Chapter 8 - Scary Movie
Gail was stressing out. It was the morning of October 31st, and she still had no idea what their costumes should be.
Cas was no help whatsoever. He'd kept telling her that he would go along with whatever she decided. But, that was the trouble. She couldn't think of a couples' theme that really spoke to her.
"Why don't you both just go as Angels?" Sam had joked.
"Oh, very funny, Sam," Gail said, making a face at him. She was setting the table at the bunker. Sam and Dean and Nicole were going to have breakfast, and then Cas and Gail were going to teleport their friends to the next stop on the Hallowe'en Tour, as Dean was calling it. They had a fun day planned.
"You could go as some other kind of otherworldly beings," Nicole suggested, pouring coffee for herself and the brothers. "Elves? Fairies?"
Dean shuddered. "Not fairies. Never joke about fairies."
Nicole did a double-take. Okie-dokie.
"Gail could be a Hobbit. She's little enough," Sam wisecracked, bringing the bowl with the eggs to the table.
"Thanks, Hagrid," Gail retorted, and Sam grinned.
"Why'd you leave it till the last minute?" Dean asked her, buttering his toast. "You're usually a lot more organized than that."
Gail glanced quickly at Sam, and then she looked away. She couldn't tell these guys that she'd been preoccupied because she, Cas and Gabriel had all been spending time in Heaven's library, researching the Beast of the Apocalypse. They still hadn't figured out how to tell Sam that not only was Brian the Beast, but he wasn't even Sam's son. He was Vincent's. Would Sam even believe them? And even if he did, there was no way he would be on board when it came to killing a baby. So the three Angels had been doing a lot of research, trying to figure out if there was any way to prove conclusively what Brian was, and what kind of harm he could do. But the results had been negligible so far.
But today was Angela's birthday, and it was also Hallowe'en. The adults were all going to get together and take the kids out for some fun activities, and of course, Angela's birthday was going to be celebrated, as well. Frank had said that next year they would probably split up the two occasions, so his daughter could have her birthday party on a day when everybody wasn't walking around looking like something he and Rob wanted to kill.
"What are you guys going as?" Gail asked Nicole.
Dean's girlfriend laughed. "Well, it took some negotiation on my part, but we finally reached a compromise. Actually, Dean and Sam and I are going as the Little Rascals."
"Guess where we got the inspiration?" Dean said, smirking.
Gail looked at her husband. "Great. They're making fun of us," she said.
"Maybe we should go as Sam and Dean, then," Cas said, his lips twitching.
"Gail would have to grow at least three feet in height, and you'd have to get a lot better-looking," Dean said, nudging Cas.
"Although, if we made out a lot, a bunch of those fan fiction people would be very happy," Gail wisecracked.
"Maybe you should be me, and I should be Dean, then," Cas said, going along with the joke. "Then, an even bigger percentage of them would be happy."
Dean groaned. "Hey, don't make me lose my appetite. I plan on doing a lot of drinking today."
"And, that would be different from any other day...how?" Sam teased his brother.
Gail sighed. "Well, this is all very entertaining, but it still doesn't solve our problem," she remarked. She looked at Cas. "Can I borrow your phone, sweetie?"
Cas handed it over, and Gail looked up a local costume store on Google. "Maybe we'll just go there, and see what they have," she said, punching in the number.
"You're going to a costume place on Hallowe'en? Good luck with that," Sam said.
"I hate to say this, but he's right," Nicole stated. "You might as well just go in your underwear, and be a slutty...well, anything," she said to Gail. "Let's face it, that's what most of the grownup costumes are for women, anyway."
"Why don't you grab some grape leaves, and go as Adam and Eve?" Sam joked. He was on a roll, now.
"It was fig leaves, and I don't think Gail wants to dress up as her mother-in-law, even as well as they got along," Cas said mildly.
"Shhhh, it's ringing," Gail said, holding up her hand for quiet. "Oh, hello," she said pleasantly when a man answered the phone. "What time are you open until?"
"Noon," the man replied.
"Noon?" Gail echoed. "Why?"
"Because we're open until noon," he replied.
Gail took the phone away from her ear and looked at it incredulously. Was he kidding with that? Had the "seasonal vegetables" waiter from that restaurant changed jobs? "Ummm...I meant, why so early?" she tried again.
"Lady, it's Hallowe'en, and it's a Saturday," the man said, sighing audibly. "I don't even know why we're open now. We've got nothing left. At this point, you could just slap a few grape leaves on, and go as Eve."
"They were fig leaves," Gail retorted, but the guy had already hung up. She jabbed the End Call button anyway, just on general principles.
The Winchesters and Nicole exchanged amused glances. "Hey, I know what: why don't you go as the Lady and the Tramp?" Dean said, affecting an innocent expression. Gail looked at him suspiciously, but he quickly went back to eating his breakfast.
"How about animals? A lion, and a lioness? A duck and a drake? A penguin and a polar bear?" Sam suggested, grinning.
"They should just be two big lips, kissing," Dean said around a mouthful of food. "That's what they look like most of the time, anyway."
"When did you guys get so mean?" Gail said, rolling her eyes again. "Fine. You know what? If you're not going to help, you'll just have to get to Frank's place by yourselves, while Cas and I work out our costumes."
Nicole took a swig of her coffee. "Come on, you guys. We need to think of something. This is the first full weekend I've had off in ages, and I want to get my drink on." They looked at her, and she shrugged. "What? It's OK if Dean says it, but not if I do?"
Sam nodded in acknowledgement. She had a point, there. "How about if the two of you go as wizards?"
Gail shook her head. "Robes? No." She appraised Cas, gesturing. "It would be a shame to hide all this gorgeousness under a big, bulky robe. How about someone shirtless, maybe?"
Dean dropped his fork onto his empty plate. "That's it. I've officially lost my appetite," he complained.
Nicole eyed her boyfriend. "Objection. States facts not in evidence," she quipped, and Sam's face broke into a grin. "Up top," the younger Winchester said, and he and Nicole high-fived smartly.
"We've been watching courtroom dramas together," Sam explained to Cas and Gail.
