Author's notes: Thanks 'tuff man' for your review! You're my big supporter and have helped me out of some tight spots so thanks! There is still gonna be more Jess stuff as it's an important contribution to some of the stuff that is going on and future events. As of last chapter, things are starting to get more "heated up" because the major plot is beginning to emerge. I an ensure you all that some of the twists I have planned will shock you! Many you will not see coming! And you're right, the colt is too easy and if they killed everything with it then it's bound to get boring. I am doing my best to avoid that of course. There are times when the colt is damn useful, but it's not always the only solution. Another teaser is at the end as usual...and pelase, anyone who is reading this...review! And let me know what y'all think!
Also, there are spoilers for 'Witch Hunt' in this chapter so be warned, also a few for 'Pilot'�and 'Bloody Mary'...just so ya know!
Song (teaser): Bad Boys by Inner Circle
08 Innocence
Bates country, Missouri
Sherry smiled at her mother and father while they tucked her into bed.
'I love you sweetie' her father smiled while her mother blew a kiss. They turned off the light and closed the door.
Sherry's smile faded and she sighed, staring at the ceiling. A sudden, loud noise from downstairs made her jump. She climbed out of bed and flung her bedroom door open. Sherry raced down the stairs and skidded to a halt as she saw her mother fall to the floor a few feet away, all bloody and very…still.
Sherry's eyes were wide and mouth hanging open in fear and a jumble of painful emotions. Her father came into view, pleading and sobbing to a woman.
Sherry ducked from view and hid in the kitchen, peaking around the doorframe to watch in pure fright. The woman was wearing dark, torn and muddy robes. Her face was partially hidden but black, sickly hair was visible. In her scabby hands was a large, curved and sharp weapon.
Sherry jumped back as the woman pulled back her weapon and slashed Sherry's father's head clean off and then proceeded to stab him over and over.
Sherry saw her head turn and look at her. She gasped, tripping backwards and then heard something moving across the ground. Sherry got up and ran, she was in her nightgown and it was freezing out…but she ran.
Sherry ran out the kitchen's back door and right through the trees.
'You can't hide from me dear' she heard the woman's creepy voice as though she was standing behind her.
Sherry picked up speed, ignoring the thorny bushes and prickly ground. She raced right out of the woods with only the woman's echoing laugh to keep her going.
She gasped as a bright light hit her out of nowhere. She stopped suddenly and held her hands in front of her, preparing for impact. As she looked up, Sherry realized the black car had stopped only an inch from her. The driver's door opened and Sam got out.
'Hey' he said, trying not to look threatening to the obviously terrified girl. 'It's okay' he said, sensing she was running from something pretty scary.
Sherry caught her breath for a moment and listened for the woman but there was silence. She ran to Sam and hugged him around the waist, sobbing uncontrollably.
'She killed them' Sherry told him in a squeaky tone, in between sobs. 'They're dead!' she then yelled angrily.
'Come on' Sam said, noticing how she was shivering in her nightgown. 'Let's get you some help, okay?'
She instantly stopped crying and looked up at him.
'No one can help me' she said, surprisingly now calm. She then smirked at him…
Two days earlier…
'Amoret, Bates country, Missouri' Dean said aloud while he passed the sign.
'And we're here because…?' Sam asked, frowning over his phone.
'Bobby said there is some possible witchcraft stuff going on here and since he's tied up in a job further off…he sent us. Besides, it's not like we've got anything better to do'
'Yeah, cuz our last encounter with witches went so well' Sam replied in sarcasm, putting his phone back into his pocket.
'Yeah, well' Dean shrugged. 'I'm sure we won't get ourselves killed this time' he smirked.
'How do you figure that?' Sam asked. 'You don't have Ruby to save your ass this time'
Dean gave a slight glare before responding. 'If I recall, you're the one that went after those witches and…Woah!' he pressed down on the brakes hard, bringing the Impala to a sudden stop. Dean jumped out of the car and first checked the Impala for possible harm before seeing if he'd hit anything. Sam had gotten out as well and all he saw was a clear road.
