[1x11; Scarecrow]
Julia sat in the middle of a large field on an overcast day. It was filled with three different kinds of flowers—honeysuckle, marigold, and violets—all separated into different sections. The white, yellow, and purple flowers formed a circle around her. They reminded her of her mother.
Naomi Petersen had always been a fan of giving her daughters flowers for every holiday and birthday. There were even some days that flowers would randomly be delivered to Julia, Abby, and Beth without a reason other than for their mother to show her love. The three girls would make a game of it, looking up the meanings into the flowers Naomi sent them that day.
Honeysuckle meant bonds of love. Marigold meant despair or grief. Violets meant loyalty and faithfulness.
"Julia Ruth."
Julia looked away from the violets to her right and looked forward to where she heard the man's voice. There was no one in the field with her but the sun had started to shine. It didn't matter that there was no one there, though. She recognized the voice.
"It's you," she breathed, her lips quirking into a small smile. "It's been a long time."
Many times, while Julia was growing up, she'd have a dream like this. She wouldn't always be a field—a few times she had been in an empty classroom at Stanford or on a swing in an abandoned park—but they all had the same voice visiting her to give her guidance.
When she asked her mom about the dreams, Naomi had simply smiled and told her that he was her guardian angel.
"Eight months, five days, and thirty minutes," her angel answered.
The last time he had shown up, she was thinking about transferring to Northwestern to be closer to Beth and Levi. Her angel talked her out of it and she hadn't regretted that choice so far.
"What's wrong? You only show up when I need your guidance."
"Then you should know why I am here."
"Okay, so I need guidance," Julia assumed. "About what?"
"I cannot say much," her angel told her. "Just know that you will soon be facing some trials and tribulations, Julia Ruth."
Julia furrowed her eyebrows. "What do you mean? What trouble am I facing?"
"Trouble that will test your faith."
Julia scoffed, more confused. She was a faithful person and it took a lot for that to waiver. Even when her mother was dying, she still had faith in God and his angels. Her mother had always told her that having faith wasn't always about the good and happy times but the tough times, too.
"That really cleared it up for me. Thanks."
"Stay true to your faith, Julia Ruth," her angel ordered. "We will meet again soon."
A ringing started blare around the field, making her look around in confusion. Where was that coming from?
The sunlight had started to fade and she stood up.
"Wait!" she called to her angel over the ringing. "Wait—"
Julia groaned as Dean's phone continued to ring, rolling off of her stomach to lay on her side facing Sam. The thing seemed so loud, like Dean had purposefully turned it on full volume just to annoy her.
The phone rang again.
"Phone!" she moaned, squeezing her eyes and burying her face in her pillow.
"Dean."
Julia opened her eyes, about to pick up the phone and whip it at Dean's peaceful face, when Sam wearily grabbed it off the table in between the beds. He flipped it open, his eyes still shut, and lazily pressed it to his ear.
"Hello?" there was a pause as whoever was calling Dean spoke; Sam sat up in shock, suddenly awake. "Dad? Are you hurt?"
Julia's eyes widened in surprise and she sat up as well, making sure her tank-top fully covered her breasts.
"We've been looking for you everywhere," Sam told his father, glancing over at a stirring Dean. "We didn't know where you were or if you were okay."
Julia studied Sam's face, taking in his eager expression. She was glad that John had called; it had been months—or in Sam's case, years—since the brothers heard from him. They had been so worried.
"Well, we're fine," Sam stated. "Dad, where are you?"
Dean sat up, his blanket falling down to his hips to reveal his bare chest—fully awake.
"What? Why not?" Sam questioned John.
"Is that Dad?" Dean asked Sam. Julia leaned around Sam so he could see her and nodded, silently answering his question. His face lit up.
Sam's face fell in realization at whatever John said. "You're after it, aren't you? The thing that killed Mom…A demon? You know for sure?"
Julia raised her eyebrows at Sam as Dean pulled on the shirt he discarded before falling asleep. So, it was a demon who killed Mary and Jess…she wondered how John figured that out.
"A demon?" Dean leaned forward anxiously. "What's he saying?"
"You know where it is?" Sam said into the phone. "Let us help…Why not?"
Dean reached toward Sam expectantly, irritated with his lack of answers. "Give me the phone."
"Names? What names, Dad?" Sam's face contorted in aggravation. "Talk to me, tell me what's going on?"
Julia bit her lip and clasped her hands together tightly as Sam stiffened, his anger growing as John continued speaking.
"No," he said firmly. "All right? No way."
"Give me the phone!" Dean raised his voice at him. When Sam angrily pursed his lips, looking like he was about to blow a gasket, Dean grabbed the phone away from him. "Dad, it's me. Where are you?"
Julia grabbed Sam's clenched fists as John answered Dean, rubbing her thumb against the back of one of them to calm him down. He always got so angry with his dad; it had been that way for most of his life.
"Yes, sir," Dean agreed to whatever John said, swallowing harshly; he reached for the pen on the nightstand. "Uh-huh, yeah, I got a pen. What are their names?"
"So, where are you now?" Julia's older sister, Abby, asked through the phone.
"Uh, hold on," Julia leaned forward to look at Dean, who was shockingly sitting in the passenger seat. "Dean, where are we headed again?"
"Some town in Indiana," Dean grumbled back absentmindedly, tapping on the keyboard of Sam's computer to continue his research into the names John had given him.
"We're on our way to Indiana," Julia reported back to her sister.
"Oh, yeah? For what?"
"We have no idea yet," she sighed. "What about you?"
"I'm in Point Pleasant, Virginia," Abby informed her.
Julia furrowed her eyebrows. "Isn't that the town that obsessed with Mothman?"
Abby laughed. "You bet it is."
"What the hell are you doing there?"