"Tarzan and Jane," Nicole said suddenly, and Gail's face lit up. "NOW, you're talking!" she enthused. "My husband in a loincloth, carrying me around the jungle? I thought it was Hallowe'en, not Christmas!" The women started to crack jokes, as Sam and Dean rose from the table to clear away the dishes. Cas smiled. It was funny how Dean automatically did things like that without any sort of argument when Nicole was around.
"You'll have to work on your Tarzan yell, Cas," Nicole said, laughing.
"Find some reruns of the Carol Burnett Show online," Sam grinned. "She's got the best one."
"I'd better start thinking about which one of you will be our faithful companion, Cheetah," Cas said affably.
"You know that Cheetah's a monkey, right?" Dean asked his friend.
"Why, yes, Dean. I do," Cas replied with a straight face.
"And just like that, Cas gets the last word," Gail said, rising from her seat at the breakfast table. She extended her hand to her husband. "We'll go get our costumes, and we'll be back in a few minutes. Feel free to vote on who gets to be the monkey, while we're gone."
Then she and Cas disappeared, leaving three bemused humans behind.
"Oh, real original, Mike," Paul teased Carolyn's boyfriend. "You're dressed like a mechanic."
"So what?" Mike said mildly.
"Ummm...you ARE a mechanic," Kevin pointed out.
"Hey! Mike and the Mechanics! I just got that!" Frank said, nudging Kevin. The younger Angel looked at him blankly.
"Now you know how I feel, all the time," Bobby quipped to Frank. "Hey, where's the birthday girl?"
Right on cue, Angela ran into the living room. "Grandpa!" she exclaimed.
He looked at her, startled. The little girl's skin was coloured green, from head to toe. "Who are you supposed to be?" he asked the little girl. "The Jolly Green Giant's wife?"
"Paging Sam Winchester," Frank called out.
"I'm Gailora, from Guardians of the Nursery," Angela said brightly.
Now it was Bobby's turn to be mystified. "Huh?" he said.
"You had to be there," Cas said, picking Angela up for a hug. "You look beautiful. Almost as beautiful as the original model," he told her.
Gail smiled as Angela bussed Cas on the cheek. "Thanks, Uncle Cas!" she said, hugging his neck.
"THAT'S what we should have done!" Gail said, throwing her hands up in the air. "We should have dressed like our characters!"
"I am Galoot," Dean said in a deep voice, and they laughed.
Cas was still bouncing Angela up and down in his arms. She looked at him, cocking her head to the side. "Angels always have to tell the truth, right?" she asked her uncle.
Cas smiled. "We should, yes."
Angela glanced at her father, and then she said, "Daddy says that on Hallowe'en, if we go up to a house and say 'Trick or Treat', they have to give us candy. Is that true?"
"So they tell me," Cas answered with light humour. "But because I'm supposed to tell you the truth, I have to be honest with you: I've never done it, myself."
"Did I just hear a 'Never Have I Ever'?" Frank said, grinning. "Quick: somebody get Cas one of those little plastic pumpkins."
"It's not his fault," Rob joined in. "Where would he have gone trick-or-treating? His was the only house, back then!"
"Not bad, kiddo," Frank said, nodding his head with approval.
Peter and Ilene came into the room, holding hands. Laurel smiled. She'd been so glad to receive the invitation. After a number of counselling sessions, she was feeling a little better about things. She was still mourning Chuck, of course, but Laurel had come to the realization that she had been allowing her grief to turn into bitterness, and that wasn't who she was. She had started slowly opening up to Bobby, who always made time for her, and he had encouraged her to reach out to their other friends.
"What are you dressed up as?" she asked the kids.
"I'm a Ninja warrior," Peter told her, and Ilene said, "I'm a lady wrestler."
Barry shrugged. "Hey, don't look at me," he told everyone. "We all know I'm not exactly the most macho role model. I think they must take after Mike."
"I think they take after Carolyn," Frank said half-jokingly. "She's the scarier of the two."
Cas put Angela down. She was eager to go play with her "cousins". George was there, too. Since there weren't very many kids in the human family, and George had been part of the larger celebrations before, Gail had asked Karen and Ethan if they would like to bring him. Karen had cried, saying that she had never been able to take George out for Hallowe'en when they'd been humans. Although it would be kind of a moot point now, at least as far as the candy was concerned, Karen and Ethan had told their son that he should dress up in a costume and have fun with the other kids.
"I'm a cowboy," George announced, somewhat unnecessarily. He was wearing a cowboy hat and a belt with toy pistols at his hips.
"Are you sure?" Kevin quipped.
"Hey, you guys," Frank said to the kids. "Do you know why skeletons never go trick-or-treating?"
"Here we go," Gabriel said, smirking.
"No. Why?" Angela asked her father.
"Because they have no body to go with," Frank said gleefully, as all the adults groaned.
"So, we're going to the cornstalk maze just outside of town," Gail announced. "We'll split up into teams, and the first team to find their way out will win a prize."
"The team captains are me, Dean, Frank, and Rob," Sam told the children. "One Hunter per team. Don't worry, we'll protect you, in case we run into any scary ghosts, or monsters."
Peter grabbed Sam's hand. "I'm coming with you, Uncle Sam."
The younger Winchester smiled. He couldn't wait until Brian was old enough to do cool stuff like this with.
"Wait. Time Out," Dean said, gesturing. "All Sammy has to do is peek over the corn. He's tall enough to see over everything."
"The cornstalks are over twenty feet tall, Dean," Cas pointed out.
Dean spread his hands out. "And your point is...?" He looked at Angela. "You can come with me, Gailora. What do you do, if you see a ghost?"
"Salt and burn!" she said happily, and Frank grinned. "I'm so proud," Gail's brother said.
"Hey! What about us Angels?" Gail protested.
"You? No way. I know how competitive you are," Frank said, shaking his head. "You'll just cheat, and zap your team out."
"That's a terrible thing to say!" she protested indignantly. "Suggesting that I would compromise the integrity of the competition like that." She looked at Rob, winking. "I would TOTALLY do that."