'What happened?' he wondered since he hadn't been watching the road when Dean had stopped.
'A dog happened' Dean frowned but couldn't see anything, anywhere.
'Must've been one hell of a dog' Sam sniggered and got back into the car.
Dean shook his head and got back in.
Sam and Dean reached Amoret a few minutes later and rented out a motel room. They dumped their stuff and Dean glanced over at his brother with a concerned expression. Sam was looking at a sealed envelope that he'd gotten from his friend Jacob last week in New Jersey.
'You're still not going to open that thing…are you?' Dean frowned. Sam had left Dean in the car that day and gone to see Jacob, he'd returned less then five minutes later and just drove off…not a word to Dean at all.
'No' Sam replied angrily and shoved it into his pocket.
'Why not?' Dean asked for what must have been the tenth time. 'Who's it from?'
'Shut up' Sam snapped; he really did not want to hear about this again nor talk about it.
Dean sighed and dropped it. Pushing Sam like this wasn't helping but he had a feeling it was Jessica-related stuff. And that would mean a very moody Sam.
'Where do we start?' Sam asked. 'The witch stuff' he then added to verify.
'Hm? Oh ah…well' Dean searched his bag and pulled out a newspaper clipping. 'It saids here that some sort of memorial is being held as an anniversary to some witch burnings years ago. And that they discovered a patch of woods where they believe some lived but anyone going in…doesn't come out' he sighed. 'Might not be the witches…but Bobby thinks so'
'Meaning he would have to have a good reason for it' Sam added.
'Yeah' Dean agreed and sighed.
'And this area? Was it where they were burnt or what?'
'Nah, surprisingly' Dean frowned in thought. 'Ah, it was a block of land…like a property or something. Two people had lived there. A family of four and some lady'
'And?' Sam waited for more information.
'And nothing, that's all Bobby said' Dean told him and grabbed a jacket to put on. 'There's a local college not too far from here so if we leave now we'll make it back by dark'
Sam nodded and grabbed a jacket as well. 'Let's go' he said, quickly hiding the letter under his pillow.
'Yeah, a couple hundreds years ago' Mr Harriet nodded as the boys followed him into his office. 'The lady was Mrs Kellick' he said. 'Her neighbours had only just moved in. The married couple and daughter…the wife was expecting though'
'She was pregnant?' Sam asked, to verify and sound interested. He found that sounding interested keeps them talking.
'Yeah, poor woman' he sighed and then frowned. He gave the boys another look over. 'Are you sure you boys are in my class? I don't think I've ever seen you before in my entire life!'
'Of course we are!' Dean grinned in enthusiasm.
'Yeah, you really don't remember us?' Sam asked as though he couldn't believe it.
'Hm' the man glared but then shrugged, followed by a defeated sigh. 'So why are you boys so curious about the Amoret witches?' he wondered.
'We heard about the anniversary thing in the papers and it stroke our curiosity' Sam said while Dean tried not to snigger. 'So um, what happened to them? The lady and family?'
'Well, not much is known' Mr Harriet sat at his desk and thought for a moment, relying mainly on memory. 'The lady vanished and no one saw of her again…but a month later the family were all killed'
'All of them?' Dean asked.
'Like I said, not much is known' the man said.
'So…?' Sam tried to work out what that meant.
'The bodies were never found' Mr Harriet said as though he was telling an exciting, campfire story. 'Blood though, oh a lot of it. Enough to drown a mouse'
'Interesting' Dean said with a creeped out expression. He glanced at Sam in concern and his brother got the message.
'Ah, thanks for your time' Sam smiled awkwardly, a bit taken aback to the excitement this man had with the story.
That night Dean spent some time talking to Bobby while Sam researched the place Mr Harriet described. They worked on it until fairly late, but with came up with nothing overly helpful to the case.
Dean slept in right through to midday and once he awoke he was worried. There was no smell of breakfast and Sam was nowhere in sight.
'Sam?' he spoke, sitting up. 'Sam!' he then yelled after no reply.
'What?' Sam opened the bathroom door a bit.
'Nothing' Dean frowned, a bit confused.
