SCARECROW PART 5

Alice held tightly onto the branches around her and tried to make as little noise as possible as she scaled up a thick apple tree. With the cover of darkness now on her side, she found it easier to move through the orchard without being seen or caught by the town's elders lingering around.

"Aunt Stacy. Uncle Harley, please!" Alice turned her head down and saw Emily forcefully being dragged towards an old cellar near the back of the orchard. "Why are you doing this?" she cried as they tossed her down into the dark hole.

"For the common good," Stacy said coldly before shutting the cellar door and walking away with Harley.

Alice growled under her breath and watched as they disappeared into the orchard. "What a bunch of pieces of shit."

She waited a little longer before climbing down from the tree and making her way over to the cellar. She crouched down in front of the door and stared at the padlock and chains placed on the handles. Alice couldn't help but speculate that they might've used the cellar in the last couple of decades to keep the victims in.

"Locked, huh. We'll see about that," Alice said, pulling out a small lock picking kit from her back pocket. She fiddled with it for a second and had to have broken the world record with how fast she managed to get the lock off. "Personal best. Come on, get yourselves some better locks. This is just embarrassing." She opened the cellar door just a crack and hurried inside before anyone could see. "Emily?" she called out softly to the young girl and must've startled her since she tried to back away from her. "No, no. It's alright. I swear. I'm gonna get you out of here."

Emily was still in tears and understandably confused. She stood up slowly but didn't yet approach her. "You're not with them?" she questioned.

"Why would I be with them? I don't even live here. No. I'm here to try and stop them and find out what's going on," Alice said while making a disgusted face. "We're gonna have to shag ass out of here, though. I thought I came prepared, but I didn't think I was gonna have to fight a scarecrow god made a straw!" she snapped with frustration while readjusting her rifle strap.

Emily looked somewhat comforted to hear she was going to leave. Still, a glimpse of nervousness fell to her face when she saw a rifle hanging on Alice's shoulder. "Are you going to kill them? My aunt and uncle?"

Alice flinched while biting down on her lips. A pained look swept across her face before setting in with this cold resolve. "I will…if they get in my way. I'm trying to cut back on time though because Leatherface is gonna start moving in a couple minutes."

Emily swallowed the harsh truth down her throat but was still close to tears. "I don't understand. They're gonna kill us?"

"No. Not them. It's the scarecrow that's gonna kill you," she corrected quite bluntly. "It's an old fashion sacrifice. A guy and girl are killed, then their crops and town stay healthy until the next cycle." Alice furrowed her brows as she studied the devastated look on Emily's face. "You really didn't know anything about this, did you?"

Emily wildly shook her head. "About what? The scarecrow god? I can't believe this."

"Sorry to spring this on you on such short notice, but like I said…no time. You know, your aunt and uncle are in a pretty tight spot. 'Cause right now they only have you. One girl. They need a man and a woman to complete the ritual. Which is what they're probably looking for right now in town." She shrugged. "They probably wanted to use me instead of you, but apparently, I was too slippery for them."

Emily nodded before looking back to the rifle on her shoulder. "Can you kill the scarecrow?"

Alice gave a so-so hand motion. "Kinda sorta. The scarecrow is tethered to a specific tree. If we can destroy that, then we kill ol' straw god. I'm gonna need your help, though."

"Okay."

"Do you know anything about this tree? It would be really old. The locals would treat it with a lot of respect, like it was sacred."

Emily thought about it for a moment when something did come to mind. "There was this one apple tree. The immigrants brought it over with them. They call it the First Tree."

"Is it in the orchard?" Alice asked.

"Yeah, but I don't know where."

Alice didn't at all looked distressed but was much calmer than before. In seconds, she had already developed a plan in her head and was quite confident. "That's fine. We'll find it later. Let's get out of here first." She pulled her rifle off her shoulder and moved up the stairs. She cracked the door very slightly and peered out, seeing flashlights moving back towards the cellar door. "Shit. Emily, they're coming back."

Emily quickly headed up the stairs and stopped behind Alice. "What are we gonna do?"

"The only thing we can do. Run like hell. Or at least for you. I'm gonna lay down some cover fire so you can make for the trees behind us." Alice turned her head back to Emily and looked the young girl straight in the eyes. "You understand me?" she said firmly.

Emily nodded. "Yes."

"Good. On the second round, start running."

With her finger wrapped around the trigger, Alice pulled the rifle close to her chest and closed her eyes. Her heart raced as she listened to the footsteps outside get closer to the cellar. When she opened the doors just an inch, the light from their torches glowed through the crack and swept across her cold blue eyes. Immediately, Alice ripped open the doors and pointed her rifle out towards the darkness, firing a single shot into oblivion. The elders immediately panicked because of the shot and accidentally dropped their flashlights.

"Emily, go!" Alice shouted while firing another round.

Emily ran out from the cellar and hightailed it into the woods behind them, keeping her head low as Alice fired at least two more shots into the darkness. She wasn't trying to kill them. She just wanted them to keep away long enough so her and Emily could gain some distance. Alice lowered her gun after the last round before turning and dashing into the woods after Emily. She made sure to keep several trees between her and the elders when she heard another rifle going off behind her, striking hard against one of the trees to her right.

"Get behind something!" Alice yelled.

Emily nearly tripped over her own feet while ducking behind cover. Alice slid close to the ground before rolling behind a tree, rifle resting close to her side and ready. She closed her eyes and listened carefully, recognizing the sound of agonized cries echoing through the orchard. It sounded like Harley. She must've hit him sometime during the blitz of bullets.