"See? That's why you're staying outside," Frank said firmly. "Sorry; humans only."
"Fine," Bobby said. "Somebody's gotta be there to see who comes out first, anyway. If anybody gets really lost, just send up a prayer, and we'll come and get you."
"Eventually," Gail teased.
"But you can't take too long, 'cause we've got Angela's party, back here," Karen reminded everyone. "Ethan and I and Paul and Linda will stay here and get everything ready."
"Yeah, and then we're taking you out trick-or-treating," Rob added.
"You're lucky, because you'll be going to Peter and Ilene's neighbourhood first, and then back here," Gail added. "No other kids will be able to say they hit up two countries in one night."
"And then, to top it all off, there's the haunted house, and the haunted hayride, in Ottawa," Nicole chipped in.
"That's a lot of haunting," Frank said affably. "We'd better suit up, Hunters."
"Let's go, let's go!" Angela exclaimed, jumping up and down with excitement.
Gail had had prizes for all four kids, of course, and trophies were awarded to all four teams as they came out of the maze.
Dean's team emerged first, earning them the Expert Hunter trophy. Angela was thrilled, and Dean puffed out his chest proudly. Henri and Kevin had come along with them, so they got trophies, too.
Next was Frank's team, and he made a face when he found out that Dean had beat him by only a few minutes. "I TOLD you we should have turned left at that last fork," Frank grumbled to Barry. Laurel was holding Ilene's hand. The little girl didn't care that they had come in second; she had been having so much fun with Daddy Barry, Aunt Laurel, and Uncle Frank. Gail's brother had been full of bad dad jokes, and Laurel and Barry had lavished Ilene with love and attention. Sometimes it was easy to be overlooked when you were the youngest, and there had been a lot of things going on to preoccupy the adults in Ilene's life lately. Mike had just gotten his full mechanic's license, and after Barry's appearance on "Joltin' Joan"'s show, sales of Tommy's autobiography had gone through the roof. Other shows had contacted him, asking him to appear, both in Canada and in the States. But thus far, Barry had refused them all. That experience had been so negative that he was gun-shy, now. Carolyn was aware of and sensitive to that fact, but she also thought that they should strike while the iron was hot, as the saying went. So, she had been contemplating reaching for the stars. Literally. She had the first draft of an e-mail on her computer at home that she was going to edit and then send off to the Ellen Show.
"Who's being competitive now?" Gail teased her brother, handing out the Second Place trophies. Barry looked at his. "'Senior Hunter'? Hey, I'll take that, any day," he remarked with a smile.
"That's because you're not gonna have Dean Winchester lording it over you for who knows how long," Frank grumbled.
"Well, I had fun," Laurel said, holding her trophy aloft. "Thanks for including me."
Rob's team was out next, and his face fell a bit when he saw that Dean and his dad were already out. Bobby had decided at the last minute to go, and although he and his de facto grandson had joked about it, Bobby wouldn't even consider using his Godly powers to get a leg up, of course. What kind of example would that set? Nicole had tagged along with their group because she'd never been in a corn maze before, and also because she'd wanted an opportunity to get to know Bobby a bit better. He was a down-to-earth man, who was surprisingly paternal with the men in their group. Nicole had had the impression that Bobby was kind of a curmudgeon, but she was beginning to realize that there was much more to him than that.
Gail presented the trophies labelled Intrepid Hunter to each of Rob's team members, and then they all waited for Sam's team to emerge. Dean and Frank were salivating. They couldn't wait to rub it in.
Finally, out they came: Sam, little Peter, Carolyn, and Mike. A round of applause went up among the family members, who had all been waiting at the exit point.
"Geez, it's about time," Frank said to Sam. "We were just about to send in one of those Saint Bernards, with the keg on the collar."
"If we sent one of those after YOU, we'd never see you again," Mike quipped.
Frank was silent for a moment, and then he started to smile. "Not bad. For a loser, that is."
Mike and Carolyn were holding hands, and they smiled at each other. "It was nice and quiet in there," Carolyn said, and Peter exclaimed, "Mom and Mike were smooching! Me and Uncle Sam had to go back and find them!"
"Aww, geez. That's all we need, another Cas and Gail," Dean said, rolling his eyes.
"You say that like it's a bad thing," Gail said, grinning. She handed out the trophies, which were marked "Junior Hunter". Then, she nudged Carolyn. "Hey, if I'd known you were going to be doing something so worthwhile, I might have upgraded your trophies," Gail teased the woman.
Cas took Gail's hand, then put his arms around her. "We should have a kissing competition, sometime," he said, kissing his wife on the lips.
"We'd win, every time," she said, kissing him back.
"Now we know what to do, the next time we want to get rid of them for about a week," Dean wisecracked.
"OK, it's time to get going," Bobby told everyone, taking charge. "We've still got trick-or-treating, and those haunted whatevers in Ottawa. Nicole has generously offered anyone who wants to, to stay at her house in Ottawa."
"You can stay as long as you want," Nicole said to the group. "For those of you who've never seen really beautiful fall colours before, we should go to Gatineau Park, tomorrow. You haven't seen anything until you've seen that." She was excited to have people over to the house. After a lot of deliberation, Nicole had decided to hire renovators to begin re-tooling the place to operate as a bed-and-breakfast type of establishment. It was a process, though, because that type of major overhaul cost money and took time, but she had decided to go ahead with it, nonetheless. The first thing she had arranged for to be re-done were the rooms on the second and third floor, so there was plenty of space for everyone. Nicole hadn't even seen the renovations herself, although she had been receiving e-mail updates and photos from the contractor.
Groups of Angels and humans moved discreetly away from the other maze-goers, and once they were out of sight, they began to disappear.
It was full dark in the Ottawa region when the group of them arrived at the Valley View Farm. The usual operations of the place had been suspended for the month before Hallowe'en, and everything was decorated elaborately for maximum spookiness. There were kids running around from place to place, screaming in glee as employees dressed in scary costumes jumped out at them from dark corners.
