Lyssa hummed to herself as she spread a rainbow across the Halloween themed coloring pages Sam had printed for her. She lay on a quilt in the space where the back seat used to be. Daddy had taken it out and replaced it with some of her things. Just in case.
She heard someone tapping on the window. When she looked up she saw the lady from across the street. The lady kept looking over her shoulder to where the park was.
"Hey, your daddy told me to come sit with you. Why don't you open the door?" She smiled. It wasn't a very nice smile.
Lyssa got up on her knees and pressed her forehead against the window. "What's the magic word?" she asked smiling back.
"Please?"
"Nope. It's Christo."
The lady flinched. Her eyes turned black.
"Rule number two," Lyssa said holding up her fingers in a V, "Never open the doors or windows."
The lady made an ugly face and lunged at the window screaming when she touched it.
"My daddy will be back soon you know." Lyssa stated matter of factly.
"So," said the lady shrugging her shoulders.
"So, you should run."
X x X x X x X x X
The smell of fresh blood assaulted him, sharp and metallic and there was something else….sickly sweet and cloying. He pulled the cord to the over head light; it clicked but refused to come on. He moved to the side so that light from the kitchen spilled in illuminating two large puddles. He was only able to identify the one. A set of small footprints, flanked on both sides by long smears of blood and something darker, disappeared into the blackness at the rear of the pantry. From that blackness came rustling then a soft thump.
"Tommy?" Sam stepped over the mess following the trail with his flashlight. The footprints lead to a trapdoor. He lifted it and directed the beam down into the shadows. There was more blood on the steps that lead down into the cellar. Cautiously he placed one foot on the top one saying a silent prayer of thanks when it creaked but didn't give under his weight. At the bottom, he found more tracks. They ended at a body.
His phone rang as he was bending to flip the body over. It shouldn't have, he'd set it to silent before entering the house. He dragged it from his back pocket and stared at the glowing I.D. screen. Leeanna Anders. Something white-hot flared to life inside him. Meg.
"Where are you bitch?"
"Tsk tsk. Didn't you mother teach you that it's not polite to call people names. Oh, that's right, she didn't, because my daddy pinned her to the ceiling en flambé," she snickered. "Do you like my presents Sammy? You know for all the lore the Fae aren't really as badass as I'd thought they'd be."
He toed the body that lay on the ground in front of him turning it over and found the origin of the foul smelling puddle above. Greenish yellow fluid seeped from the elf's torn and broken face. He buried his nose in the crook of his elbow.
"There's someone here that wants to say hi Sam, go ahead honey," the sound of a child weeping drifted from the earpiece then, "Is that my mom? Mommy?" Sam's heart skipped a beat. His jaw tensed.
"Let him go Meg."
"Come get him Sam. All you have to do is follow the breadcrumbs." The line went dead.
"Fuck!" Sam kicked the dead elf several times then leaned back against the stairs, chest heaving. Get it together Winchester. He played the light off his surroundings. Other than the body at his feet there wasn't much down there, to his left was a wall lined with shelves, boxes labeled Christmas and Easter lined them. Below them on the floor lay another dead elf. To his right the cellar continued on for a good 35 feet of empty space. Nothing.
On his second pass, he noticed a small oval object about 10 feet to his right; he walked over and knelt to pick it up. It was red and slightly cold and when he turned it in his fingers he saw the distinctive mark of the candy company on its belly. M&M. It was a damned peanut M&M. He stood and heard a crunch. Looking down he realized there was a line of them laid out in all their brilliantly colored glory all the way to the far end of the cellar. Bread crumbs. He closed his eyes and for a moment, he was transported into the woods. He was hunting a Wendigo, there was some scared teenager following him, and he was playing the hero, a role that hadn't fit him well back then.
He followed the candy to the far wall of the cellar. The line stopped short next to an old cabinet. He felt a draft coming from under it. You've got to be kidding. He started feeling around on it and was rewarded when he pulled out the small drawer in the center. The cabinet swung open to reveal a dirt tunnel whose walls glowed faintly. This must be how the Fae had been getting in and out of the town. He ducked in.
The tunnel twisted and turned but there were no branches so he wasn't too worried about getting lost. His phone went off again.
"How many kids does it take to fill a 30 gallon garbage bag?"
"Don't you touch him." Sam ground out jogging a little faster.
As he rounded the final bend the glow got brighter and he found himself in a good sized cavern. In the center sat a boy in a cowboy costume. He had his back to Sam who still held the phone to his ear.
"Tommy." He called softly. He scanned the area looking for he had no idea who. The last time he'd run up against Meg she'd been hijacking a shape-shifter.
"Marco." Sam said into the phone.
"Polo." Tommy answered as he turned. His eyes were as yellow as sulfur and he was grinning like a hyena.