"Stings, doesn't it!" Alice mocked them. "But that pain doesn't even come close to what you've been doing all these years! Sacrificing people for the sake of a town! Now desperate enough to sacrifice your own family!"

"You…! You wouldn't?" Harley yelled back.

"I don't have to!" She moved to her knees and aimed her scope up, seeing out into the orchard with its night vision. She could easily spot Harley agonizing on the ground with Stacy beside him, the sheriff taking cover behind a tree to their right, and Scotty to the left. "You don't get to decide what's right or wrong!"

"And you do?!" the sheriff yelled angrily at her.

Alice narrowed her eyes. "I've made a lot of wrong decisions in my life. Have to make the right one sooner or later!" She continued to scan with her scope and landed on the empty pole that the scarecrow was supposed to be laying against, now gone. "Ah…where did the scarecrow go?"

Her question didn't go unanswered for long when Stacy's shrill cry pierced the darkened orchard. Alice quickly looked back over to them with her scope and saw the scarecrow emerge from the darkness and grab Stacy from behind. It used its rusty hook to pierce Harley's leg and dragged them both away into the night. This frightened the rest of the townsfolk, and they immediately ran away, leaving Alice and Emily alone in the dark.

"Come on, let's go!" Alice jumped up from behind the tree and grabbed Emily's arm.

They ran back to the road and didn't stop until they hit the pavement. Once there, Alice turned around and looked out towards the blackness, seeing nothing. The scarecrow was gone, and the cries from inside were silenced.

Alice didn't dare go back into the orchard until the sun was fully out and shining brightly. Even if the sacrifice were a success at the cost of Harley and Stacy's lives, she wouldn't risk running around in the dead of night with a killer scarecrow still out there. So, Alice waited, and once she deemed it safe enough, she headed back out with Emily the following morning around noon. They searched around what felt like a hundred trees until they came across one that was noticeably older and thicker. Alice was positive it was the right one since strange and ancient markings were carved into the bark.

"This is it," Alice said and began dousing the tree with a gallon of gasoline she had brought with her. After the tree was soaked, she picked up a branch that was close by and lit it.

"Let me." Emily suddenly stepped up and took the burning branch from her hand.

Alice didn't protest against it and just took a step back, crossing her arms over her chest. She took a moment to look around the orchard, healthy and thriving, one last time. If Emily threw the branch onto the tree, the orchard would no longer be the same. Along with the town. "You sure? Towns gonna die if this thing burns," she asked.

Emily tightened her jaw and nodded her head. "Good." She threw the burning branch onto the tree and stepped back beside Alice, watching as the flames climbed and burned up the ancient curse attached to it. But with this, the town was now truly destined to fall into ruin, but neither Alice nor Emily cared.

"Come on." Alice tapped Emily's shoulder and signaled for her to follow. They watched the tree burn for a while before heading back to the road where Alice's bike was parked at. "I'll see if I can find a bus that's heading to Boston. I've heard it's a great place to start a new life if that's what you want." She glanced back to Emily and saw the girl nodding sheepishly.

"Okay. Thank you, Alice."

"Don't mention it. Really. I kinda want to stay anonymous." Alice could see that it would take a while for Emily to recover, but hopefully, she'll make it through and leave the trauma burning beside the old tree. Where it belongs.

As they made their way back to the road, Alice felt her phone going off in her pocket. She stopped where she was and pulled it out to see that it was Dean calling her.

"Emily, keep going. I gotta answer this." She waved her off before turning around and answering the call. "Dean?"

Dean answered back, but she could tell right away that something was upsetting him. He sounded disheartened. Maybe even disappointed. "Hey, sweetheart. How're things going on your end?"

Alice cocked a brow. "Just now wrapping things up. A couple of dead folks and a burning tree."

There was an unsure pause on his end before he responded back. "I'm gonna assume that's a good thing."

"It is. Don't worry. What about you and Sam? The sound of your voice tells me you have bad news. Did you manage to get to California?"

Dean gave a long sigh that right away confirmed her suspicions. He had bad news. "Yeah, but it's a bust. Dad was here…but he must've left soon after making that call."

Alice frowned and lowered her head. "So the trails cold."

"Unfortunately." He sighed once more and quickly got off-topic like he didn't want to talk about it anymore. "So, where do you wanna meet up?"

Alice knew they were hurting and decided not to ask any more questions. "Find a motel where you are right now. I'll meet you there," she said while stepping out of the orchard and walking up beside Emily. "And Dean."

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry that you couldn't meet up with your dad. How's Sam doing?"

"As well as he could be. Don't worry too much. He's just frustrated now, but he'll get over it."

Alice nodded and looked somewhat satisfied with that answer. Not entirely, though. She knew how badly those boys wanted to meet up with their dad, so she could only imagine how they were actually feeling. She knew Dean was trying his best not to let his frustration slip, but Alice could already tell. "Alright. I'll talk to you soon. Don't forget to send me the address, ok?"

"Got it. See you soon." He hung up.

Emily watched as Alice pulled her phone away from her ear, her facial expression morphing over at least a dozen different emotions. "Is everything alright?"

Alice sighed while tossing her phone back and forth. She looked back into the orchard and could barely make out the tree's bright orange and yellow flames. "Could be better. That's all I gotta say…could be better."