"Talk about corny," Dean said, rolling his eyes as they headed towards the main building. There was a map there that outlined the attractions. Nicole had suggested that they get a brochure, and then decide what they wanted to do first. The general consensus was that whatever they did, they would all do as a group. It would be a little too easy to lose track of one of the kids they had in their charge if they didn't all stick together.
"The hayride's not for a while," Sam stated, checking the pamphlet. "Why don't we go check out the haunted house?"
"Boy, is this gonna be lame," Dean said under his breath.
"It's for the kids," Gail reminded him. "Besides, we have to get the Expert Hunters to lead the way. Right, Angela?"
"Right!" her niece exclaimed. The little girl grabbed Frank's hand. "Come on, Daddy, you can come, too. Even though you only got second place."
"Ooooh! Burn!" Dean said, grinning from ear to ear. "On SECOND thought, this could be fun." He poked Frank. "See what I did there?"
Frank tried to ignore him, focusing on his daughter instead. "That's what's wrong with kids these days," Frank groused. "They just don't respect their parents anymore." Then he smiled, and he bent down to Angela, extending his hand. "Up top, kiddo."
Angela slapped her father's hand, laughing. Then she and the other kids ran in the direction of the haunted house, and the grownups had to hurry to catch up.
They entered the "house", which was actually a renovated barn. "Hey, this almost looks like it could be a real house," Gail commented, looking around.
"It almost looks like it could be MY house," Nicole said with a grin. She lowered her voice. "But at least my place isn't haunted any more, thanks to you guys."
"Look at these cheesy decorations," Frank said, brushing fake cobwebs away from his face.
"I know, right?" Dean agreed. "It's not even scary, here."
Suddenly, a guy burst out of the door right next to Dean. "BOO!" he shouted at the top of his lungs, brandishing a fake axe.
Dean screamed in a high-pitched voice, and the adults all laughed as the kids squealed with delight. "That was great!" George exclaimed. "Do it again!"
"Did anybody get a recording of that?" Sam asked, his shoulders shaking with laughter. "I want to use that for my new ringtone."
Dean was clutching at his chest, glaring at the employee. "Why would you DO that?" he berated the young man.
"Uhhh...it's my job, man," the would-be axe murderer said.
Dean walked away quickly, muttering something about giving people heart attacks, as Gail and Frank clutched at each other, laughing hysterically.
Cas was looking around in wonderment. It was strange, this human custom. An entire day, dedicated to the celebration of ghosts, monsters, and people, frightening other people. He'd had difficulty understanding the appeal of such a thing. Weren't those things the very antithesis of what would be considered desirable? He had asked Sam about the phenomenon shortly after having arrived on Earth, and the younger Winchester had looked thoughtful. Cas actually raised a good point. But it was Sam's theory that the concept of finding humour in scary things and situations might ultimately be a healthy thing for kids. It was the same kind of idea as screaming on a roller coaster, or peeking between your fingers at a scary movie, Sam theorized. A large part of the fear of anything was the fear of the unknown. Once you made a nodding acquaintance with the object of your fear, it became a little more easy to deal with it. Cas hadn't really thought of it that way before, and he acknowledged the logic behind what Sam had said. But Castiel still found it odd, himself, and he guessed he always would.
Oh, well. The kids seemed to be having quite a bit of fun anyway, and the adults had had some too, at Dean's expense. Some of them were still having it, in fact.
"I wonder if we're gonna have some more scary monsters attacking us, on that hayride," Frank said, tapping Peter on the opposite shoulder. The boy's head whipped around wildly, looking for the source of the contact.
"Based on what we've seen here, I think that statement is axiomatic," Sam said with a grin.
"Oh, well, if the monster's got an axe, we'll have to get the Expert Hunter on the case," Frank said gleefully. "Maybe, if Dean screams loud enough, he'll scare the guy into dropping his axe."
The two of them laughed, and Dean frowned. "I'm gonna get you guys," he fumed. "Somehow, somewhere, sometime...I'm gonna get you."
"Look at me; I'm shaking," Frank said sarcastically.
Once the group had gone through the house, they made their way over to where staff members were loading people onto the flatbed truck for the haunted hayride. They all piled in, then listened as their guide, a young man who was dressed as a scarecrow, began to tell them a tale:
"It's a great night for a hayride," Adam said, looking at them all. There were a few dozen kids, easily, most of whom were looking up at him with wide eyes. "But, beware...there are ghosts and ghouls and monsters rampaging, out there. And the scariest one of them all is the man who used to own this place. His name was Harry, and he was a mean old man, who hated Hallowe'en, and candy, and kids. Every Hallowe'en, he would close the gates and put up a sign that said, 'NO TRESPASSING'. Then, he would get on his tractor and go out and plough the fields. This went on for a few years, and then one Hallowe'en night, he drove his tractor into a tree."
"Too much moonshine, probably," Dean wisecracked in a soft voice.
"You know what they say" 'Don't drink and tractor'," Sam added.
"Harry was angry," Adam continued, "so he went into the barn and got his chainsaw, and he marched up to that tree and cut it right down to the ground. But when he was done, he forgot to turn the chainsaw off. He was standing back, waiting for the tree to fall, but it was Harry who fell, instead. He tripped over the tree's roots, and fell onto his chainsaw."
"Ooooh, that's gotta hurt," Frank said, smirking.
"After Harry died, his brother opened up the farm every year on Hallowe'en, and that's how we're able to be here, today. But Harry is out there somewhere, and he's angry. He's been spotted by some of the local people recently, roaming the woods with his chainsaw in his hands. If you see him or hear his chainsaw, scream as loud as you can, and maybe he'll go away."
"Yeah, 'cause that always works," Bobby said, rolling his eyes.
"You're right, Sir," Adam said earnestly, looking at Bobby. This was in the script, of course. There was always one smartass adult who said that. It set him up beautifully. "It didn't work for me," Adam went on. He shook his shoulder, and his prosthetic arm fell to the trunk bed with a dull "thunk". Then he squeezed the bag inside his shirt, squirting fake blood from the hole in the armpit of his shirt.
The kids screamed, and Adam shouted, "No, no! I warned you not to scream! Now, he'll know where we are!"