Sam rolled his eyes and slammed the door again, going back to his shower.
Dean couldn't understand why Sam hadn't woken him earlier, but he saw opportunity. Dean got out of his bed at record time and searched through Sam's bag quickly, along with any pockets on jeans and jackets. He then checked the bedside drawers and Sam's pillow…bingo!
With caution, Dean held out the letter and saw a fancy writing on the front saying: "To Sam, from Caroline". Dean heard the shower switch off and stuffed the letter back under Sam's pillow.
Sam came out all dressed but with sopping hair. He saw Dean watching him from his bed and raised an eyebrow.
'What?' he asked.
'Who's Caroline?' Dean wondered.
Sam stared for a moment and then rushed to check the letter was still unopened under his pillow.
'No one' Sam lied.
'Sam-' Dean started but Sam shook his head. 'Fine' Dean shrugged. 'Why didn't you wake me?'
Sam bit his lip and then gave a shrug. 'I slept in too, I'm not an alarm clock Dean'
'Since when do you sleep in?' Dean frowned and saw it was almost one pm. 'Your sleeping in is like nine'
'Whatever' Sam said and grabbed a jacket. 'We've got more people to talk to'
It was past seven when they got back to the motel room. The boys had attended a pre-anniversary gathering in hopes for more information but all they got from it was a snack-filled Dean and a grumpy Sam. Although Dean also scored several phone numbers from it, so he was quite content.
'Carol' Dean read one of the names on his napkin. 'Could be short or Caroline' he said and glanced at his brother, dropping hints.
Sam rolled his eyes and glared right at Dean. 'You don't know when to stop, do you?' he asked.
'I'm just worried about you, man' Dean replied. 'I know it's a touchy issue but-'
'Yeah! It is' Sam agreed. 'Why do you keep pushing it?'
'Look at you!' Dean frowned back, slightly drunk on Champaign. 'You're a wreck Sam! You have nightmares about Jess, you're screaming in the middle of the night…and then you get this weirdo letter and you start sleeping in but refuse to open it like it's gonna kill you or something'
'Maybe it is' Sam said flatly. 'Sorry man…it's just…'
'About Jessica?' Dean asked, feeling he was getting somewhere. 'She's dead Sam…you've had four years to get over it and for half of it you had. Why now? What changed that made you like this again?'
Sam had reached breaking point with this conversation. Dean meant well, he knew that…but Sam just wanted him to drop it!
'Caroline is Jessica's mother! Okay?' he snapped. 'Just…I need some air' he got up and slammed the motel door on his way.
'Sam?' Dean followed but all he saw was the Impala driving off.
Sam ignored his ringing cell phone and just kept driving. He remembered what Jacob has said when he'd given Sam the letter: "Jessica's mother died a few days ago, her neighbor gave me this and said that Caroline had told her it was for you…and that I was the only one who could get it to you"
Sam growled a bit and then started to slow the Impala down since he was going to crash otherwise. A good thing too, because he then had time to hit the breaks as a young girl came out of the woods to his right and stopped suddenly right in front of the car.
Sam sat there in a bit of shock but then got out.
'Hey' he said to her and tried not to look threatening. She was obviously very terrified. 'It's okay' he said and was on full alert, sensing she was running from something pretty scary.
The girl listened for a moment, before running right to Sam and wrapping her arms around his waist, hugging him tightly.
Sam wasn't sure what to do as she started sobbing uncontrollably, but then she spoke in a squeaky tone in between sobs.
'She killed them' she told him. 'They're dead!' she then yelled angrily.
Sam noticed how she was shivering in her nightgown.
'Come on' he said. 'Let's get you some help, okay?'
'No one can help me' she said, surprisingly calm now. She looked up at him and smirked.
Dean tossed his phone beside him in annoyance. It had been over two hours since Sam had left with his car and he was not answering his cell. Dean jumped as his phone rang and he grabbed in quickly.
'Sam!' he snapped.
'Yeah?' Sam's voice replied, rather casually.
'Answer your phone, you moron!' Dean screamed at him before calming himself to the fact his brother was alive and okay. 'Where are you?'
