Oh wow. I swear, this story has just been writing itself the last couple of days. Here's the second half of Scarecrow, which I just absolutely loved working with in order to get the three of them back together. I'd like to throw out a huge thanks to the reviews that have been left on the last couple of chapters! You guys don't know how happy reading those makes me! I'm so glad you're sticking along with me as this story really begins to get going. With that, I won't keep you any longer, other than to say that I hope you enjoy this next chapter! Xoxo-NickyLynn
Ariella was roused awake by something repeatedly smacking against her cheek. As her senses began firing again, she became vividly aware of the throbbing emanating from the back of her skull. She let out a groan as her eyes fluttered back open, but apparently her mind hadn't completely caught up to her body. For, she opened her eyes to find a large figure looming over her, and in a sheer panicked instinct, her arm snaked out and struck at it. Her fist slammed into its face with a crack, quickly followed by a deep curse as the man stumbled away.
"Oh, yeah…that hurt." he breathed out in a strained voice, hand coming up to cradle his injured nose.
Ariella's mind finally caught back up to her as his voice hit her ears, recognition finally registering in her. "Dean?" she gasped as she lurched upward, watching as he dropped himself down onto the ground next to her. Her eyes quickly snapped around their surroundings then, as her last memory washed over her, finding that that they had been dumped together in some type of cellar. "Where are we?" she asked.
"I'm making an educated guess here in assuming that we're about to be the guests of honor in the next human sacrifice." Dean told her, hand dropping away from his face as his eyes drifted around their enclosure as well. Ariella quickly scrambled to her feet, moving towards the wooden door she could see just the hints of daylight filtering through the cracks of. "I wouldn't bother." Dean called after her as she moved up the stairs towards it. "I already tried that."
Ariella ignored his comment and threw her shoulder against it anyways. Sure enough, the door refused to budge. She threw herself against it again and again, using all her strength to try breaking through. When it refused to give after the fifth attempt, Ariella let out a groan of frustration.
"Told you." Dean threw out from behind her.
"HEY!" she screamed through the wood, bringing her fist up against it then. "LET US OUT OF HERE!"
"Tried that, too." Dean commented as he watched her bang against the door uselessly.
"LET US OUT, YOU FUCKING PAGAN WORSHOPPING ASSHOLES!" she continued to scream, ignoring Dean. After getting no response, she let out a scream of anger before storming back over to Dean, dropping herself down onto the dirt floor next to him.
"What are you even doing here, Ari?" Dean asked, knowing it was pointless to waste energy trying to bust out through sheer force.
"The plan was to save your ass." She answered with a huff, mentally berating herself for having been dumb enough to turn her back on the sheriff.
"Good plan." Dean responded flatly.
"Oh, shut up." She threw at him with a scowl.
"Let me guess, Sam called." He said then.
"He wanted a ride to California." She answered with a nod. "I was with him when you called and heard you talking about going up against a pagan god alone."
"Is Sam with you?" he asked her then, eyes flashing with hope.
"No." she told him with a deep frown. "He thought going after John was more important."
"You ditched Sammy to come help me?" he asked, voice laced in surprise as he arched a brow in her direction.
"Shocking, I know." Ariella agreed with a roll of her eyes. "Not sure what good it did though, seeing as we're both stuck in here now." She grumbled.
"So, you chose me over Sam?" he asked again, sounding as if he was having a hard time wrapping his head around the concept.
"I didn't choose anyone over anyone." She told him with a shake of her head. "I was faced with a choice, and I made the one that made the most sense at the time." She explained. "You going up against a god on your own is far more dangerous than Sammy hitching a ride cross-country."
Dean tipped his head at that, surprise still coloring his features. "Well, I appreciate the effort, at least." He said with a small shrug. "But now we're both stuck as offerings."
"Yeah, that definitely wasn't part of the plan." Ariella huffed in anger.
Silence wrapped around them then, Ariella quickly getting lost in the depths of her thoughts as she contemplated their options. After a moment, Dean drew in a deep breath, pulling her eyes back onto him as he spoke. "So, uh…how much of that conversation did you end up overhearing?" he asked hesitantly, eyes notably set on his feet.
Ariella's eyes swept over him for a moment before she let out a breath of her own. "Enough." She answered, knowing he was probably embarrassed beyond belief that she had been listening. "It…Dean, it was good what you said." She told him sincerely, finally pulling his eyes onto her. "You're a good brother for that."
