I would love nothing more
Then to tear away my skin
Life forever more.
This demon has taken its hold;
Fight it I must,
But I am loosing control…
~ A Mad Woman's last diary entry.
Two Months Later
Team Free Will (minus one – no Stark), at Sam's insistence, postponed all hunting activities until they were certain that Mariah (now Ada) was settled in to her new life. Now two months has gone by and Dean was starting to come down with cabin fever.
"C'mon, Sam," Dean said with a pleading tone. "While we are here, we might as well do some hunting. I mean, just because we are apparently on holy ground doesn't mean that there aren't some baddies around."
Sam shook his head slightly before he said, "No; absolutely not. I don't want Mari— Ada to get involved in that kind of stuff."
Dean shook his head before he huffed out a sigh and sat down. Sam looked at his older brother and couldn't help but chuckle. "Don't worry," he said. "We'll be out of here before you know it."
"Yeah," Dean said as he crossed his arms. "That's what you said two weeks ago. I'm going stir crazy, Sam. I gotta kill something!"
"You have to what?" asked Ada as she entered the room. Ada, who just got off of work from the local Wal-Mart, had a tired yet bright look about her demeanor.
"Ada!" Sam said, slightly surprised. "Nothing. He's just being Dean and wants to go on an adventure."
A few moments of brief silence followed as Ada set down bags of clothing and a couple stacks of paperwork. Finally, Ada smiled at Sam and said, "I appreciate everything that you three are doing for me. Honestly."
"It's no problem," Sam said. "You helped me through a lot of garbage when I moved into Stanford. It's the least I can do."
Pulling out food and ingredients, Ada began to make supper. While her attention was elsewhere, Castiel appeared out of the blue and pulled the Winchesters aside. "She is adjusting very well," he said. "She even put out inquiries to get her CNA. It seems that not every part of her was lost to the resurrection.
"So, she's going to become a nurse?" asked Dean.
Castiel nodded. "She is insistent on it. She wants to specialize in hospice care."
"That's what she was studying for at Stanford," Sam said with a small smile. "Well, it seems like Mariah is still in there somewhere. That's good to hear."
After dinner, Dean and Sam headed out to pick up where they left off in their life. Castiel promised both Sam and Ada that he would check in from time to time to see how she was adjusting to her new life, which took a huge amount of stress off of the younger Winchester's shoulders. As Dean said, "Demons needed killing, people needed saving." The older Winchester was excited to finally be heading out.
Not before they were even ten miles out, Dean's cellphone rang.
"Hey, Dean," Garth said shortly after Dean picked up his cellphone.
"Garth?" Dean said. "Hey, thanks for calling, man. I just wanted to say thanks for helping Sam out with Ada. It meant a lot to him."
"Yeah," Garth said through a sigh. "Not a problem. Look, that's not why I'm calling. I did some research into what you asked me to. About Ada and the string of other deaths that followed before…"
Dean noticed that Garth hesitated and could instantly tell that he was about to be told something that he wouldn't like. "What is it, Garth?"
Garth's Home
Garth sighed as he set down some of his research. The research, which contained graphic imagines of death and famine, was obviously a plague on the young hunter's mind. Garth looked as though he hadn't slept in days; the circles under his eyes were so dark that they made him look like a hunger-ridden madman. All around him were scattered beer cans, half eaten pizzas, and crushed water bottles. He had been researching this problem with Ada ever since she came back from the dead, and his findings were not pleasant.
"I've been researching Ada's sudden Lazarus movement," Garth said as he rubbed his eyes. "After Stark told me that this isn't the first occurrence… it had me worried. And, let me tell you… my intuition was correct on this one.
"The first death that was of note was back during the Salem witch trials. On September 5th, 1692, a woman by the name of Stephanie O'Conner was executed after being accused a witch. After she wouldn't drown or be crushed by rocks, she pleaded guilty to the charge and cursed everyone in the Mayor's line of succession to a life of suffering. However, before she was burnt at the stake she was, get this: Shot in the head by a fellow coven member.
"Fifty years later, on May 14th, another woman by the name of Sandra Krul committed suicide via gun. Another fifty years, Ronda McCalister kills herself with; you guess right, a gun. Every suicide involves a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head. Of course, no one connected all of them together and just ruled them as suicides. However, in 1835, a hunter by the name of Rian McIntosh ruled these suicides as more than mere coincidence and investigated them. However, three months into the investigation, Samuel Colt – who was a very close friend of Lisa – found her dead with a gunshot wound to the head."
At this point, Garth could easily hear that Dean pulled the Impala over and put him on speakerphone. Dean and Sam were speechless – to have something like this spanning back to the witch trails was beyond the thinking of the brothers. Never have they encountered a vengeance such as this, and it was truly mind-boggling.
"Colt conducted his own research," Garth continued. "However, before he could get anywhere with it, Colt died in 1862. No one has researched it since.
"Now that the backstory is more or less taken care of, let me tell you the reason why I called. Lisa found out some of the things that I did – she even found out about Stephanie's curse. However, she stumbled upon something that I think resulted in her death.
"Back before the Witch trials, there were sacrifices. Some argue that it is part of the reason why the trials went to such extremes. But what the scholars of that time didn't understand is that these sacrifices went back hundreds of years. And all of these sacrifices were for a ritual. Now, what that ritual was for, I only have theories. But all of the sacrifices were suicides and they were typically happened to someone that was 'innocent;' as in, their community were dumbstruck by the event because it wasn't them."
Garth sighed as he picked up his research once again. On the paper were notes in a feminine handwriting that detailed said ritual. In the final paragraph, it read –
I have no idea as to what this ritual entails, and I only have suspicions of what might be if the ritual comes to pass. If you are reading this, then I have failed in my quest to stop the witches. You must prevent all that may come to be, for if you don't… I can't even begin to imagine what may happen.
I do know this: The Black Death was not the result of natural causes. I know that the last time this ritual succeeded, it was the result. If this plaque comes to us once again, I do not believe that we could stop it.
"Sam, Dean," Garth said. "I think that Ada was cursed. And I don't think it was your average, run-of-the-mill witch curse. These witches… they are the true definition of an abomination. They have been living for generations and each of them - Every. Single. One. - worshipped Lucifer in one form or another. They are the reason as to why the witch trails existed.
"I believe that Ada was one of those sacrifices," Garth said, his voice shaking. "And, if she is, those witches aren't done with her. You need to get back to her and you need to protect her with your life. Because, if this ritual comes to be – and it will if Ada dies - there is no telling what havoc it will reek upon the world."