'Uh, hospital' Sam replied.
'What did you do to my car!' Dean started freaking out.
'What? Nothing!' Sam said, apparently still in somewhat of a grumpy mood. 'I almost ran over a kid, she's screaming about some woman killing her parents'
'You almost ran her over?' Dean repeated. 'How fast were you going?'
'Dean' Sam sighed, it was late and he was tired. 'She ran in front of the car' he explained. 'She was acting weird and then just passed out. I brought her here' he said.
'The one just down the road from our motel?' Dean asked as he grabbed a jacket.
'Ah yeah…why?' Sam asked but was hung up on. 'Great' he muttered and hoped Dean was coming for the situation and not to check his car, which seemed likely.
'Hey' Sam smiled down at Sherry once the doctors said he and Dean could talk to her.
She smiled at him and glanced at Dean a little nervously.
'I'm Sam' he told her and sat on her bed while Dean stood beside him. 'And this is my brother Dean' he added and hoped to get a name from this poor girl.
She nodded but didn't say anything else. After a few minutes of awkward staring she sighed. 'I'm Sherry' she gave in.
Sam smiled a bit again and looked sympathetic. 'Is there someone we can call? Someone that can look after you?'
'No' Sherry replied. 'My parents were all I had and she killed them'
'Who killed them?' Dean asked, assuming possible connection to the murder and the whole witch stuff going on lately; he wasn't a big believer in coincidence.
'Lady, she looked like witch' Sherry told them and now that she was away from the woods, she had allowed the truth to sink in. 'I'm tired' she lied. 'Can I talk about this later?'
'Sure' Sam nodded and wrote down his cell phone number. 'If you need anything, just call me okay?' he handed it to her and she opened her arms, awaiting a hug.
'Ah' Sam was a bit off-guard but gave her a quick hug. 'You'll be okay' he told her.
'No one can save me' she told him.
'I'm gonna try, no matter what it takes' Sam nodded and gave her one last look before following Dean out and they left.
'The woods which you found her…they were right near the witch area right? Near where the lady and family lived?' Dean asked.
'Yeah' Sam replied.
The boys got some sleep and then first thing in the morning they were up researching and talking to people all over town, asking about the family and woman that had lived there.
After visiting the last place on their list, they sat in the car and just wanted to collapse.
'So, the lady was indeed Mrs Kellick' Dean sighed, summing everything up. 'The family of four: pregnant mummy, daddy and a little boy' he sighed heavily. 'All died a few hundred years ago only a few miles from where you found Sherry' he expected a response from Sam but did not get one. 'Sam?' he asked and looked over. 'Oh, just call her already!' he frowned, as Sam had been wanting to check up on Sherry all day. 'Why aren't you this determined with real woman?' he grumbled.
Sam glanced at Dean for a moment and then called the hospital.
'Yeah, hello. It's ah Sam from last night. I was wondering how Sherry is doing…what? No I…are you sure?' Sam looked very confused. 'No. Doctor…I brought her in last night. She had run in front of…doctor-' Sam frowned at his phone.
'What's up?' Dean asked, seeing how Sam looked very shocked and lost.
'Sherry' Sam replied. 'The doctor said they didn't have a patient by that name and that no one was brought in last night' Sam said.
Dean turned the keys and started the engine, driving towards the hospital to sort this out.
'It was about- no!' Sam was snapping at the receptionist but she was just insisting on security.
Dean grabbed his brother and shoved him out of the room before they got locked up or Sam lost his temper all together.
'It doesn't make sense Dean' Sam frowned as they headed back to the Impala.
'Yeah, it's weird' Dean agreed. 'We need to find out who she is'
'Anything?' Sam asked as Dean exited the library and shook his head.
'She doesn't exist!' Dean snapped. 'There is no Sherry!'
'What?'
'There is no young girl by the name of Sherry in this entire freakin place' Dean frowned; he had just been in there for two hours with no results.