"Hunting Mothman."
"No, you're not."
"I am."
"No, you're not, Abby. Be serious."
"I'm completely serious, Jules," Abby stated. "I saw it with my own two eyes."
Julia was silent for a few seconds and then, "Are you fucking kidding me?" she almost screeched. "You're legitimately hunting Mothman?"
That caught Dean's attention; he turned around with wide eyes. "Abby's hunting Mothman?"
Julia nodded. "She's hunting Mothman."
"How the fuck did she know that he's actually real?"
"Dean wants to know how you found out he's real," Julia told Abby.
"I went to Point Pleasant because I saw some reports about hearts being missing from some of the recent murders taking place," Abby explained. "I thought it was a werewolf but then I realized that the cycle isn't right."
"Uh-huh," Julia hummed and Dean gave her an expectant look; she held up her index finger. "Go on."
"So, I checked it out, anyway, just in case," Abby continued. "And apparently, one of the newest tours they're giving is telling their customers that Mothman eats hearts."
"Well, how would they know that?"
"They don't, that's my point," Abby said. "Someone messed around and created a Tulpa."
"What's a Tulpa?"
"It's a physical materialization of a thought," Dean told her at the same time as Abby, looking ecstatic. Even Sam stopped his bitch face for a few seconds to look impressed. "Wow, I can't believe she's hunting a Tulpa of Mothman. Tell her to take a picture."
"Dean wants you to take a picture," Julia told her sister, rolling her eyes at him.
Abby laughed. "I'll try my best."
"Be careful, okay?" Julia told her as Dean turned back around to focus on his research again. "Love you."
"You too," Abby echoed her affections. "Talk to ya later."
Julia hummed and hung up her phone, tossing it onto the seat next to her.
"Some people have all the luck," Dean muttered, completely dismayed that they were heading to Indiana instead of Virginia to kill Mothman.
"Well, it's not really Mothman if it's just a Tulpa," Sam pointed out.
"Whatever," Dean rolled his eyes.
Sam sighed. "All right," he changed the subject, his jaw clenched. "the names Dad gave us, they're all couples?"
Dean nodded. "Three different couples. All of them went missing."
"And they're all from different towns, different states?"
"That's right," Dean confirmed for him. "Washington, New York, Colorado…Each couple took a road trip cross-country. None of them arrived at their destination and none of them were ever heard from again."
"The continental US is huge, though," Julia reminded him. "I mean, what if they just changed their destination?"
"Maybe but each one's route took them to the same part of Indiana," Dean informed her. "Always on the second week of April. One year after another after another."
"This is the second week of April."
Dean nodded at his brother. "Yep."
"So, Dad is sending up to Indiana to go hunting for something before another couple vanishes?"
"Yahtzee," Dean confirmed. "Can you imagine putting together a pattern like this? All the different orbits Dad had to go through? The man's a master."
Sam pursed his lips, looking severely annoyed, and pressed on the breaks. He veered toward the shoulder of the road, making Dean give him a confused look.
"What are you doing?"
"We're not going to Indiana," Sam declared.
"We're not?"
"No," Sam turned off the engine. "We're going to California. Dad called from a payphone with a Sacramento area code."
Oh, no, Julia thought. A fight was bound to break out now. Sam hated following John's orders, especially when it had something to do with the thing that killed Mary and Jess—a demon, she reminded herself—and Dean always followed his orders. It had been the cause of many arguments before and it would cause more in the future.
"Sam—"
"Dean, if this demon killed Mom and Jess and Dad's closing in, we've gotta be here," Sam cut him off. "We've gotta help."
"Dad doesn't want out help," Dean stated.
Sam turned to face him, retorting, "I don't care."
"He's given us an order."
"I don't care," Sam emphasized slowly. "We don't always have to do what he says."
"Sam, Dad is asking us to work jobs, to save lives," Dean reminded his brother, his voice and eyes hardening. "It's important."
"All right, I understand. Believe me, I understand," Sam tried to change his mind. "But I'm talking one week here, man, to get answers. To get revenge."
"All right, look, I know how you feel—"
"Do you?" Sam retorted; Dean gave him a shocked look and Julia's eyes widened. "How old were you when Mom died? Four? Jess died six months ago. How the fuck would you know how I feel?"
Julia gaped at him, surprised that Sam would say anything like that. "Sam!"
"Dad said it wasn't safe for any of us!" Dean raised his voice back. "I mean, he obviously knows something that we don't, so if he says to stay away, we stay away."
Sam scoffed. "I don't understand the blind faith you have in the man," he shook his head. "I mean, it's like you don't even question him."
"Yeah, it's called being a good fucking son!"
"Dean!"
God, both of them were idiots.
Sam took the keys out of the starter and opened his door, sliding out of the car. He went straight to the trunk and opened it, grabbing his bags. Julia and Dean both got out of the car at the same time for different reasons—Dean wanted to argue and Julia wanted to stop Sam before he started hitchhiking to California.
"You're a selfish bastard, you know that?" Dean cursed at his brother. "You just do whatever you want. You don't care what anybody thinks."
Sam shrugged on his backpack, glaring at him. "That's what you really think?"
"Yes, it is."
"Well, then this selfish bastard is going to California," Sam grabbed his duffel bag and slammed the trunk shut.
"Sam, no, you can't leave," Julia protested, lunging forward to grab his arm as he started walking away; he shrugged out of her hold. "Sam, come on."
Dean scoffed in disbelief as Sam ignored her, continuing to walk away. "You're not serious."
"I am serious."
"Sam, it's the middle of the night!" Julia's eyes started stinging as she watched her best friend walk away from them.
He didn't respond.
"Hey, I'm taking off," Dean warned him loudly. "I will leave your ass, you hear me?"