"You said we SHOULD scream," Rob pointed out quite logically, but Adam was fully in character now. "Let's go!" the young man shouted to the driver of the truck. "Maybe we can outrun him!"
The truck's engine started up, and the vehicle began to move, as slow as molasses. "Go faster!" Adam yelled.
"I can't!" the driver shouted back, playing his own part. "I think Chainsaw Harry tampered with the engine!"
"Mike, do you wanna go down there and help those guys out?" Sam said to Carolyn's boyfriend, and the men laughed.
The truck took off with a jerk, and then they were driving slowly into the woods. "Woooo-oooo!" they heard, and a couple of spectral figues lowered themselves from tree branches. Dean and Frank exchanged glances, rolling their eyes. Really? They could see the wires from here.
But some of the kids were on edge from Adam's story, and the employee played his part well, winding them up further by telling them that they were approaching the spot where Chainsaw Harry was last seen. "Keep your eyes open," he warned them. "Listen for the sounds of the chainsaw."
The truck slowed down, and suddenly, a young couple ran out from the woods. "He's coming!" the girl screamed. "Chainsaw Harry! He's coming! He cut off our friend's hand!"
The driver slammed on the brakes, also as per the script. "Why are you stopping?" the young man who'd run out of the woods exclaimed. "He's coming!"
"They don't pay me enough for this," the driver said loudly. He exited the truck, running off in the other direction.
"Oh, no!" Adam exclaimed. "What are we going to do now? I can't drive! I've only got one arm!"
Frank, Sam and Dean burst out laughing. They couldn't help it. This was just too cheesy to be scary.
But some of the kids were agitated. "I'm scared, Daddy," Ilene said in a small voice. She climbed onto Barry's lap, and put her arms around his neck.
"It's OK," Barry told her, kissing his daughter on the forehead. "It's only pretend, like the movies."
And that was when the man stumbled out of the woods, screaming. He tottered forward a few steps and then fell face-first onto the ground, blood spurting from his arm, which was severed at the elbow.
Adam jumped up, swearing viciously. The young couple who had come out of the woods looked at each other, and then the girl screamed too, clutching at her companion.
"That's not part of the show!" the young man exclaimed. He grabbed the girl by the hand, pulling her towards the truck.
The men exchanged glances again, uncertain. Was the fact that they were saying this wasn't part of the show...part of the show? Didn't they just say that Chainsaw Harry had cut off their friend's hand?
Sam's jaw dropped. Yeah..."hand", they'd said. But this guy's arm was severed at the elbow, and he wasn't getting up. Adam was still shouting, and the young couple raced over to the cab of the truck, looking utterly panicked. The guy was trying to start the truck, but its engine was stalled.
"I don't think they're acting, you guys," Sam said, looking at Dean and Frank.
Dean rolled his eyes. "Come on, Sammy. Nice try," he said.
"We're NOT acting!" Adam exclaimed, trembling. "I've never seen that guy before in my life!" He gestured to the young man who was lying in the dirt, still motionless. "One of OUR guys was supposed to come staggering out of the woods with a fake injury, like mine!" He took his other arm out of the shirt he was wearing. "Then, 'Chainsaw Harry' was supposed to come out and wave the chainsaw around a few times, and we were all supposed to scream and pretend to be scared, and then Gus the driver was gonna take off, like he did. Then, just in the nick of time, a man dressed like a superhero was supposed to appear out of the woods, jump in the truck, and drive us all to safety. Superman, or Iron Man, or somebody. Then, we were supposed to have Deadpool run in front of the truck, cracking PG jokes, and then Wonder Woman was gonna show up with Chainsaw Harry tied up in her golden lasso, to show all the kids that they were safe. He was going to confess, and the Justice League were going to take him to jail."
"That sounds awesome," Dean said with a smirk. He still thought this was all an elaborate put-on.
So did Frank. "Why would you put a ghost in jail?" he asked Adam dryly.
But Sam and Rob were looking at each other, and they were shaking their heads. "Dad, he's not kidding," Rob said in a shaky voice. "There's something out there, in the woods."
Now, Rob's dad started to pay attention. Not only was his kid a Hunter in his own right, but he was psychic, too. And Sam had that look on his face, the one that all Hunters recognized.
Dean and Bobby saw that look now, and they took charge. "OK, let's go," Bobby said. "I'll take us all back to the main building. Cas and Gail can take care of business there, and I'll take the Hunters back home, to get some supplies."
And just like that, Bobby waved his arms, and everyone in the truck disappeared.
They all reappeared back in the main building on the farm grounds. The kids and adults who weren't part of the Hunters' group were disoriented, to say the least, and understandably so. But Bobby didn't want to take any chances, so he raised his voice: "All right, everybody: Listen up. We're officially on lockdown, here. Until we find out what's going on out there, everybody stays put. No exceptions."
"Who put YOU in charge?" one of the fathers said angrily. His son and daughter were terrified, hanging onto his legs for dear life. As so often happens in these cases, he was afraid too, and confused. Was there a danger to his kids, or not? His ex-wife was gonna kill him if anything happened to their kids. She had been against this excursion, saying that the children were too young and too sensitive to be exposed to the kind of scary stuff that the farm featured. He'd told her she was being overprotective, they were his kids too, and that was that. Aww, geez. Now what?
"I'M putting me in charge," Bobby said sternly. "My group and I are part of a Special Elite Forces branch of the government, and we know what we're doing. If you want your kids to be safe, you'll listen to us." He gave Cas and Gail a look. What the hell, God said over Angel Radio. They'd have to modify everybody's memories after this was all over, anyway. Might as well tell a few whoppers now.
"We'd better call in some reinforcements," Cas said crisply. "We will have to round up everyone who is on the grounds, and in the haunted house. Then, we will deploy everyone for transport, after the adjustments are made."
Bobby did a double-take. Cas was now Castiel, General of Heaven's Army, taking charge of the operations here. But that was just fine with Bobby. He had Hunters to transport, and a monster to kill. Truth be told, Bobby was more comfortable on that side of the equasion, anyway.
