SCARECROW PART 3

"Hit the nail on the freaking head. I called it from a mile away!" Alice proclaimed loudly into her phone, now standing outside the old orchard beside her motorcycle.

"Was it really a pagan god?" Sam asked on the other side of the call.

Alice nodded. "Sure looks that way. There's a creepy-ass orchard right outside the town that has an old scarecrow in it. It's got the same tattoo on its arm that Vince Parker had." she said, soon hearing Dean scoff in the other end.

"So what. They got matching tats." Dean said, clearly not understanding what she meant.

"You're not getting it. I mean, it's the SAME tattoo. Like someone had ripped the skin off and plastered it on the scarecrow," Alice said with morbid unease etched in her voice.

Dean paused for a moment before speaking. The disgust was clear in his voice once he understood what she was talking about. "Oh, that's just wrong," he muttered.

"Yeah, and not only that, but I think the townspeople are in on it too," Alice spoke with a deep frown. "Well, at least some of them. They're all acting strange and are playing dumb with me."

"But why though? Why all the secrecy?" Sam questioned.

"Your guess is as good as mine, Sammy," Alice shrugged before taking in a deep breath and letting it out slowly.

"You still think you're gonna be alright down there by yourself? Sam and I can turn around and-" Dean was about to say before getting abruptly cut off.

"Lose the trail on your dad? Give me a break, Dean. I'm fine. It's not my first solo hunt and certainly won't be my last either," Alice said sternly. "Look, if I run into trouble that I know I can't handle, then I will call you boys." She could hear Dean's reluctant groans over the phone, and the thought of what face he was probably making made her smile a little. "On a lighter note, how's your road trip doing?"

"It's been as good as it's going to get. Long roads, endless music, endless complaints from Sam…"

"Hey," Sam gave a warning reply.

"And my boy here almost managed to snag himself a girlfriend," Dean announced proudly.

"Dean, that's not…it's not what you think."

Alice held back her laughter behind a stiff grin. "Sammy, shouldn't you be working on finding your dad?"

"That's not what happened, ok. She's just a girl that was hitchhiking. We offered to give her a lift, but she said she doesn't trust two dudes in a car," Sam tried to explain.

"Neither would I," Alice shrugged.

Dean chimed in. "That's not the funny part. We met up with her again at a truck stop. Sam was talking her up for literally an hour."

"Did you get her number?"

"No, but he's got a date with her tonight."

"Shut up," Sam said with a notable sigh.

"Ain't that precious," Alice joked with a widening smile. "What's her name?"

"She said it was Meg," Sam answered.

Alice nodded before turning her head over her shoulder back towards the dreary orchard. She noticed that a thick fog was starting to move in, which made it hard to see into the grove. It caused her to be a little uncomfortable and she felt her stomach start to sink. Alice could only imagine what could be in the fog. The trees could be coming to life, and she wouldn't even know. Waiting patiently in the dark to draw her inside to never be seen or heard from again. Just like the couples that went missing.

Alice sucked in a deep breath and moved her body so she would have a tree between her and the orchard. Just for a little bit of comfort. "Alright. I think I'm gonna let you guys go now."

"You ok?" Sam asked, hearing the edge in her voice. It wasn't a common thing to hear, so he picked up on it immediately.

"Yeah, but I've been standing by this orchard for over an hour now and…it's starting to creep me out," she said while glancing one more time over her shoulder. "I'll talk to you guys later."

"Alright. Take care of yourself," Dean said.

"Yeah." Alice nodded before pulling her phone away and ending the call.

After hanging up with the boys, Alice got back onto the road and headed back to the elusive Burkittsville. Now knowing for sure that something was devastatingly wrong with the place, it gave her the same vibes as the old orchard did, the same with its people too.

Alice turned the corner on her bike and pulled up to their local gas station that Emily, the girl from the store, was managing.

"You're back," Emily said once Alice came to a stop in front of one of the pumps.

"Never planned to leave," Alice said after taking her helmet off and shaking out her hair.

"Still looking for your friends?"

Allice nodded before noticing a necklace around the girl's neck. Inspecting it closely she saw that it said 'Emily' on it. "Emily, right? Mind filling me up?" Emily responded with a nod before grabbing a pump and began filling Alice's motorcycle tank back up. "So, you grew up here?"