Sam turned around, clenching his jaw, to answer, "That's what I want you to do."
Dean was quiet for a few seconds and Julia was hoping he'd just apologize so Sam would get back in the car, but he shook his head. "Goodbye, Sam."
"Dean—"
"Get in the fucking car, Julia," Dean snapped at her, pulling the keys from the trunk's lock and walking around to the driver's side. "Let's go."
Julia bit her lip and looked back at Sam with wet eyes, meeting his gaze. He just nodded at the car, knowing that she didn't want to choose. It wasn't like this was going to be forever, anyway—it was just until he found his dad.
"Julia!"
Julia jumped at Dean's exclamation and gave Sam a sad smile before opening her door and sliding back into her seat. He started up the engine as soon as her door closed and pressed harshly on the gas, propelling them forward. Julia didn't look back at Sam; she never walked away from him before and the guilt threatened to swallow her.
Burkittsville, Indiana was of the smallest towns Julia had ever seen. It consisted of maybe four or five roads with one restaurant, one general store, and one gas station. She didn't know that if the main part of town was always this dead, but she hoped it was the rain and not their everyday life. There was not a single person in sight.
Dean parked at the side of the road—it was actually more of a paved trail more than anything—and pulled his cellphone out of his pocket. Julia eyed him hesitantly, watching as he opened the phone and scrolled through his contacts until he stopped at Sam's name.
He hesitated for a second, his thumb hovering over the call button, and then flipped the phone shut.
"You should call him."
In the hours since they had driven away from Sam, Dean had calmed down considerable. In fact, Julia thought that he wasn't mad at all now. He had apologized for yelling at her only thirty minutes after they took off and she could feel the regret coming off of him in waves. She figured that it had more to do with Sam than it had to do with him raising his voice at her.
Dean's green eyes flicked up to hers as he pursed his lips. He shut off the engine and pulled the keys from the starter. "I'm not gonna call him," he stated before getting out of the car. "Let's go."
Julia slid out of the passenger seat and followed him down the sidewalk to the main road, thankful that she had dressed in a navy windbreaker to ward off the rain and slight breeze. "Why don't you wanna call him?"
"I don't wanna talk about it, Junior."
Julia glanced at a lady who passed by them with an umbrella, glad that someone actually lived in this town, and then back at him. "Dean."
"Can you just drop it for now?" Dean gave her a firm yet almost-pleading look. "I wanna ask this guy about the people who disappeared."
He pointed to the restaurant they were walking toward; she followed his gaze, spotting an old man sitting outside of a cute little place called Scotty's Café.
"Fine, okay."
They continued walking toward the café, coming to a stop a few feet from where the man was sitting.
"Let me guess," Dean greeted, looking down at the sour-looking man. "Scotty."
Scotty nodded, not looking happy about the fact that they stopped to talk to him.
"Hi, my name's John Bonham and this is—"
"Isn't that the drummer for Led Zeppelin?" Scotty interrupted his introduction.
Dean looked taken aback by the man's knowledge—as if Zeppelin wasn't a popular band or something. "Wow," he muttered. "Classic rock fan."
Julia pressed her lips together and turned back to Scotty. "I'm Lyla Johnson," she made up a random name, hoping that there wasn't some old celebrity that used to be popular that she didn't know about. "Nice to meet you."
Scotty didn't look impressed with either of them—this time Julia was taken aback. Usually almost every man she smiled at melted at the sight of her. "What can I do for you, Lyla?"
Julia looked at Dean, stumped, and his mouth straightened slightly into a grimace. He pulled out the pictures they had printed of the last victims, Vince and Holly Parker.
"We were wondering if you'd seen these people by chance," he unfolded the papers and gave them to Scotty so he could take a look.
"Nope," Scotty hardly looked at the photos. "Who are they?"
"Vince and Holly Parker," Julia said flatly; the names were the largest things written on the damn pictures. "They're friends of ours. They went missing last year and they passed through somewhere around here."
"We've already asked around Scottsburg and Salem—"
"Sorry," Scotty handed the papers back to Dean. Julia scowled down at him—if this guy interrupts us one more time… "We don't get many strangers around here."
Did Scotty know how suspicious he came off as right now? He might as well have a neon sign above his head proclaiming that he killed the couple himself. His answers were too avoidant and rehearsed.
Julia just did not like his vibe.
"Scotty, you've got a smile that lights up a room," Dean stated almost mockingly. "Anybody ever tell you that?"
Scotty's frown never left his stupid face.
"Never mind," Dean chuckled at his own sarcasm. "We'll see you around."
They walked away from the café, heading down the street toward Jorgeson Motors and Jorgeson General Store, which happened to be the town's only store and gas pump. Usually small towns were cute but this one made Julia want to curl up into a ball and cry her eyes out. She would be so bored if she lived here.
"I never want to see that man again," she muttered to Dean, shuddering dramatically.
"If I ever get as grumpy as that old bastard, I want you to shoot me," he agreed with her. "and he definitely knew something."
"Oh, I know," Julia rolled her eyes. "He had the strangest energy, too."
"Like what?"
"It's hard to explain, but," her nose wrinkled as she tried to find words that would make sense. "Okay, you know how Dumbledore's all about the greater good and all that?"
Dean nodded and hummed.
"But he doesn't really care about Harry's well-being as long as he's there to save the wizarding world," she continued. "That's the vibe I got from Scotty."
"Like that little fuckwad from Shrek," Dean understood and quoted the animated movie, "Some of you will die but that's the risk I'm willing to take."
"Yes!" she tapped him excitedly on the arm. "Wow, I can't believe you've seen Shrek!"
"It was on one night while I couldn't sleep," Dean explained as they approached the store; he pulled open the door and stepped back, letting her in before him. "It really shouldn't have been marketing for kids."