Still, God's beard twitched. "Carry on, General; Mrs. General." He snapped off a salute to Cas and Gail, then moved over to where the Hunters stood, grouped together.
"Any idea what we're looking at, boys?" Bobby asked the men.
"Wendigo," Rob said promptly, and the others looked at him, startled.
"Are you sure?" Sam asked the young man.
"I saw it," Rob replied, nodding emphatically. "Humanoid, tall and pale, elongated limbs...that's a Wendigo, right? A cannibal?"
"Yeah," Bobby said, impressed. "OK; that's good enough for me." He looked at Dean. "You still have those flame-throwers at the bunker?" His beard twitched again. He couldn't seem to help himself. This beat pushing a pen and paper around a desk, anytime. "I've always wanted to use one of those things."
"Well, let's get going, then," Frank urged. He was excited about that, too.
"Hold up," Dean said. He looked at Rob. "Wendigo, huh? You sure?"
"Yeah, Uncle Dean."
Dean was frowning. "Bobby, can you take Frank and Rob to the bunker and get the flame-throwers? Me and Sam are gonna draw the Anasazi symbols outside this place, just in case."
Bobby could have smacked himself on the head. "That's good thinking, Son. I forgot all about those. I've been spending too much time in Heaven, riding a desk. Good deal; we'll meet you back here in a couple of minutes."
Bobby, Frank and Rob left the building, so they could disappear discreetly. Not that it really mattered, he supposed; all the humans here who hadn't been in their little group would have to have their memories completely modified, anyway. Bobby had zapped them all over here from the woods, and soon, Cas and Gail and whatever Angels they'd decided to deputize would be popping people all over the place. What a balls-up. But there were a boatload of kids here, and keeping them safe was the priority right now. Cas and Gail knew what they were doing.
"Hey, Buddy," Dean said to Adam, who was standing in the middle of all the activity, looking shell-shocked. "Buddy. Pal," Dean tried again, waving his hand in front of Adam's face.
"Adam," the young man said, dazed. He looked at the Winchesters. "What's going on, here? What's happening?"
"What's happening is that we have a...situation," Dean told him. "There's a really bad monster out there who likes to snack on people, and we've gotta make sure he doesn't throw back a few of these kids for appetizers. I saw some kids drawing pictures in chalk outside, when we first got here. I'm gonna need you to get me and my brother here some of that chalk. We're going to draw some symbols on the walls outside this building that'll keep the monster out. Then, you can help our friends over there - " he pointed at Cas and Gail, who were giving instructions to a couple of dozen newly-arrived Angels " - with the kids and their parents. The tall guy dressed like Tarzan is Cas, and the short one dressed like Jane is Gail, his wife. Do what they tell you, and we'll all come out of this OK."
"Okay. OK," Adam said, nodding. He still looked stunned, but he started to walk towards the supply room. "I'll get you that chalk."
Meanwhile, Cas and Gail were coordinating the new arrivals. Gabriel told them he would take their human friends back to Nicole's place, and Henri, Milo and Nanette would stay with them, there. Then Gabe would come back and help the rest of the Angels grab everybody from the grounds and outbuildings on the farm, bring them back here, find out where they lived, modify their memories, and take them home. Then, there were their cars to think about, too. Gabriel was the only one besides Bobby who had the ability to move people and things en masse, so he'd told Cas he would take the lion's share of the transportation, if they would coordinate the modifications.
Some of the young employees came over to where Adam, Sam and Dean were, asking how they could help. Should they go out to the grounds and round up some of the customers? "No!" Sam exclaimed. "Our friends will get them. Nobody can leave this building. Don't worry, we've got it covered. My brother and I are going to draw some symbols on the building, and then we're going to meet up with a few other guys and go kill that monster."
"I have a gun," one of the girls said to the Winchesters. "I could go get it, if you want."
They looked at her, doing a double-take. "Uh...no. It's OK. We've got this," Dean told her. Sheesh. Canadians, with guns? Since when?
On cue, Nicole came rushing over. "Gabriel's taking us to my place," she informed her boyfriend. "I know you guys have to do your thing. I just wanted to give you this." She threw her arms around Dean's neck and kissed him. "Be safe, and I'll see you back at my house."
Then she walked back over to where Gabriel was waiting, and a moment later, their group disappeared.
Dean grinned. That was why he loved Nicole. No muss, no fuss, no melodrama. He'd definitely see her back at her house later. Hopefully, she had a room that was far enough away from any kids who might be staying there. If not, maybe they could just pass off Nicole's cries of happiness as Hallowe'en screams coming from outside, or something.
The young employees had drifted over to where Adam was now, helping Cas and Gail with the guests. The numbers were growing. Paul, Linda, Ethan, Karen and Laurel were popping in and out rounding up parents and kids, along with a dozen other Angels as backup. Speed was of the essence. That Wendigo could be out there anywhere, and they had no idea how many people were running around loose.
Gail stopped short from rushing over to where Gabriel was, herding another group to get ready to transport them to their homes. She was going to help him read the minds of the parents, to find out where they lived, before modifying their memories to erase this entire incident. But she'd just had an idea, so she called out to him, telling him to hold off on sending anyone. She'd be right there. Then she did an about-face, hurrying over to Adam.
"Can we get a total of how many people should be here, right now?" she asked the young employee. "I think, before we start sending them home, we should get a head count, so we can tell if we're getting everyone."
He looked at her curiously. So far, Adam had been rolling with things pretty well, considering how weird everything had gotten; and how fast his night had changed from a routine night of fun, getting to entertain kids, to a real-life horror movie.
"Who ARE you guys?" Adam asked her, looking over at where Gabriel was. The Archangel was distracting the children in his group, who were becoming restless, by making jack-o'-lanterns float through the air. Cas was shaking his head, but he said nothing, presumably because he knew that none of the guests would remember what they were seeing right now, once they'd arrived home. But in the meantime, at least they were calm, and staying inside the building.
Gail realized the same thing, so she looked at Adam and said, "We're Angels, sent here to protect all of you. But, I need your help. How can we get that info?"
