Author's notes: Thanks to princetongirl for your review. And a HUGE thanks to tuff-man whom is also the only reason this ep is being submitted as early as now. Your review was very helpful and I was soooo relieved, I wasn't sure if last ep was at it's best. I had edited, cut stuff out and re-done so much of it that it almost drove me utterly insane at some point, But now I'm rather proud of it so thanks!
Okay, this ep is a big one folks!! Throughout a few past episodes, a certain someone has been mentioned or hinted...if you've picked up on anything, then this chapter may still being some surprises to the persons identity. I think it's a fun twist. Also, the case they're investigating is a real thing, kinda. I mean the myth stuff Sam reads from his research is actual stuff...anyways. No spoilers that I'm aware of and the teaser is one of my faves. This is by far one of my most proud eps to write, so please, please let me know what you all think of it!! Enjoy.
18 No head is better than one
Scherr, West Virginia
'Okay, so if we pass through here…' Sam frowned as he went over the map on his lap. 'And drive for another 12 miles, we should be able to reach-'
'Hey, hey' Dean interrupted as they reached the center of the old-fashioned town and spotted a large crowd up ahead.
'What's going on?' Sam asked as he followed Dean out of the Impala and into the crowd.
In the middle of town, there was the sheriff and his men, covering up a body and trying to keep people as far away from the scene as possible.
'What happened?' Sam asked the lady beside him.
'It was horrible!' she gasped. 'Another one, oh I can't believe it' she wiped her eyes on a tissue and noticed that she hadn't seen the boys around before so they were sure to have no idea what she was talking about. 'It's the fifth murder this month!' she said. 'Beheaded, just like the rest'
'Like Sleepy Hollow?' Dean smirked.
'What?' she asked, her make-up all runny and face red.
'Ah…nothing' Dean frowned and shook his head.
'Do the police know who did it? Any suspects?' Sam pressed for more information.
'No, nothing' the lady shook her head. 'It's so weird, there is no evidence…no suspects…just, nothing'
Sam and Dean glanced at each other and knew they were going to look into this one before they left town.
'Okay' Sam said as he returned from the library that afternoon. 'Looks like we've got quite a hunt on our hands' he sighed, removing his jacket.
'Assuming it's a case' Dean added.
'It is' Sam replied. 'There have been hundreds of deaths over hundreds of years with no evidence and no suspects…the only pattern is the beheading'
'Okay, so what do you think it is? Spirit?'
'Maybe' Sam said as he grabbed his bag and tried to find his EMF meter. 'Hey' he said as he felt something and pulled it out. 'I don't believe it' he gasped and stared at the colt.
'Oh real smooth, you had it the whole time?' Dean snapped. 'I was about to drop a friggen "A bomb" on Bela…and you had it?'
'Hey! I searched my whole bag, man. I tipped it out, went through it and everything. I'm telling you: the colt was not here' Sam said honestly. 'And to have it show up like this…'
'Yeah' Dean nodded. 'And I had it last, so what's it doing in your bag?' he wondered but then shut his eyes for a moment. He re-opened them and proceeded to ignore the pressuring pains in his head.
'You alright?' Sam asked; he was starting to realize just how much Dean seemed to be in pain. He was always jerking awake suddenly if he dozed off for a moment, or he was up during the night splashing water on his face. And all the headaches he was getting…
Dean shrugged it off and grabbed a magazine to read, still refusing to tell Sam about his weird dreams that were of strangers dying. So far though, only three of them had come true, so he was certain they weren't premonitions like Sam used to get, but simply freaky dreams. Besides, he wasn't one of the special kids and the yellow-eyed demon was dead.
Sam knew damn well that Dean was hiding something from him, but since he had a few secrets of his own, he didn't push the subject.
As the week dragged on, Sam and Dean were yet to find any strong leads. There were about a million different legends and myths that could fit this one, and there wasn't a big enough connection between the victims. There were simply too many victims and the only thing they truly had in common was the way they died, as well as the location…the town.
After their failed efforts and frustrating hours were wasted, the boys called Bobby up and he came down to help out after finishing a job nearby. They discussed options and went over the major links again but it simply wasn't getting any further.
Dean had already lost interest in research and was spending most of his time eating at café's or watching TV. Bobby and Sam were hard at work though, since another victim died only two days ago.
'Dean!' Sam snapped. 'Do you mind?' he asked since Dean had the TV up loud while he watched a game.
'What?' Dean asked, yelling over the TV. 'Can't hear you!'
Sam went over and pulled the plug out of the wall, which caused the TV to go blank.
'I was watching that' Dean said, pointing to the blank screen.
'People are dying Dean' Sam rolled his eyes. 'And you're sitting here watching TV?'
