suddenly very calm. Callie stood a few inches away from Ranger's flailing front hooves, the skull held aloft in her hand. She turned in shock and was staring up at the horse in surprise. Ranger's left front hoof struck her shoulder and Sam heard a deafening crack and then Callie shrieked in pain as the skull fell from her hand and she fell to her knees clutching at her broken shoulder. Sam wasted no time he lunged forward and his searching hand clasped onto the skull. He felt a slight tingling running from the skull into his hand then and realized that Callie's little speech to him about returning the horseman's head to him was just a hoax - he could stop the horseman once and for all.

"Horseman!" Sam said rising to his feet the head held out in front of him so the horseman could see.

The big black mount that the horseman was riding snorted loudly, his red eyes watching Sam wearily. The horseman pause then slid the axe into his belt and held up his hand, as if waiting for Sam to throw it to him. Sam did and the horseman caught it easily. He set the aged skull onto his empty collar and twisted it a little until Sam heard a definite snap, and he was almost positive that the horseman had broken his neck in his attempt to reattach his head to his body, but to his surprise the head didn't roll away. Instead the horseman's head turned without the assistance of his hands and while Sam watched the skull began to repair itself and then the muscles, tissue, cartilage, blood, skin and hair began to take shape around the horseman's head again. It only took a few seconds, and Sam stood frozen in shock as he looked up into the electric blue eyes while the horseman stared at him coldly.

The horseman turned slowly away from him and stared at Dean's limp body still crumpled on the ground behind Ranger. Ranger's ears flattened and he stomped one hoof wearily as the horseman looked at him. The horseman then dismounted his horse, and patted the black steed warmly on the neck. The horse snorted and shook his head, his long black mane flopping messily over either side of his beautifully muscled neck. The horseman walked slowly towards Sam, eyeing him with an almost intense curiosity that made Sam wonder if the horseman was going to try and take him next after all. But then to Sam's utter astonishment the horseman passed him and walked over to where Jesse was still lying on the ground, completely limp and unconscious. The horseman stared at him for a long moment then before Sam could even blink he swung his sword and Jesse's head rolled away from his body. The horseman grabbed it by the hair and placed it into the pouch that he had tied to his belt.

Callie screamed and tried to stand but the pain in her shoulder was obviously making her unable to do more than sit there and hold it. The horseman walked slowly towards her as if enjoying her discomfort. Then he leaned down and grabbed her by the good arm and hauled her up. Callie's legs gave out from underneath her and the horseman ended up dragging him towards his horse. Callie cried and screamed the whole way but could do nothing more to stop him from taking her. The horseman never released her arm while he mounted and then he dragged her up onto the saddle in front of him. Callie's eyes were large and wet, her face frozen in horror as the horseman smiled at her, revealing slightly sharpened and pointed teeth. She screamed again as he bent closer to her, pressing his lips to hers and even though she tried to get him off Sam saw that there was no way she would be able to get him off of her against his will. Dark red blood began to trickle way from Callie's lips and Sam closed his eyes and turned his head away.

"Yah!" The horseman cried out a few seconds later and the black horse jumped forward again carrying his two passengers back towards the dead tree. Callie's loud sobs could be heard over the pounding of the horse's hooves. As the horseman approached the tree the roots opened up and the black horse jumped, disappearing into the earth taking his riders with him. As the roots closed up again Sam saw something moving feebly amongst the uplifted roots. A hand. It twitched for a few seconds and then was still.


"So they just disappeared into the tree roots?" Dean asked his eyebrows raised a little in disbelief.

"Yeah, just like in the movie."

"That's so cool," Dean said his trademark grin spreading across his face.

Sam frowned at his brother and shifted a little uncomfortably on the hard plastic hospital chair.

Dean had been unconscious for almost three days after his fall and the doctors had been worried about brain swelling, but thankfully Dean had pulled through with nothing more than a nasty bump on the head, a deep cut on his temple which had already been stitched, and while the branch that had impaled Dean's leg had been serious it hadn't broken Dean's leg. A few muscles had been torn and Dean wasn't allowed to drive for three weeks and he had to use crutches until the leg had completely healed, but the doctors didn't think there was any permanent damage.