He thought for a second. "We can check the computer, and see how many tickets were scanned tonight. Then we'll see how many of those were tapped at the exit gates."
Gail nodded. She had been wondering why, when they'd first arrived, they had been told to hang onto their tickets, and tap them at the electronic gates at the farm's exit when they were ready to leave. But now, she realized it made perfect sense. The venue was open, comprised of a lot of ground, and it was night-time.
"Excellent!" Gail exclaimed, impressed. She looked around. "Where's the computer?"
"Uhhh...it's in the main admin building," Adam said, making a face. "That's about half a mile up the hill, past the haunted house."
"No problem," she said. "I can zap us over there, right now."
Adam was still frowning. "And, strictly speaking, I'm not supposed to be able to get into the system. If we do this, can you do me a favour and not tell anybody I can do that? I could get fired."
"Really?" Gail remarked, surprised. "I thought that being able to use the computer at your workplace was pretty standard, nowadays."
"Not when you use it to look up a girl's personal information," the young man said sheepishly. Gail raised an eyebrow, and he went on, "But I'm not a stalker, I swear. It was just the one time. There was a girl here a couple of weeks ago, and I just couldn't get her out of my mind after she left. She was so cute, and she had the nicest smile. I flirted with her a bit, and I thought she was flirting back. But before I got the chance to find out if she liked me, she had to take her nephew home. He ate too much candy, and puked all over the place. So I thought, well, so much for that. But I couldn't let it go. I just had to see her again." He smiled charmingly. "I hope you won't hold that against me. If it makes it any better, she's my girlfriend, now."
Gail couldn't help but smile. She didn't hold it against him. How could she? She thought it was romantic. She glanced at Cas, who was busy explaining what was going on to the parents of the families that were still arriving with their Angel escorts. Boy, did she love him. Then she turned her attention back to Adam. Adam. Wasn't THAT a coincidence? Imagine if Gail were to tell this young guy that the original Adam, of Adam and Eve fame, was technically her father-in-law. For a moment, she was sorely tempted, just so she could see the look on his face. It was kind of a drag, having such a neat thing to tell people, and not being allowed to tell anyone. They were going to have to modify Adam's memory anyway, she thought with faint humour.
But of course, she simply said, "If you'll take my hand, I'll pop you over there. And don't worry; I won't tell anybody about your secret. Not even God," she couldn't resist adding, and the look that she saw on his face then would have to suffice.
"Do you remember your lore?" Sam was asking Rob. The five of them were walking cautiously through the woods, armed with the flame-throwers they'd retrieved from the storeroom in the bunker. Things were quiet right now, so Sam thought this would be a good opportunity to find out how much Rob knew about this particular monster. The Wendigo wasn't your common, garden-variety type of creature.
"Yeah, I think so," Rob replied. "Wendigos are cannibals. They hibernate, and they store live food in preparation for the winter, so we're probably looking for an abandoned building, deep in the woods."
"Look," Bobby said. He shone his flashlight on the path. "Blood trail."
They continued down the path, walking more quietly now. A few minutes later, they saw the outline of a building.
"Yahtzee," Dean said softly.
The men turned off their flashlights as they approached the structure. The moon provided enough illumination for them to make out the door to the barn, which was slightly ajar.
Sam and Dean moved to either side of the door and Bobby gave the men a curt nod. Frank and Rob hung back. The Winchesters and Bobby had a long history of Hunting as a team. They clearly had a system worked out.
Bobby stood in front of the door on purpose; all of the men he was Hunting with were human. If anything came barreling out of there, he wanted it to go straight for him. He should be able to blast the thing into next week. But there could be more than one, too, so they had to use caution.
Dean eased the door open with one hand, and then he slipped through. Sam followed, and then the other men, behind him.
The interior of the barn was dark, so they had no choice but to switch their flashlights back on. As they moved closer to the centre of the room, Frank swore softly. They could see the outlines of bodies, hanging from the rafters.
Bobby's wind was up. He was God; he should be able to sense immediately if there were any monsters nearby. But, nothing. Nada. Why?
For the moment, though, the men had to see if any of the victims were salvageable. Since Sam had the longest arms out of any of them, he climbed the ladder by the hayloft and started cutting down the nearest victims, and the men caught the people as they fell. Then, when he could no longer reach, Sam climbed down and Bobby sent salvos up to the ropes that suspended the other victims. The white light produced was very bright, so it was a last resort. If there was anyone, or anything, nearby, they would be alerted to the mens' presence immediately.
Silence. No noise, no movement. They moved quickly to check the victims. There were about a dozen, and the Hunters were glad to see that they were all still alive, though some injuries were worse than others. Lucky the Wendigo preferred their entrees to be alive and warm, Bobby thought with dark humour.
He called Cas on Angel Radio, and their friend appeared a moment later. "How's it going, over there?" God asked his right-hand Angel.
"Well," Cas said succinctly. He was already kneeling beside the nearest victim, healing the man's injuries.
"Ain't you just the chatterbox?" Bobby said dryly, moving on to the next victim.
Cas smiled thinly. "I'm sorry, Bobby. I was still in soldier mode, as the expression goes. The modifications and evacuations are just about complete."
"Are you sure you guys got everybody?" Frank said, frowning. "How do we know there aren't some kids still wandering around out there in the dark?"
"Your sister had the same thought," Cas told him calmly. "She had a wonderful idea. She had that young man from the hayride, Adam, take her over to the administrative office, where they used the computer to find out how many attendees there were, tonight. We counted heads, before we sent them all home. The guests were all present and accounted for. By the time we get back there, the operation will be complete."
Frank nodded. "Good deal. Don't tell her I said so, but that sister of mine is one smart cookie."
"I didn't know that snacks could be intelligent," Cas said, moving on to the next victim. "But, in any event, I must take credit for being smart as well, then."
"Yeah?" Bobby inquired as he helped the woman he had just healed get to her feet. "Why's that?"
"Because I was smart enough to ask Gail to marry me," Cas stated, with a little smile playing around the corners of his mouth.
"Maybe not smart, so much as lucky," Dean chipped in, grinning.