'Maybe you didn't look hard enough'
'Sam, I searched every record, every hospital and morgue, every damn birth certificate that fits the bill…nothing. Zilch, nada!' he frowned. 'Sherry does not exist'
'Maybe' Sam sighed. 'Only one way to find out'
Another house visiting round and many more phone calls later, Sam and Dean reached the house they'd missed last time, and knocked.
'Yes? Can I help you?' a brunette woman asked as she answered the door.
Dean grinned at her while Sam jumped in.
'Ah yeah, we're doing a story on the anniversary thing going on this week and ah, we were wondering if you knew anything about someone lives out by eight mile road?' Sam asked, putting on a convincing smile.
'Your family has lived here for centuries…right?' Dean asked.
'Come in' she moved past the door to allow then access. 'I don't know much' she said and they followed her to the lounge room where an elderly man sat in his chair. 'But my grandfather might' she smiled at him. 'Coffee?' she offered the boys.
'Sure' Dean grinned and she went to make some.
'So ah…do you know a young girl named Sherry? She is about ten-'
'Sherry?' Mr Garret asked, cutting Sam off. 'Sherry?' he repeated and thought. 'Yes, Sherry was my sister' he nodded.
'Oh, no sir…we're looking for a little girl-' Dean started but was cut off also.
'She's no little girl' the man frowned. 'She died when she was ten, murdered!' he snapped. 'But. On the anniversary of the witch burning, her spirit would roam the woods, reliving the horror that happened to our family that night' he said in a very serious story-telling voice. 'My mother and father were killed that night, slaughtered! Sherry and I were sleeping and woke to the noise. I saw her running down the stairs but I was too scared and hid in my room. It wasn't until hours later that the police found me' he sighed. 'Sherry had been killed while running away, through the woods'
'Sam' Dean nudged him as Sherry stood in the doorway of a room behind Mr Garret.
'What?' Sam turned and saw her.
Dean watched the girl and noticed she was in her nightgown again and it was still dirty, he started suspecting that maybe this girl wasn't a girl after all. She stared right at Sam and nodded before disappearing and reappearing rapidly, until she was actually gone.
'You saw her, didn't you?' Mr Garret asked Sam. 'She has been trying for years to talk but no one wants to listen and she just disappears for another ten years' he said. 'She was mute you see, when she was alive…she never spoke, never uttered a single word all her life' he sighed sadly. 'The doctors didn't know why and nothing worked. So we just let her be'
'She spoke to me' Sam said. 'Well, her spirit' he shrugged.
Mr Garret looked shocked but nodded. 'Then boy, you need to listen to her' he nodded.
'Where was she buried?' Dean asked; chatting with ghosts wasn't exactly his favorable option.
'Body never found' he sighed in reply. 'They searched the woods but nothing'
Dean nodded and sighed in disappointment.
'Take this' Mr Garret reached into his pocket and pulled out a scarf. 'It's Sherry's, if you hold onto that she'll come to you' he said.
Dean and Sam stared at the scarf as they sat in their motel room but resulted in nothing.
'That's it' Dean growled. 'We're ending this. Now' he grabbed the Impala's keys and headed outside with Sam following close behind.
'What are we doing?' Sam asked as Dean checked for shovels, salt tins, matches and salt guns.
'We're going to find where she was killed and put her and that witch sucker to rest' Dean slammed the truck shut and got into the driver's seat.
'Come on, Mr Shining!' he snapped and Sam got in as well.
The boys wandered through the woods with flashlights and Dean had a salt gun at the ready with a large bag over his shoulder.
'Come on already' he grumbled as Sam held onto the scarf since without Sherry they had no hope.
'Why did you make me come back here?' Sherry asked, as she was rapidly in front of Sam.
'You died' Dean told her, not in the mood for one of Sam's speeches. 'Sixty years ago…you died. That witch woman killed you, your parents and almost got your brother'
Sherry looked angrily at him but said nothing.
'We need to find where you died' Sam said in a softer tone than his brother's.
'Why?' she asked. 'The witch is still out there'
'Do you know where she is?' Dean asked.
'In my old house, she's waiting for me' Sherry's voice turned to a tremble and Sam didn't care if she was a spirit, she looked like a scared little girl to him.