"Oh, yeah, definitely."
"Hi, there!" they were instantly greeted by a chipper older woman that was bundled up in a cozy cardigan. "I'm Stacy, what can I do for you folks?"
"Oh, we were just stopping by for a few minutes to stretch our legs," Dean told her as he snaked an arm around Julia's waist, surprising her. "We're on our honeymoon."
Julia looked at him in shock but changed her expression as Stacy cooed at them. "Oh, how wonderful!"
"Yeah," Julia smiled sweetly at her and grabbed the hand that Dean had resting on her upper hip, pinching him subtly. "We're so in love."
Dean rolled his eyes at her awkwardness and Stacy's smile faltered only a little bit.
"Well," her smile widened again. "Why don't you two take some apple pie for your trip? It's on the house."
Dean was very, very tempted by the offer for pie but he had to focus. Especially if Julia was going to act like an idiot who had never been in a relationship before.
"Actually," he pulled out the photos of Vince and Holly Parker, showing them to her. "we were wondering if you've seen our friends lately. They went missing about a year ago and we know they went through here..."
Stacy's smile instantly slipped from her face. A man walked out of the back room, then, slipped around the counter to see what was going on.
"What about who?" he asked curiously, though he seemed a little nervous.
"We're looking for some people," Dean handed him the photos. "Have you seen them?
The man studied the papers and shook his head. "No, I don't think so."
"Really?" Dean raised a skeptical eyebrow. Everyone they had seen so far were acting so suspicious and sweet old Stacy flipped her tune real quick. "You sure they didn't stop for gas or something?"
"Nope, don't remember them," the man confirmed. "You said they were friends of yours?"
"Best of friends," Julia nodded sweetly. At least her smile worked on him. "Holly and I grew up together."
A young blonde girl, around Julia's age, walked out from behind the counter carrying a stack of printed boxes. "Did the guy have a tattoo?"
"Yeah, he did."
The girl took the papers from the man. "Don't you remember, Uncle Harley?" she asked him. "They were just married."
"Oh, you're right, Emily," Harley suddenly remembered. "They did stop for gas. Weren't here for more than ten minutes."
God, these people needed acting coaches, Julia thought, how many people in this town are gonna cover for a couple of disappearances?
Clearly something was going on here and it wasn't just because the man all of a sudden remembered a couple just because his niece did. Julia got the same vibes from Harley and Stacy that she got from Scotty.
Dean raised his eyebrows. "You remember anything else?
"I told them how to get back on the interstate," Harley gave the papers back to Dean. "They left town."
"Can you point us in that same direction?" Dean wondered.
Harley nodded. "Sure."
Julia frowned at the apple orchard in front of them. It had to be the creepiest little orchard, ever—the apple trees looked like they came out of a Tim Burton movie, some of the grass was dead, and the only thing that had color in the whole area were the apples on the ground and in the trees. It wasn't even apple season, so how the trees had apples to begin with, she didn't know.
They were driving down the interstate in the direction that Harley sent them when all of the sudden, the EMF meter started lighting up and buzzing. It had come out of nowhere so Dean had pulled over. Of course, because she was that lucky, the EMF led them to the orchard.
If she could guess what was making the EMF go off, it'd be the creepy ass scarecrow propped up in the middle of the orchard.
"What crows eat apples?" she muttered as she and Dean slowly walked toward the scarecrow. "Apples aren't even in season, Dean."
"Tell me about it," Dean muttered bitterly as he looked up at the scarecrow. None of the pieces of apple pie he had recently were very good. Fall was the peak apple pie season. "Dude, you are fucking ugly."
Julia rolled her eyes and blanched when she saw that the scarecrow had a scythe in its hand. "Why the hell would a scarecrow be armed with that?"
Dean hummed, his eyes searching the scarecrow up and down. He paused a little when he spotted something that looked familiar on the arm with the scythe. He turned to the ladder next to the closest apple tree and picked it up, bringing it back over to the scarecrow.
Julia grimaced as he climbed the ladder, hoping that the thing wouldn't suddenly come alive and slice his head off. That would be horrific for everyone involved.
Dean reached toward the arm he wanted to get a closer look at and pulled by the sleeve. "You see that?" he asked Julia, nodding at the tattoo on the scarecrow's arm. "It's the tattoo."
Julia stood on her tip toes to get a better look. "The same tattoo as Vince Parker."
Dean pursed his lips and crawled down the ladder. "The very one."
They got into the Impala and drove back to Burkittsville, deciding that they needed to question the girl that seemed to be the only one who was telling the truth in the whole town.
"Okay, so, a couple goes missing every year around the same time like clockwork in the same place," Julia hummed, resting her head against the passenger window. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"
Dean nodded. "Human sacrifice."
"Yep," Julia sighed and lifted her head to look at him. "So, I'm thinking a Pagan or Norse god."
Dean glanced at her, raising an inquisitive eyebrow. "I thought you didn't believe in that stuff?"
"I believe that different types of gods exist," Julia shrugged. "I'd be ignorant not to, especially when my dad has had run-ins with a couple of them."
The most notable story she heard from her dad was the Trickster run-in, of course.
"But you're a Christian."
"Because I believe that my God is the main God," Julia explained. "With a capital 'G'. The one who rules over the universe."
"Hmm…" Dean nodded thoughtfully as they rolled back into the town limits. "So, you believe in Evolution?"
Julia laughed. "Yes, Dean, I believe in Evolution."
Dean sighed in relief. "Thank the lord you're not a kook."
She shook her head, smiling fondly. "Thanks, D. I appreciate it."
"No problem, shortcake."
There was a red SUV parked outside of Jorgeson Motors when they approached. Dean pulled off to the gas pump at the side of the road. To their immense luck, Emily was already outside the shop.