"I came here when I was thirteen. I lost my parents. Car accident," Emily said. "My aunt and uncle took me in."

"They seem like really nice people."

"Everybody's nice here," she said quite proudly.

Alice nodded but felt a heartbeat of caution in her chest at those words. "I've noticed. I've done a lot of traveling, but this place seems…pretty perfect."

"Well, you know, it's the boonies. But I love it. I mean, the towns around us, people are losing their homes, their farms. But here, it's almost like we're blessed."

"I can see that." Alice held back the idle chatter for a bit as a pressing question fell from her lips. Something she was curious about. "You been out to the orchard. Yeah? You've seen that scarecrow?"

Emily nodded with a grim look resting on her face. "Yeah, it creeps me out."

Alice snorted as a smirk slithered up to her lips. She decided to continue prodding for more answers. "I hear that. I've got a super strong stomach for the creepy things in life, but that's one thing that makes my skin crawl. Whose is it?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. It's just always been there."

Alice nodded silently when her eyes caught hold of a red van parked by the garage. She turned her head to get a better look before gesturing with her finger over to it. "That your aunt and uncle's?"

"Customer. Had some car troubles," she answered.

Instantly, Alice began to feel her heart speed up with nervous thoughts creeping into her head. "Is it a guy and girl? Couple?" She already knew the answer, but Emily's confirming nod still sent shivers down her spine.

Alice pushed open the door to Scotty's café and immediately spotted the couple in question sitting at one of the tables, being served slices of delicious-looking apple pie by Scotty.

"We're famous for our apples. So, you gotta try this pie," Scotty said while pushing the plate in front of them.

"Oh, no. It—please." The girl said.

"It's on the house," Scotty insisted.

Alice took a seat at a table beside the couple and raised her hand to try and grab Scotty's attention. After briefly making eye contact with her, he turned away and pretended not to notice her. Alice tightened her jaw slightly and took a deep breath, suddenly raising her voice a few notches above the appropriate volume.

"Hey!" she called sharply, making Scotty and the couple jump from her sudden loudness. Without a doubt though, she did get his attention. "Could I please have a black coffee?" she asked politely, but as Scotty walked by, she noticed his cool stare. This was the chance she was looking for though. "How you guys doing? Just passing through?" she asked the couple.

The couple looked up at her and smiled pleasantly, mouths full of delicious pie.

"Road trip," the girl answered.

"Really? Same here," Alice responded back.

Scotty soon came back over and refilled the couple's cider. "I'm sure these people want to eat in peace," he said, giving a warning glance over to Alice, who in return, ignored him completely, as he first did to her.

"Nothing wrong with a friendly chat," she said and waited for Scotty to walk away again, not before calling back to him. "And please don't forget my coffee." She smiled crudely and noticed the agitated look in his eyes as he sauntered off. "So, what brings you to town?" she asked the couple again.

"We just stopped for gas," the girl said. "And, uh, the guy at the gas station saved our lives."

"Oh Yeah?"

The man nodded. "Yeah, one of our brake lines was leaking. We had no idea. He was fixing it for us."

"Well ain't that nice of them," Alice spoke with an abrupt edge in her voice.

"Yeah."

"How long till it's fixed?"

"Sundown."

Alice cocked a brow and found that a little strange. "Really. Now, I ain't no car wiz, but…isn't that kinda weird. I didn't think it would take that long."

The couple didn't look to give it much thought and just shrugged.

"We wouldn't know either, but if the mechanic says so, then…" the girl said before turning back to her pie and continuing to eat.

Alice leaned back in her chair and sighed deeply. "Well…I hope everything turns out." She perked up to the sound of a chiming bell that came from above the front door. She looked over her shoulder and saw Scotty coming inside with their local sheriff right behind him, suddenly gesturing over to her. "Shit," Alice muttered.

Alice got up from her seat and started walking quickly towards the kitchen. The sheriff called out to her, but she ignored him and continued hurrying her way through, reaching the back room shortly after where the emergency door was. As soon as she was outside again, she started running towards the gas station where her motorcycle was waiting. Once she had her keys in hand, she hopped onto her bike and started it up in a blink of an eye, rolling out of the gas station and racing down the road before the sheriff could get a good look at where she was going.