Sam's cuts were mostly superficial - he'd only needed a splint for a couple of broken bones in his right hand, Dean had beamed at him when he told him he'd broken a few knuckles when he'd hit Jesse so hard in the face that he'd actually heard the bones break. Sam had had a hard time trying to come up with a story that he could tell Jean and Randy, but as usual, he'd managed to pull it off. Jean and Randy were devastated by the loss of their son and Stephen was mourning his ex-girlfriend, although he'd suspected that she was seeing someone else behind his back.

"Dean," Sam finally said looking at his brother meaningfully.

"Well it is, Sam," Dean said shrugging his shoulders.

Sam shook his head and looked down at the bed sheets, glaring at the light blue blanket that had been pulled up over Dean's legs.

"You couldn't have saved them, Sam," Dean said quietly.

Sam looked up at him, his eyebrows raised in surprise. "What?"

Dean gave Sam a meaningful look this time and his eyes narrowed a little as if piercing right through his brother. "You couldn't have saved them, Sammy. From the moment they bound the horseman to them they sealed their fates."

"I know that," Sam said looking down at his hands.

"Then what is it?"

Sam sighed and bit his lip. He wasn't really sure if he wanted to tell his brother this. Would Dean look at him different if he did?

"Sammy?" Dean pressed.

"I know that I couldn't save them, Dean," Sam admitted still not looking at his brother. "But the truth is - I'm not sure if I would've really wanted to save them anyway."

"What?"

Sam's fingers entwined themselves and he stared at them with a fierce determination. "With what they'd done to all those people, what they tried to do to you - I didn't want to let them live. I didn't want them to be able to hurt anyone else."

"Sam, you don't really mean..."

"Yeah I do, Dean!" Sam said his head snapping up and he glared at his brother his jaw set. "I wanted them to die - wanted them to suffer as much as they'd made everyone else suffer. I was glad the horseman took them."

Dean bit his lip as he looked at his brother, his eyes darting back and forth between Sam's eyes, curiously staring at him. Sam's eyes stayed fixed on Dean's forehead and a muscle in his jaw twitched but Dean saw the truth in his eyes.

"What did you tell Jean?" Dean finally asked.

Sam shrugged. "The only thing I could think of. That you had gone off on Ranger and I'd gone after you - that we didn't see the killer. The police are combing the woods for some psycho with an axe now."

"What about the tree?"

"Burned, the horseman won't be coming back this time, Dean."

Dean nodded. "You did good, Sammy."

"Dean," Sam said quietly his voice shaking a little. "You know when Ranger brought you back and he reared up at Callie and you fell - you were so still. I thought I'd lost you - I was so scared."

"Hey it's gonna take more than some old horse to kill me, Sammy," Dean said grinning.

Sam managed to give Dean a half smile back.

"Hey, Sam?"

"Hmm?"

"How is he anyway?"

"Who?" Sam asked completely baffled.

"Ranger."

"Oh, he's fine, Dean. His left leg is pretty skinned up and he's gone lame but Randy thinks he'll heal just fine. He'll be resting up in his stall for a few weeks but something tells me he won't mind the time off." Sam grinned and Dean smiled back at him. "Jean came by after you were asleep last night, said that Ranger keeps looking for you."

"He saved my life, Sam. He came back for me."

Sam frowned. "What do you mean?"

"When the horseman came after me the first time I fell - that was when the branch got stuck in my leg. I couldn't walk and the pain was so intense I could hardly breathe. I thought that this was it - that the horseman was going to get me, I heard the hooves coming back and I couldn't do anything to protect myself, I was helpless. And then Ranger was there, and he got down onto the ground in front of me so I could get back on - when I did he took me back to you."

"That horse must love you, Dean. He could've gone back to the barn where he'd be safe but he wanted to make sure you were safe too. And back at the camp he was the one who knocked the skull out of Callie's hand - I wouldn't have gotten it in time to save you if he hadn't. I think he was trying to protect you."

"But why? We haven't even been here a week, Sam. Why would he risk his own life to save mine?"

"Love is never rational, Dean, it just is."

A soft knock at the door had Dean snapping his mouth closed, stopping him from saying whatever it was that he was going to say to that.

"Hey there," a warm voice greeted them. The tall dark skinned man with curly black hair and ultra white teeth stepped into the room. "How are we feeling this afternoon?"

"Great," Dean answered at once. "Good as new."

"Well I'm glad to hear that," Dr. Jones grinned at Dean.

"Just one question, Doc," Dean said with a grin Sam knew all too well.

"What's that?"

"When can I get out of here?"