"You're back," she greeted them kindly as they got out of the Impala.
"Never left."
"You're still looking for your friends?" she buried her hands in her red hoodie.
Dean nodded as Julia leaned against the car. "You mind filling her up, there, Emily?" she nodded and grabbed the hose from the pump, inserting it into the tank. "So, you grow up here?"
"I came here when I was thirteen," Emily told them. "I lost my parents to a car accident. My aunt and uncle took me in."
"I'm sorry for your loss," Julia gave her a sympathetic smile; Emily gave her a grateful look. "Your aunt and uncle were nice."
Well, they were until they mentioned the missing people, anyway.
"Everybody's nice here."
"So, what, it's the perfect little town?" Dean asked skeptically.
Emily didn't catch his tone. "Well, you know, it's the boonies," she shrugged. "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."
Julia raised her eyebrows. Blessed. Ripe apples in early spring, a scarecrow, a couple sacrificed every year, and a town that seemed to flourish in a recession? Something tugged on the back of her mind but she couldn't remember what the exact information was.
"Hey, have you been out to the orchard?" Dean asked her suddenly; Emily nodded. "You seen the scarecrow?"
Emily scoffed softly. "Yeah, it creeps me out."
"I thought I was the only one," Julia chuckled in comradery. "Do you know who owns it?"
"I have no idea," Emily shrugged. "It's just always been there."
Julia nodded in understanding as Emily took the hose from the tank and put it back in the pump.
"Is that your aunt and uncles?" Dean gestured to the red SUV with his head.
Emily shook her head. "A customer's," she corrected him. "had some car troubles."
"It's not a couple, is it?" Dean asked hurriedly. "A man and a woman?"
Emily nodded in confirmation.
"Are they around?" Dean hesitated before continuing, "eating at Scotty's, maybe?"
"It's the only restaurant in town," Emily told them like it wasn't obvious. "Famous for their apple pie."
They paid for the gas and thanked Emily for her help before making an excuse to stop into Scotty's Café. The couple were the only people in the café when they arrived, besides Scotty, who was serving them two plates of warm apple pie.
"Hey, Scotty," Dean greeted the older man like a friend—if that friend was a guy who was most likely sacrificing a couple each year for some god. "can we get a black coffee and a sweet tea?"
Scotty gave them an unhappy look as they walked over to one of the empty tables next to the couple.
"Oh, and some of that pie, too, while you're at it?" Dean called to Scotty before he could disappear into the kitchen. If it was any other server than Scotty, Julia would have scolded him for being so rude.
Julia nudged him in the back, silently urging him to sit down. She took the chair facing with the back facing the kitchen and Dean took the seat to her left.
"How ya doing?" he greeted the couple casually. "Just passing through?"
The woman nodded enthusiastically. "Road trip."
"Yeah, us, too," Dean hummed.
Scotty emerged from the kitchen with a pitcher of cider. He walked over to the couple's table and refilled their glasses. When he finished, he gave Dean a stern look. "I'm sure these people want to eat in peace."
"Just a little friendly conversation," Dean said innocently while Julia narrowed her eyes into a glare. "Oh, and that coffee and tea, too, man. Thanks."
"So," Julia spoke up, flashing the couple a smile in an attempt to counter Dean's enthusiasm. "what brings you to town?"
"We just stopped for gas," the woman told her. "The guy at the gas station saved our lives."
She raised a curious eyebrow. "Really?"
"Yeah, one of our brake lines was leaking," the guy stated. "We had no idea. He's fixing it for us now."
"Nice people," Dean cocked his head suspiciously; the man nodded. "So, how long until you're up and running?"
"Sundown."
"Really? To fix a break line?" the man nodded at Dean's question. "Well, you know, I know a thing or two about cars. I could probably have you up and running in about an hour. I wouldn't charge you anything."
The man wrinkled his nose and turned to his wife for help. The woman fixed Dean with a polite, if not a little standoffish, smile. "You know, thanks a lot, but I think we'd rather have a mechanic do it."
"Sure," Dean smiled slightly in agreement and paused, leaning in a little toward their table. "You know, it's just that these roads, they're not real safe at night."
"I'm sorry?"
Julia got the sense that they were creeped out now. "He means any roads at night," she rolled her eyes in amusement and sent them a friendly smile. "He's a bit of a safety nerd. Hazards of being a traffic cop, right, babe?"
She was getting a little better at this couple talk, Dean admitted to himself, a lot less awkward than before. He backed off of the couple at her pointed glare and straightened in his seat. When he saw that the couple had gone back to eating and not looking at him like he was a weirdo, he sighed.
"You and Sam gotta teach me that puppy-eyed look," he grumbled, picking up a sugar packet from the middle of the table.
"You wouldn't be able to master it," she told him quietly, her lips pulled up into a smug smile. "It's the brown eyes and dimples. You stick to that charming smile, huh?"
Dean playfully rolled his eyes at her.
"Thanks for coming, Sheriff," Scotty spoke loudly from the counter as the door to the café opened. Who Julia guessed was the town's only police officer walked into the restaurant. He crossed the room and spoke quietly with the man.
Julia and Dean shared a look as the sheriff walked over to their table.
"I'd like a word, please," the man requested stiffly.
"Actually, we were just leaving," Julia stood up and pushed her chair in; Dean followed her lead, glaring at the man. "So, unless you have probable cause to detain us legally, we'd like to get out of town before dark."
The sheriff's face hardened considerably but Julia and Dean walked past him and out of the restaurant. As they drove out of town, he tailed them to make sure they wouldn't come back.
Dean looked in the rear view, where he could still see the cruiser, and chuckled quietly.
"What?" Julia asked him curiously.