Dean thought about it for a moment. 'Ah yep, looks like it' he nodded. 'Besides, you two are working on it'
'You could help' Sam said while Bobby glared.
Dean shrugged and grabbed his jacket and the keys to the Impala. He glanced at his watch. 'Oh, look at that! Lunchtime' he smirked and left the motel.
'I should strangle him!' Bobby growled as he looked back down at the pile of books in front of him at the table.
Sam agreed in annoyance and then sat comfortably on his bed with his laptop.
Dean got out of his Impala and ran a hand over it smoothly.
'They get all the work, and we get all the fun baby!' he grinned.
'Hi' Dean smiled as he passed an attractive blonde on his way to the café in town.
'Anything I can get you?' the waitress there asked.
'Oh yeah' he smirked, looking her up and down. 'Ah, what's your special?'
'Well, we have a beefy burger on half price today, which are great' she nodded, smiling shyly at him.
'Sounds good enough for me' he grinned and she went to get it. Dean sighed and looked around while he waited for his order. He spotted a girl near the other end of the table. Her eyes were wide and she looked very nervous, occasionally glancing around. Dean frowned in interest and went over.
'Hey' he waved briefly. 'Mind if I join you?'
'What?' she jumped and looked at him. 'Oh…oh yes, sure' she nodded.
'I'm Dean' he said, being friendly.
'Daisy' she nodded. 'I…I'm sorry…I just'
'Woah, wait' he said, stopping her from leaving. 'What are you so freaked out about?'
Daisy gave a small laugh. 'You wouldn't believe me if I told you'
'Try me' Dean encouraged.
'Seriously, you won't'
'Daisy, I've seen things you wouldn't believe either…so please, try me' he said and gave another grin. 'Besides, I'm full of surprises'
'I don't know…oh, okay' she shrugged. 'It happened about two days ago…'
Sam and Bobby glanced up as Dean returned a few hours later.
'Oh look' Sam said sarcastically. 'It's Captain Useless!'
Dean looked around for a moment until he realized Sam was referring to him.
'Dude, I am not useless. I have many skills' he nodded.
'Yeah, is hunting one of them?' Bobby grunted.
Dean ignored them and grinned some more, he loved this. 'Sleepy Hollows' Dean said again.
'Dude, what the…' Sam paused and thought about it.
'Yeah, ha, ha!' Dean grinned at the look on his brother's face. 'I know what's killing the people in this town'
'A headless horseman?' Sam raised an eyebrow skeptically. 'Are you sure?'
Dean smirked and cleared his throat. 'Two days ago a young and very attractive woman, Daisy, was coming home late from a store, a bit after sundown and she spotted the most recent victim…Bart-something out in the middle of town. She got quite a fright when a headless horseman appeared out of nowhere and used a sword to behead Bart-something' he said and gasped for breath.
'Bartimous' Sam corrected him with the victim's proper name.
'And!' Dean made it clear he wasn't done. 'Daisy, the really hot chick…she said that she was friends with Bart-something and he'd spoken of seeing the headless horseman the day he died, he said that the middle of town was his only protection. She watched the horseman kill him and then it galloped off, vanishing in thin air' Dean nodded smugly. 'How's that for useful?'
'You spend four days doing absolutely nothing, and then after one lunch at a café…you've got all the answers?' Sam rolled his eyes; he couldn't believe it.
'Nothing? I did lots of things' Dean defended himself.
Bobby had shut his books and gave up, he could not believe that Dean had been so useless and lazy for the last few days and then comes walking in with all the information they had been searching for. Only Dean could do something like that.
'Well, the victims had no chance, and none had ever survived' Sam sighed and read off his laptop on basic information about the headless horseman. 'Okay, so basically the man that became the headless horseman was a former member of the Hessian Army around 1776. He was killed in battle, his head blown off by a cannonball' Sam said and Dean sniggered at that, imagining someone's head being blown off that way.
'They say he returned as a spirit to take the heads of the living' Sam concluded.
'Except in this case, the heads aren't being taken' Bobby thought aloud.
'Yeah, maybe it's not the headless horseman, but a headless horseman' Dean shrugged. 'So how do we kill it? It's a spirit right? But I doubt we're going to find his bones' he sighed.
'There is a theory' Bobby spoke. 'But it's never been tried before'
'Yeah, what do we do?' Dean asked.
Sam and Dean got out of the Impala soon after sundown. Where the murders had taken place in town was rather isolated and everyone had gone to bed.
As they set to work, they could hear Bobby's voice in their heads.
"You need to find the particular point in which the headless horseman died. Like a sacred tree or object"
The boys looked around the area but only saw abandoned houses, rusty jungle gym and a statue of a…horseman.