"You sure you boys don't want to stay out the rest of the week?" Jean asked although she didn't try to sound too persuasive. Sam knew she and Randy were making funeral arrangements for Jesse.

Sam shook his head as he tossed the last duffel bag into the trunk. "No, but thank you, Jean. I know you guys have enough to worry about without guests complicating things."

Jean nodded and a few fresh tears trickled down her face. She wiped them away impatiently and sniffed loudly. "Well you boys be safe then."

Sam nodded and gave her a tight lipped smile as he closed the trunk.

"Is Dean still inside?" Jean asked.

Sam frowned a little - he'd actual thought that Dean had been out in the car when he'd been zipping up the last duffel to bring out, but he'd been surprised to see that the impala was empty and Dean was no where in sight when Sam had left their cabin. "I'm not sure where he is actually. I haven't seen him since he left the cabin."

Jean's eyes went wide with worry. "You don't think he's missing do you?"

Sam shook his head. "No I'm sure he's around here somewhere, I'll find him."

Then he turned and jogged off towards the barn, he had a feeling he'd find Dean in there.

The lights were dim inside the barn and the doors were open letting in an unusual for this time of year warm breeze. Sam jogged down the main aisle, passing several curious horses who poked their heads out of their stalls and nickered at him as if expecting a treat. As Sam turned the corner he came to an abrupt stop. Dean was standing outside of Ranger's stall, rubbing the black and white head gently and talking to the horse quietly while feeding him a few bits of carrot and apple slices. Ranger took each treat he was offered with his lips and crunched them loudly before bobbing his head and nickering, his ears swiveling forward on his head, eager for more. Dean handed him the last bit of carrot and stroked the horse's cheek softly. Ranger nickered quietly and then with a final pat Dean dropped his hand, gathered up the crutches he'd leaned up against the wall of the stall and turned, he stared at Sam for a minute, just as surprised to see Sam there as Sam was to see Dean there.

"Sam," Dean said his face going a little red. "What are you doing here?"

"I was looking for you. Thought you'd be out by the impala."

Dean looked at Ranger once more and then shook his head. "No, just saying good bye to a friend."

Ranger watched Dean go, his head high and his ears swiveling a little. He then lifted his nose into the air and whinnied loudly. Dean turned back and waved once then followed Sam out of the barn slowly, trying to suppress the winces with each step and pretending not to hear the sounds of Ranger calling continuously after him.

"Well, Sam," Dean said casually as he sat in the passenger seat with a sigh. Sam took Dean's crutches from him and put them in the backseat. "Another one bites the dust huh?"

"Looks like it," Sam said grinning as he waved at Jean and Randy who watched them from the back porch.

Just then Jack trotted around the corner of the house with Priestly right on his heels, yapping at him the whole time. Jack held a big bone in his mouth, it was covered in dirt, probably something he'd buried a long time ago and had now proudly retrieved for his own personal pleasure. Priestly seemed determined to have it for his own and kept nipping at the larger dog's legs, biting at him furiously but Jack ignored the little dog nipping him. His stubby tail wagged furiously when he saw Jean and Randy on the porch and he hurried up the stairs to join them. Priestly sat at the bottom of the stairs and growled up at Jack, the sound slightly amusing coming from such a little dog. When Priestly spotted Sam outside of the impala he stood up, the hackles on his back raising and he began to bark furiously at him, his little body rigid with his intensity.

"Bye to you too, Priestly," Dean muttered as Sam slid in behind the wheel and closed the door. The engine started up with a loud familiar throaty growl. Dean sighed and leaned his head back against the back of the seat while the thrums of Metallica's Some Kind of Monster beat through the speakers.

Sam waved to Jean and Randy one last time then swung the car out and headed down the drive. He grinned a little when Dean closed his eyes a smile playing across his face. This hunt hadn't been the easiest one they'd ever gone on, not the hardest either but it had had times that Sam wasn't sure if he would've made it. If he had lost his brother, if the horseman had collected him Sam would've gladly given himself over to the horseman to be collected himself.

But to be here, to hear the thrums of one of his brother's favorite bands, to see Dean so relaxed and comfortable and very much alive on the seat next to him made Sam realize that it had all been worth it. As they reached the end of the drive and turned onto the main road Sam's foot went down harder on the gas and the car jumped forward with a burst of speed that made Dean chuckle a little. They headed off for the highway, in hopes of a little recovery and down time before their next hunt.

The End.