"That was badass back there," he told her. "How'd you know all that?"
"Beth's a lawyer remember?" she reminded him. "I used to help her study for her finals."
"So, you know all that legal bullshit?"
"Not all of it but, yeah," she shrugged. "I know some."
"Not gonna lie, Jules, that's kinda sexy."
Julia sighed in amusement when he smirked at her. "Oh, Dean...what are we gonna do with you?"
"Have you found anything yet?" Dean groaned from his bed, lazily turning his head toward the table where Julia sat with her laptop, researching Pagan gods.
After the sheriff stopped following them out of town, they waited at the orchard for the couple they met at the restaurant. Both of them had a pretty good idea that their car was gonna break down right around there and they would be the god's yearly dinner. They happened to be right; a half-hour after the sun set, they spotted the red SUV come to a stop at the side of the road in front of the orchard.
After saving the couple, they drove them to the nearest town, Scottsburg, and told them to make sure that they stayed out of Burkittsville. The couple and Julia and Dean got rooms at the same motel and in the morning, Dean went back to the orchard with the man and fixed up their SUV so they could get the hell out of dodge.
So, now Julia was stuck in the room with a miserable Dean, researching different fertility gods that could be animating the scarecrow.
"Maybe if you helped me…" she hinted flatly.
"That's not how this works, shortcake," Dean sighed, rolling onto his stomach with his head at the foot of the bed. "I'm the muscles, you're the brain."
"What's Sam, then?"
"When Sam was with us you were the beauty and he was the brain," Dean answered simply, his green eyes dimming at the mention of his brother. "You wanna watch a movie? Let's watch a movie."
"Dean," Julia sighed as he turned on the television.
"Oh, look, Forrest Gump is on," Dean said to avoid the conversation he just knew she wanted to have. "You're a Tom Hanks fan, right?"
"Well, yeah, but—" she paused, not allowing herself to become distracted. "No, you're not gonna distract me."
"I'm not trying to distract you."
"Sure, you aren't."
"What do you want me to say?" Dean huffed, jumping off the bed to start pacing the length of the room. "That I was a jackass to my little brother? I already know that."
"I wasn't going to say that, Dean," Julia crossed her arms over her chest and leaned back in her chair.
Dean gave her a doubtful look. "What were you gonna say then?"
"I was gonna say that you're an idiot," Julia told him; when he sent her a glare, she continued, "but so is Sam. You guys have conflicting personalities so it's not a surprise that you guys rub elbows sometimes."
"That's what brothers do," he crossed the room, feeling a little better that she called Sam an idiot too, and sat in the chair across from her.
"I know that. I'm just saying…just because you fight doesn't mean that you'll never see him again," she smiled at him. "Even when we were at Stanford, Sam talked about you all the time. You do the same thing."
"I do not," Dean grumbled, the tips of his ears turning pink with embarrassment.
"Yeah, you do," she said matter-of-factly. "When we met up for your birthday last year you asked about him before you even said hi."
"Well, that's—"
"And then you asked me whether or not he was doing well in school," she smirked at him. "and you didn't want to go near my apartment because you didn't want to make Sam uncomfortable."
Dean pressed his lips firmly together, looking uncomfortable with what she was saying.
"And that's okay, Dean," she leaned forward and reached across the table, placing her hand on his right fist. "You raised Sam and with your dad gone right now, he's your only blood left."
The corners of his lips quirked, making the dimples above them pop out. "I miss him, okay?" he admitted. "And I feel like absolute shit for what I said to him."
"So, call him," Julia urged, taking her hand back and nodding at his phone he left on the table when they entered the room earlier that morning. "Tell him what's going on."
"How about you tell me what you found, first," Dean grinned crookedly. "and, then, I will give him a call."
"Okay," she instantly gave in. "So, I did some research about gods of fertility."
"As in…?"
"No," Julia denied quickly and moved on, "I mean like crop fertility and all that stuff. There's different gods in different cultures. In Norse mythology, there's Thor and Freyr, in Greek mythology it's Aphaea and Demeter, in Roman mythology it's Robigus."
"Okay, so that's why there's apples in spring," Dean guessed. "and why the town is still in business while everything around it dies."
"Exactly," Julia nodded. "and at the basis of fertility, whether it's agricultural or reproductive—"
"A sacrifice of a male and female," Dean finished for her. "So, you were right about Scotty. He's Farquaad."
"Yep," Julia typed into her computer, looking at the address of an ideology professor at a local college. "I emailed a local professor and asked him if he had time to answer some questions. We're meeting with him at two."
"Good work, shortcake. You're getting better at this," Dean tapped the table for emphasis. "Come on, we have time for lunch."
"And for you to call Sam," she reminded him, standing up to grab her Stanford crewneck to slip over her head.
"Yeah, yeah, I know."
After they stopped for lunch, they started heading toward the local community college located on the other side of Scottsburg. While driving, Dean called Sam and was surprised that he actually answered. He quickly gave him the rundown of what happened with the couple the night before, causing Sam to pause for a few seconds.
"The scarecrow climbed off its cross?" he asked in shock.
"Yeah, I'm telling ya," Dean sighed, shaking his head. "Burkittsville, Indiana. Fun town."
"It didn't kill the couple, did it?"
"No, we can cope without you, you know," Dean shot Sam an annoyed look but Julia knew that he wasn't annoyed at all. She could tell by the gleam in his green eyes.
"So, something must be animating it," Sam said thoughtfully. "A spirit, maybe."
"We think it's more than that," Julia spoke up, glad that Dean put the call on speakerphone. "It might be a Pagan god."
"What makes you say that?"
"The annual cycle of the killings and the fact that the victims are always a man and a woman—like some kind of fertility rite," Dean explained. "And you should see the locals and the way they treated this couple. They were fattening them up like a Christmas turkey."