As the Angels continued to heal the victims, the people they had saved started asking the inevitable questions: Who were these men? What was going on? What did they remember? the men countered with.
"I don't know about anyone else, but I don't remember anything except for being grabbed from behind, outside the haunted house," a girl named Patty said, looking dazedly at the others. "The next thing I knew, I was here, and some weird-looking guy with freakishly long arms and legs was taking a bite out of me! Then he strung me up, and took off."
The consensus was the same among the others. But another victim named Melissa was the one to say what they were all thinking: "That guy - or whatever he was - chewed up half my torso." She looked at Bobby. "But you just moved your hands over me, and now, I'm fine! Not that I'm complaining, but how can that be?"
Bobby and Cas exchanged glances, and then Bobby asked his lieutenant, "Is everybody from Heaven still back at the main building?"
"Yes, I believe so. We requested them all to stay, to await your instructions," Cas replied.
"Good," Bobby said, nodding. He looked around at all of the people they had saved. Their memories would have to be modified too, and then the Angels could send them home, as well.
"Look out! There he is!" Patty screamed.
The Wendigo came rushing into the barn, taking them all by surprise. It grabbed Rob. "NO!" Frank shouted, and he moved forward. "Take me, instead! I've got way more meat on my bones than HE does! Look at the Dad-bod on me. I mean, this beer belly alone should be enough to last you all winter long. Even if it is a Canadian winter."
As Bobby waved his hands and sent the people they had just rescued back to the main building at the farm, Cas popped over to where the Wendigo was holding Rob, and slashed Its throat. The monster clutched at the bleeding wound with both hands, unwittingly letting go of Rob in the process. Frank's son ran towards his father, and Frank pushed Rob behind him. "Get out of the way, Cas!" he shouted. "It's barbecue season!"
Cas winked back beside his brother-in-law, and Frank triggered his flame-thrower. The other Hunters unleashed the fire from theirs too, and the Wendigo was burned to a crisp. But the flames spread, and the barn started to go up.
Bobby waved his hands, and they were all standing outside. Then he waved his hands again, and the fire was out.
The men stood there for a moment, and the humans among them were relieved. Wow. That had been close, for a moment.
Dean elbowed Frank. "Way to go, 'Dad-bod'."
"That was pretty funny, Dad," Rob said, grinning. He put his arm around Frank, hugging him. "Thanks."
Frank hugged his son to him, looking at Cas. "It's your Uncle Cas you should thank. He gave that Thing a tracheotomy, at just the right time."
"I knew it wouldn't kill him, of course, but it did distract him long enough to let go of you," Cas stated.
Sam was looking at Bobby. "I'm curious, though. Couldn't you have just obliterated it with that white light of yours?"
"You know what? That's a good question," Dean said, nodding in agreement. "Why couldn't you just have smited? smote? that freakin' thing, in the first place?"
"That IS a good question," Bobby mused aloud. "And, guess what? That thing was a former resident of Purgatory. Remember all those monsters we ran into, when we were in Romania? I'm pretty sure that one was a leftover. Once they've crossed over into another realm, I have no dominion over them, any more."
"'Dominion'? What the hell are you talking about?" Frank asked him, confused.
"Hey, don't look at me. I don't make the rules," Bobby said, frowning. "All I know is, we'd better hope that thing was just a stray, or we might have a bigger problem, here."
The others looked at him apprehensively. Great. That would be all they needed.
Cas and Bobby winked them all back to the main building on the farm. Only Gail and Gabriel were left there, now. They had dismissed all of the other Angels. There wasn't much point in keeping anyone here, they had reasoned. All of the humans, including those who Bobby had sent from the Wendigo's lair, had been modified and sent home.
Gabe had been telling Gail stories about some historical events that had taken place in October, just to pass the time. He'd gotten all the way back to the fall of Jerusalem when the men appeared. "Oh, look. Here are the Apostles, now," Gabriel quipped.
Gail rushed over to the guys, happy to see that everyone was okay. "Did you get It?" she asked them, putting her arms around Cas.
"Yeah, that Wendigo is a crispy critter now," Dean confirmed.
"Did everything go all right here?" Bobby asked the Angels.
"Just fine, Boss Man," Gabriel said. "Everybody's back home, snug as a bug, and none the wiser."
"Good job," Bobby said. "Thanks, everyone. I'll have to thank the others too, when I get back."
"Nicole said we should go to her place, once we finished up here," Gail said to the men.
"I think I'll pass," Bobby said wearily. "Thank her for me, though."
"Yeah, me too," Gabriel added.
"Thanks for all your help, Brother," Cas said, clapping Gabriel on the shoulder.
"De nada," Gabe said, shrugging. "It's good to feel like a good guy."
"You ARE a good guy," Gail said to the Archangel. "And you're one hell of a partner, too. You and I and Cas should team up. We could be like the next Mod Squad, or something."
"Only it would be the God Squad, wouldn't it?" Rob said, puzzled.
Bobby let out a breath. "Google it," he said, rolling his eyes. But then he slung an arm around the young man, hugging him. "Glad you're OK, boy."
"Thanks, Gramps," Rob said with a smile. "I guess I need a bit more training, though," he added, his smile fading. "If it hadn't been for you guys, I would've been a Wendigo happy meal."
Frank laughed. "Not bad, kiddo. Not bad at all."
"Actually, I think it was your Dad's beer belly that saved you," Sam piped up. "One look at that, and the Wendigo decided to hold out for the jackpot."
Frank made a face at the younger Winchester. "Oh, har, har. Just because some people are about seventeen feet tall, and their weight is better distributed..."
"Time to go," Gabriel said quickly. This was getting a little ridiculous, now. Still, he was pleased with their efforts tonight. He'd never seen humans and Angels work together so seamlessly before. Hopefully, the trend could continue, in the future. "'Bye, everybody. See you soon, Cas. My Kitten," he added, giving Gail a wink. He disappeared, and then Bobby said his goodbyes and vanished as well.
"Let's go see if Nicole's got that coffee on," Dean said, and Cas and Gail moved over to where their human family stood. They winked them all away from the farm.