"Was that just a compliment I heard coming from you?" Dean asked, eyebrows pulled together doubtfully.
"Yeah, I'm not handing any more of them out either so enjoy it." She tossed out with a roll of her eyes.
"Wow." Dean said as he pulled his eyes away, blinking. "We really must be about to die."
Ariella responded to that by picking up a small pepple from next to her and pelting it at the side of his arm. "I'm being serious, asshole." She snipped as it bounced off him, eliciting a grin from him. "It was nice to hear you being honest for once. You should try it more often."
Dean's humored grin faltered slightly as his eyes dropped down to the ground again. His eyebrows pulled tightly together as he contemplated his thoughts before he licked his lips. "Speaking of honesty…" he said, eyes flicking back up to her. "Dad told us about the demon." He told her. "That was it, wasn't it? The secret you'd been keeping from us." Ariella jaw flexed as she looked away, not sure if she was ready to hear the disappoint come from him on the matter. "It had possessed your mom, didn't it?" he asked then, taking a guess. "That's why you've known all this time. You knew it was a demon, even as a kid."
There was no accusation in his voice…just sadness. The pity, however, was almost worse than anger. Ariella felt tears build in her eyes as she tried to keep her emotion from bubbling over. "I never meant to hurt you and Sam by keeping it from you." She said, voice tight. "Honestly, I hoped you'd never have to find out. I thought…" she said, voice cutting off as she reached up to swipe at the tears that were falling despite her attempts at keeping them held back. "I didn't want to believe it was happening again." She told him truthfully.
"Back in St. Louis you said it told you it would see you again." He said then. "Did you…did it really speak to you?"
Ariella's head bobbed with a nod as another string of tears slipped down her cheek. Her mind conjured the memory of that night in her mind, and she could practically hear its voice inside her head. "The game has begun." She said, echoing its words from so long ago. "I'll see you again when all the pieces are set."
"What game?" Dean asked. "What does that even mean?"
"I don't know." She admitted hollowly, lifting a suddenly heavy shoulder at him. "I've been asking myself that for a very long time."
"That's what you meant by being bait." He guessed.
"John wanted that demon to come back for me." She agreed, letting out a humorless laugh. "And when it didn't, he moved on. Thought that maybe I was lying or the thing was just toying with me. Either way, I had convinced myself that they were just empty words." She explained. "That was until the night Jess died. And now…I don't know what to think anymore."
"You think it's coming after you again?" he asked worriedly.
"I think it's coming after us." She corrected. "I don't know what it's planning, but it involves all of us…it always has."
"And that's why you've been so insistent on being up me and Sammy's ass this whole time." He assumed. "You thought it was going to come after us."
Ariella didn't have to say anything for Dean to know he was right. She sat there silently, willing the tears that kept slipping past her barriers to stop. Unfortunately, for the two of them, there would be no more time for them to sort through their mound of problems. The sound of something heavy moving across the wooden door startled them out of the somber moment, setting their focus back on the problem at hand. They pushed themselves back up as the door swung open, revealing a group of people Ariella had recognized from the gas station, along with the sheriff. The sheriff, along with the man in the middle, had a shotgun aimed on them, to which Ariella cast the most hateful glare back up to as she could.
"Come on." He ordered firmly, motioning for them to climb up with the end of his gun.
Ariella and Dean shared a quick look before moving towards the stairs, knowing there was nothing to be done but follow along for now. They climbed out, coming to a stop in front of the locals as the guns moved dangerously between them.
"You gonna serve us up to the Vanir now?" Dean spit out as he stood beside Ariella. "What's one more sacrifice for another year of blessings, am I right?"
The older man in the middle, who had his shot gun trained on them, gave an unamused smile. "You know, the gods truly did smile down on us when you came into the station today." He said, ignoring Dean's jab as his gaze fell on Ariella. "We had been about to offer up one of our own tonight, but thanks to you Emily can be spared that fate."
"You were seriously going to sacrifice your own niece?" Dean seethed at the man in response, shocked by the confession.
"We will always do what needs to be done for the greater good of this town." The man said, gaze falling back on Dean.
"You guys get how fucked it is that you're offering up human sacrifices for some crops, right?" Ariella interjected with a sneer, eyes moving between the three strangers. "There's literally thousands of farmers out there growing crops, and you don't see any of them making sacrificial offerings to do it!"
"We do what we must to ensure the continued success of this town." The woman spoke up then, sounding not at all swayed by their comments.