'Bingo' Dean smirked, looking over at the statue in the moonlight. The horseman wore a large brim hat, and the horse was up in his hind legs while the horseman raised his sword high above his head.
"There should be some sort of marking, like a symbol. If you can find that, then you can trap the horseman. So he won't vanish, but it also means you've got to be ready. It's gonna be one hell of a fight"
Dean gripped the colt tight in his hands while Sam searched the statue all over, which was aided by his flashlight.
Sam looked around nervously, but it was too far past sundown to see clearly through the mist and darkness.
'Found it!' Sam announced.
"There is a simple ritual which can be performed to deactivate the symbol's spell, but it's easier to just splash it with holy water and then drip lamb blood over it until it is utterly covered"
Dean passed the jar to Sam along with the flask of holy water. Sam splashed the water on and the mist began to be blown around, the chill of the night was being noticed. Sam then dripped the lamb blood on the section with the symbol that looked similar to skull, and then glanced around.
At first there was no sound, but then a horse's whining was heard from behind them. The horseman sat atop his black horse, his silver sword gripped tightly in his right hand. The horse started digging at the ground a bit with his hoof like he was getting ready to charge forward, which he was.
Dean aimed the colt but did not get the chance to fire since the headless horseman raced towards him and swung his sword. Lucky for Dean, Sam had seen it coming and tackled his brother to the ground.
Sam and Dean rolled onto their backs and watched as the horseman skidded to a graceful stop and then turned back around to face them once again.
'Okay, that plan went so well' Dean said, not sure what to do.
Sam looked around for the colt and spotted it behind the statue. He made a quick grab for it and aimed it carefully.
'Shoot him in the head!' Dean joked.
Sam rolled his eyes and then fired twice. The first bullet flew just past the headless horseman's shoulder, but the other never even made it to him since he faded away.
'Oh great' Dean said sarcastically and pulled Sam to his feet. Sam gripped the colt firmly and kept an eye on the area while Dean searched his pockets for anything useful.
'Ooooh, a matchbox' Dean said in a mysterious voice. Trying to make a matchbox seem useful, when he actually had no useful means of defending himself or Sam. Although, Sam had the colt so Dean wasn't overly worried about him (bobby had said that it was a different kind of spirit, so the colt is actually useful against the headless horseman). Dean's car was nearby, but he didn't dare to move since he could still hear the horse's breathing and had no intention of losing his head over one bad move…literally.
The horse whined loudly towards their left, which made them face that direction.
The horseman and his black horse faded into view again as they resumed charging. Both boys just ran. But as they did, Sam tripped and the colt slid across the ground, out of his reach. Dean dived to the ground as well to avoid losing his head and the horseman just kept running, vanished as he did so.
'This is so not how I pictured my death' Dean muttered. 'Being chased by some Looney guy with no head in the middle of the night, armed only with a matchbox'
Sam wasn't paying much attention to Dean since he was looking around madly for the colt.
Sam and Dean then froze and looked up slowly. The horse was looking down at them with it's deep eyes. The horseman's sword was raised and ready to slice…
Scrrrrreeeeeeeeeeee… an ear-splitting screech reached everyone's ears. Dean had no concern for his life now when he'd heard that since there was only one thing metal around here that could make that kind of sound. He looked over at his car cautiously and started to hyperventilate in panic.
The horseman had vanished again though, so that was a good thing at least.
A loud whine was heard from the horse again and as they reappeared; it was raised up on it's hind legs, sword held high, just like the statue.
Dean kept glancing at his car so he hadn't noticed what Sam had just seen. A human figure ran from behind a small shed and threw a lighter near the horseman. The lighter hit the ground and a ring of fire swept rapidly around the horse and it's headless rider.
A girl about Sam's age and dressed in jeans, strap shirt and boots was now in clearer view since the fire lit up the once-dull surroundings. She threw some dried plants into the flames and slit her forearm, added blood to the flames as well. As she chanted some Latin from a book, Dean finally peeled his eyes away from the Impala and noticed her. She had short hair and there was a tough look about her. Like she wasn't someone you mess with.
The horseman dropped his sword, and without it he was nothing. The sword turned red, like it was soaked in blood and then melted to nothing. The black horse cried out and fell to it's front knees. The horse then let out a final whine before turned to smoke and mist. The horseman stood there, a head materializing on his shoulders just before he burst into non-existent dust.
The fire was a ring around the horseman, but now without him it became a filled-in circle, lighting the town center up even more.
'Ah ha!' Sam got up and grabbed the colt from beside a rock several meters away.
Dean rushed to his car and examined it; yeah…there was a scratch on the side, near the bottom.