"The last meal," Sam offered. "Given to sacrificial victims."
"We're thinking a ritual sacrifice to appease some Pagan god."
"The god animates the scarecrow and the scarecrow takes its sacrifice," Julia stated. "For another year, the crops won't wilt and disease won't spread."
Sam hummed. "Do you know which god you're dealing with?"
"Not yet but I think I've narrowed it down a little," Julia sighed. "We have an appointment with a professor at a local community college."
"We wouldn't have to go if we had the brains of the team back," Dean hinted.
Sam caught it and laughed lightly. "You know, if you're hinting you need my help, just ask."
"I'm not hinting anything," Dean lied and then hesitated, looking over at Julia; she nodded encouragingly. "Actually, uh…I want you to know—I mean, I don't think that—"
"Yeah," Sam took mercy on Dean's inability to express his emotions outright. "I'm sorry, too."
"Sam, you were right," Dean admitted. "You gotta do your own thing. You gotta live your own life."
"Are you serious?" they could hear the surprise in his voice.
"You've always known what you want and you go for it," Dean said seriously. "You stand up to Dad and you always have. Hell, I wish…anyway, I admire that about you. I'm proud of you, Sammy."
Julia smiled and turned her head to look out the window, her eyes filling with tears. She was such a sap. She was one of those people who were cursed to cry when they were sad, happy, and angry. It made it hard to have a serious argument when you suddenly burst into tears—she knew that from experience.
Sam was kind of speechless at Dean's confession. "I don't even know what to you say."
"Say you'll take care of yourself."
"I will," Sam promised.
"Call us when you find Dad."
"Call us if you don't," Julia added, swallowing thickly to hide her tears.
Both Sam and Dean knew that she was crying. They all knew each other way too well.
"Okay," Sam said quietly, a hint of sadness in his voice. "Bye, Dean. Bye, J."
"It's not every day I get a research question on Pagan ideology," Professor Jenkins stated as he led Julia and Dean to his office.
"Well, we're in our last semester at Stanford," Julia told him. "We're partnered on a thesis about how Christianity took over the trend of Pagan ideals and practices."
"But you said you were interested in local lore?" he gave her an interested look.
She nodded with a dimpled smile.
"Well, I'm afraid that Indiana isn't really know for its Pagan worship," Professor Jenkins said apologetically.
"Well, what if it was imported?" Dean spoke up. "You know, like the Pilgrims brought their religion over. Wasn't a lot of this area settled by immigrants?"
"Well, yeah…"
"Like the town near her, Burkittsville," Dean added. "Where are their ancestors from?"
Professor Jenkins pressed his lips together thoughtfully. "Uh, northern Europe, I believe. Scandinavia."
"So, the Norse gods," Julia hummed.
"There are hundreds of Norse gods and goddesses," Professor Jenkins confirmed.
"We're actually looking for one," Dean told him. "It might live in an orchard."
"Woods god, huh?" Professor Jenkins turned down a short hallway and opened one of the two doors. He let them into his office and walked right over to a large book on Pagan ideology that he took out ahead of their appointment. "Well, let's see."
Professor Jenkins leafed through the pages carefully. Dean stopped him when he saw a drawing of a scarecrow in the middle of a flourishing field. "Wait, wait, what's that one?"
"Oh, that's not a woods god, per se…"
Dean squinted as he read the title of the chapter. "The V-Vanir?" Professor Jenkins nodded and he read on, "The Vanir were Norse gods of protection and prosperity, keeping local settlements safe from harm. Some villages built effigies of the Vanir in their fields. Other villages practiced human sacrifice. One male and one female…"
"Freyr is a Vanir," Julia supplied. "and so are Freya, Odin, and Thor…"
"Correct," Professor Jenkins confirmed.
"Do you know if Freyr took human sacrifices?" she asked him, crossing her arms over her chest.
"I-I'm not sure."
Dean pointed to the Vanir on the page. "Looks like a scarecrow, doesn't it?"
"Well, I suppose," Professor Jenkins chuckled awkwardly.
Dean continued to read, "This particular Vanir that's energy sprung from the sacred tree."
"Well, Pagans believe all sorts of things were infused with magic."
"So, what would happen if the sacred tree was torched? You think it'd kill the god?"
"Son, these are just legends we're discussing," Professor Jenkins laughed slightly. "I thought your thesis is on Pagan ideals and practices?"
"It is," Julia nodded with a grateful smile. "Professor Jenkins, thank you so much for your help."
Professor Jenkins shook the hand Dean was offering. "My pleasure."
The two of them went to leave the office. When Julia opened the door, the butt of a gun was forced against her forehead, instantly knocking her out.
When Julia came to, she was being tied to an apple tree.
"Oh, you've got to be kidding me," she groaned loudly, glaring up at Harley and Stacy, who were finishing up her ropes. "I am not about to be sacrificed when apples aren't even in season!"
"You don't have to worry about that for much longer," Stacy hushed her with a harsh glare.
"How many people have you killed, Sheriff?" she heard Dean ask. She whipped her head to the right and saw that he was being tied to his own tree a couple feet away from her. "How much blood is on your hands?"
"We don't kill them," the sheriff defended him and his neighbors.
"Oh, and accessory to murder is so much better?" Julia scoffed, wincing as Stacy harshly tightened the ropes around her wrist. "Take it easy, grand—"
She was slapped before she could even finish her warning. "Son of a bitch!"
"You okay, Jules?" Dean called as Stacy and Harley backed away from her tree.
"I'm peachy, Dean."
"Good," he turned his attention back on the sheriff. "How many cars have you hidden or clothes you've buried?"
"That's none of your concern," the sheriff spat.
The four elders started walking away from their trees, toting their shotguns with them.