'Tell us where and we'll go stop her' Sam nodded. 'I'm not going to let her get you'
'Yeah, well…you're sixty years too late' Dean muttered in reply and rolled his eyes.
Sherry did lead them to the house though, which had a putrid smell and was quite unbearable. Sherry would no go inside but as the boys did, they saw a woman that was wearing some sort of robe, which was dark and torn. The partially hidden face was probably a good thing though.
'Well, She looks friendly' Dean muttered sarcastically once they'd spotted the large, carved weapon in her scabby, wrinkly hands.
'Eh hehehe' she gave an evil laugh as she started to walk towards them but Dean shot her away with his salt shotgun. Sam ran around the house looked for something to help them end this but there was nothing. The parent's bodies were gone and there was no other lying around.
'Argh!' he yelled as the witch lady grabbed him. Dean appeared from around the corner and shot her; he then pulled a salt tin from his bag and tipped salt around the entire lounge room before rushing around the house with gasoline.
'What are you doing?' Sam snapped but was yanked outside where Sherry was waiting in fear.
'It's worked before' Dean said. 'Burn the house, whoever's in it disappears'
'We're in a forest!' Sam frowned but Dean stroke the matches and threw them onto the start of the gasoline trail that led to the house, setting it on fire.
Sherry, Sam and Dean watched while the house burst into flames and all that was heard was falling wood and the screams from the lady.
'You're still here' Dean looked down at Sherry and sighed.
'Yes' she nodded and Sam spoke up; he had an idea.
'Can you retrace your footsteps from that night? When you were running away?'
'Yes' Sherry said again and felt tired for the first time in sixty years.
The boys followed behind her as she led them quite some way. She reached a small clearing where there was a large oak tree, it's branches low and it looked rather old. She stood under it and looked down at where she knew her skeleton lay, because this tree was the last thing she saw that night, sixty years ago.
Dean started digging up the spot that Sherry indicated and once the entire skeleton was exposed from the ground that his it for all these years: Sherry let out a yawn.
'I can sleep now' Sherry said softly, but refused to smile. 'It's over'
The boys watched as she closed her eyes and a bright light was emitted from her body. Then she was gone…
Sam and Dean got back to the motel room at about 3 that morning and after showering, headed straight to bed. They'd salted and burnt Sherry's bones just in case and got lost a few times on their way back to the car, so they were in a good mood for sleep.
-----------
The next morning had the boys up later than usual and Sam went to get the Impala's keys off the bedside table but Dean grabbed them away from Sam's reach and glared.
Sam looked at him questionably, but then remembered the events of what happened when he last drove it…taking off with it, almost hitting Sherry and everything else that followed.
'So now you're never going to let me drive your car again?' Sam guessed, shaking his head in disbelief.
'Damn straight' Dean glared and gripped the keys tighter. 'Never'
Teaser:
You chuck it on that one and
You chuck it on me
'We get em' Judith nodded. 'I don't care how good they are, we'll get em'
Why did you have to act so mean
Don't you know you're human being
Born of a mother with the love of a father
'Hello Agent Lennon and Agent McCartney' Judith smirked. 'Or, should I say: Dean and Sam Winchester?' she asked.
You're too bad; you're too cool'You're quite interesting, Dean' Bill spoke and sat across the table from him.
'So they keep saying' Dean smirked.
'Sammy? Nah, he's like a puppy' Dean grinned
'Sometimes puppies bite' Bill frowned.
You chuck it on that one and
You chuck it on me
'What the hell are you talking about?' Sam frowned angrily
'Dean isn't the monster you think he is'
'So then we reach the conclusion that it was you' she said. 'You killed her'
Bad boys, bad boys'I'm sorry Sam' Dean sighed and rushed off in the other direction, towards the exit.
'I didn't!' Sam snapped. 'I swear, I did not kill her'
Whatcha gonna do, whatcha gonna do
When they come for you
'What is it?' Bill asked.
'It's the other Winchester boy' she said, out of breath. 'He's just…he…'
'What are they doing to you Sammy?' Dean asked himself
Coming Soon…