'The horseman hates the sound of scratching metal' the woman spoke and the boys tried to remember where they'd heard that voice before…
'You scratched my car!' Dean snapped in more shock and disbelief than anger.
'Oh sorry, should I have let you die?' the woman asked sarcastically, brushing some of her brunette hair from her face. 'At least you didn't light a match' she stated, eyeing the matchbox in Dean's hand. 'Matches create the scent of sulphur and had you of done that you'd have given the horseman a sense of a battlefield…you'd be dead before you could blink' she sighed, approaching them and then Sam knew who she was.
'Wait, you're…Kirsty?' Sam gasped.
'Who?' Dean asked since he was still a bit distracted by the scratch on his car.
'Remember? Monica and Chantelle's friend from Sanford, Maine?' Sam asked.
'Ooh…no' Dean's expression was blank.
An image then flashed into Dean's mind…
--
'Hey, I'm Chantelle' the blonde girl smiled and then introduced her redhead friend. 'And this is Monica'
'Hey guys' Monica grinned and turned to point to a brunette with shorter hair over near the bar. 'And that's our friend Kirsty' she nodded.
--
'Oh! Now I know you' he nodded, but was very confused since that entire town and those in it were supposed to have been creations of a trickster. 'But…you're not real'
'I'm about as real as a good kick in the nads' Kirsty said seriously. 'Yeah I was in that town in Maine, but I ain't no trickster's trick. Nice job on that by the way' she winked. 'Blonde wig…blue jacket?' she offered but they just blinked at her. 'Never mind' she sighed, shaking her head.
'You're a hunter?' Sam guessed.
'Something like that' Kirsty nodded. 'So, the mighty Sam and Dean Winchester huh? Looks like I scored myself a bonus' she then gave Dean a proper look. 'Although I hardly call it a bonus' she sighed and noticed the colt in Sam's hand.
'Wait, is that the colt?'
'Maybe' Dean replied. She may have saved their lives but that didn't mean they had to be quick to trust her.
'How long have you had that?' Kirsty asked but got no reply. 'Look, I don't care about the stupid gun alright? I just need to know because if…'
'If what?' Sam questioned once she stopped.
'Just, how long have you had the colt?'
'Two years, roughly' Dean replied. 'Why?'
'And recently, you've never lost it? Never let it out of your sight, not once?' Kirsty asked, noticeably tenser.
Sam and Dean looked at each other but since she did save their lives, they decided to tell her something of the truth.
'Actually' Dean cleared his throat. 'It was…misplaced'
'Misplaced?' Kirsty echoed. 'Oh, you mean like lost?'
'No, I mean like…' Dean thought for a moment. 'Ah yeah…Sam lost it'
'What?' Sam snapped. 'I did not!'
Kirsty rolled her eyes and sighed. 'How long did you lose it for?'
'Does it matter?' Dean asked. 'Why the hell do you want to know that? What's it to you?'
'You boys have no idea what's going on…do you?' Kirsty asked, slightly amused.
'Well why don't you tell us?' Sam asked.
'The colt…I recently heard news that it was a key to someplace in Wyoming' she sighed and the surprised looks on both Sam and Dean's faces verified what she'd just said. 'I'm guessing it was a devil's gate'
'That's a big guess' Dean raised his eyebrow suspiciously.
'About a day or so ago…I heard some more news. And judging that you boys lost the colt up until now…I know it's correct. That it has happened' she said, very worried and even started getting a chill down her spine. 'Which means, we're all as good as dead'
'Why?' Dean asked, sensing this was much worst than a scratch on the Impala. 'What happened?'
'The gate' Kirsty sighed, her tone tense. 'The devil's gate was re-opened'
Dean is going through a really rough awakening…
'Argh!' Dean cried out and grabbed his head with his hands as the pain hit him and his eyes started to burn.
'He dies Sammy' Dean said and bit his lip. 'We can't let him die'
Sam is about to get some shocking news…
'Hey Sam' she said, sitting across from him. 'Miss me?'
'There are more demons out there than before, and I can say: they're not big fans of yours'
Their friends could be in grave danger…
'Bobby, Ellen and Jo…no answer on their cells' Dean panicked.
And right when things couldn't get any worst…
It did.
'You' Carlene said in a deep, angry tone. 'You didn't tell him, you lied' she frowned and then appeared in front of him, forcing Sam to his knees as a pain reached his chest.
'Leave him alone, bitch!' Dean screamed out.
This episode will test not only the brother's…
But all those around them…
'Who are you?' Bela snapped, pulling out her gun to aim it at the intruder. 'And how did you get past the alarm?'
Until.
The very.
End.
Coming Soon...