"I hope your apple pie is fucking worth it!" Dean shouted after them.
A half-hour passed as they were stuck there, the sun starting to set. There was still a little bit of light left in the sky when Emily appeared. She pressed her finger to her lips at the confused looks they gave her, telling them to be quiet as she carefully walked over to them.
She knelt in front of Dean, pulling a pair of scissors out of her sweater pocket.
"You didn't know anything about this, did you?" he asked her as she started sawing at the thick ropes wrapped around his wrists.
"The scarecrow god?" she scoffed quietly. "No. I overheard my aunt and uncle talk about it earlier. They said they were gonna use you guys as the sacrifices."
"Thanks for helping," Julia sighed gratefully as Dean pulled his wrists, snapping through the rest of the rope.
"What's the plan?" Emily asked her and Dean.
"We can destroy the scarecrow but we gotta find the tree."
"What tree?"
"It would be really old," Dean explained. "The locals would treat it with a lot of respect. You know, like it was sacred."
Emily thought for a few seconds before her eyes lit up in realization. "The First Tree."
"What's the First Tree?" Julia wondered as Dean ran over to her and started freeing her from her ropes.
"It was an apple tree that the immigrants brought over with them," Emily told her. "It's somewhere around here."
"Okay," Dean broke through Julia's ropes, helping her to her feet and gently brushing a thumb over her black eye. "We'll focus on that tomorrow. For now, we gotta get the fuck out of here."
The three of them paused when they heard footsteps coming their way.
"Oh, my God," Emily breathed fearfully, afraid that it was the scarecrow. "Oh, my God."
"Dean? Julia?"
"No, thank God," Julia corrected her with a sigh of relief as Sam walked around a couple of apple trees, appearing before them.
"Oh, I take everything back!" Dean exclaimed, grinning at his brother. "I'm so happy to see you."
"Sam, how'd you get here?" Julia grinned at him.
"I, uh—I stole a car," he admitted sheepishly.
Dean laughed. "Oh, that's my boy!"
"Guys," Emily spoke up worriedly. "Maybe we should get out of here."
"Keep a lookout for the scarecrow," Julia warned Sam. "It could come alive at any second."
Sam gave her a confused look. "What scarecrow."
Dean rushed around the tree where Julia had been tied up, looking for the scarecrow. It wasn't on its post.
"Fuck," he cursed harshly before turning back to Sam, Julia, and Emily. "All right, let's get the hell out of here."
While they started running through the orchard, Dean told Sam how to kill the scarecrow and stop the sacrifices.
"All right," Sam breathed. "this sacred tree you're talking about—"
"It's the source of its power."
"So we find it and burn it," Sam stated casually.
"In the morning," Dean insisted. "Let's shag ass before Leatherface shows up."
The four of them turned into another row of apple trees and stopped in their tracks when they came face-to-face with Harley and Stacy.
"This way," Dean urged, moving to the left.
Behind him, Scotty cocked his shotgun. On the two other sides were the sheriff and Professor Jenkins, both with large guns aimed at them. A soft growling approached them, causing Emily and Julia to back into Dean and Sam.
"Please, let them go," Emily begged her aunt and uncle.
"It'll be over quickly," Harley assured her. "Emily, you have to let it take them. You have to—"
Harley grunted as the scarecrow's scythe impaled itself through his heart. Stacy screamed loudly, the others scattered, and Emily turned away. Her aunt was next on the scarecrow's list; he grabbed her around the neck, impaled his scythe in the back of Harley's leg and dragged them both off back into the middle of the orchard.
The next afternoon, Julia, Sam, and Dean saw Emily off on a bus leaving to Boston, Massachusetts. They had found the First Tree earlier in the morning and it was Emily, herself, that lit it on fire.
Julia was very impressed with the girl and her bravery. Not many normal people would risk their life to save a couple of strangers from being sacrificed. Especially when it was for the good of the town they lived in and loved. Emily was a genuinely good person and Julia wished the best for her.
As the bus drove off, Sam sighed, "Think she's gonna be all right?"
"I hope so," Dean stated, staring after the bus.
"And the rest of the people, they'll just get away with it?"
"They'll be punished enough when their whole town burns to the ground around them," Julia muttered bitterly; the brothers gave her a hesitant look, reminded of when she suggested burning down the whole orchard just in case. "Metaphorically, of course."
Dean playfully rolled his eyes at her. "You little pyromaniac."
Julia winked at him.
They started walking back to the Impala. "So," Dean started, looking over at his brother. "Can I drop you off somewhere?"
"No," Sam scoffed lightly. "I think you're both stuck with me."
Dean raised his eyebrows as he stopped by his door. "What made you change your mind?"
"I didn't. I still want to find Dad and you're still a pain in the ass," Sam chuckled and paused briefly. "But, Jess and Mom are both gone. Dad is God knows where. You and Julia—you're the only people I have left."
Dean's eyes flickered over to Julia, remembering her saying something almost exactly like that the day before. She was smiling cutely at the ground, her dimple on display. He was sure there were probably tears in her eyes.
"So," Sam sighed and Dean looked back at him. "if we're gonna see this through, we're gonna do it together."
"Sam!" Julia sniffed and lunged toward the brothers, wrapping them into an involuntary hug. Dean had been right about her tears; they were currently soaking Sam's sleeve. "That was so beautiful. You should write a book of poems or something."
Dean laughed. "You could call it The Somber Sonnets of Sam Winchester."
"Ha-ha," Sam muttered sarcastically, removing a giggling Julia from around him. "You both should be kissing my ass, by the way. You guys were dead meat."
"Emily saved us long before you did, dude," Dean pointed out. "You got there just for the ending."
"He's right."
Sam rolled his eyes. "Sure, he is."