"Now, move." The man in the middle ordered, giving a jerk of the shotgun.
Ariella and Dean obeyed the order, following the group of locals out into the orchard. As they passed by the scarecrow meant to be the god's vessel, Ariella quirked an eyebrow at the sight of it. "You guys seriously worship that?" she asked, finding the form positively grotesque.
"It's fugly, isn't it?" Dean added.
The man holding the gun on them responded by slamming the barrel of it against Dean's shoulder in warning. "Watch your tongue, boy." He warned before motioning towards the set of trees just ahead of them. "Sit there on the ground." He instructed.
Ariella and Dean complied, and within minutes their hands were bound to the trees by sets of thick rope. "How many people you kill, Sheriff?" Dean threw out at him angrily as the man tightened the bindings around his wrists. "How much blood is on your hands?"
"We don't kill them." The sheriff responded stiffly as he pulled away, face set low and serious.
"No, you just kidnap them and serve them up to be dinner." Ariella snapped at him in response, giving an angry tug against her own bindings.
"Try to understand…" the woman said as she and the others moved away from Dean and Ariella. "It's our responsibility….and there's just no other choice."
"Right, because sacrificing innocent people is the only choice you could possibly make." Ariella scoffed.
"Don't think ill of us." The woman pressed, dropping down to a squat in front of Ariella. "We don't want to do this. But, that's what a sacrifice is…making a hard decision for the greater good." She said, reaching forward to run a hand along Ariella's hair. "This town needs to be saved." Ariella jerked back as much as she could, glaring daggers at the woman. "The good of the many, outweigh the good of the one." She said in finality before standing again. She and the other two men walked away then, leaving Dean and Ariella to their doom.
"I hope your apple pie is freaking worth it!" Dean yelled after them scornfully as they walked out of sight, leaving him and Ariella alone as the sun began setting.
"Well, this was a shit plan." Ariella huffed once the others were gone, giving another angry tug against her bindings.
"Hey, I didn't ask you to come get sucked into this mess, too." Dean defended, head twisting around to look at her.
"Yet, here I am." She breathed out in defeat as she gave up in her attempts at pulling herself free. "I can't believe we're about to be sacrificed for some fucking apples."
"At least we won't die alone." Dean tossed out sarcastically, fingers flaring out with the jest.
"That's not comforting." Ariella said, head falling back onto the bark behind her as she let out a long sigh, eyes slipping closed.
"Look…" Dean said with sigh, voice dropping into seriousness. "I appreciate it." He said, pulling her eyes back down onto him. "Coming to help me."
"Yeah, well…that's what we do, isn't it?" she said, pulling her head away from the tree to give him a lift of her shoulders. "Have each other's back when it matters most."
Dean tipped his head at that, eyebrows pulling together as he spun around to stare out at the orchard, being swept up into his thoughts. Several minutes of silence passed between them before he spoke again. "I owe you an apology." He said, so quietly Ariella wasn't sure if he meant to say it out loud or not. His eyes swept back onto her, and the sincerity radiating out of them was enough to send Ariella's heart hammering against her chest.
"You don't have to—" she began to say before he cut her off.
"Yes, I do." He said adamantly, giving a shake of his head. "I should have never said those things to you….about not being part of this family."
Ariella felt her insides flip with that statement. "Dean, we don't have to do this." She said, knowing it was just the heightened emotions talking.
"Yes, we do." He maintained. "I'm tired of fighting all the time, Ari. I'm tired of the guilt. The night Sam left for college I said things I shouldn't have, and I've regretted it every damn day since. The truth is you were right. I expected you to choose between me and Sam, and that wasn't fair. If you hadn't gone after him, Sammy would have been alone….and—" he said, eyes dropping to the ground between them. "I was never really angry at you…I was angry at myself."
"So, what I'm hearing is…you were wrong?" Ariella offered, a small hint of comfort beginning to wash over her and mend wounds that had been left open for far too long.
"Ok, well, let's not go that far." Dean tossed back at her with a roll of his eyes.
"Well, if I'd have known all it would take for you to realize you had been being a dick was to threaten you with ritual sacrifice, I'd have done it ages ago." She quipped.
"Ha, ha." Dean responded unamusedly. "I'm trying to be serious over here, you know."
"Oh, I know." Ariella said, casting him a lopsided grin. "It's very entertaining."
"You're such a bitch." He huffed in response.
"Ass." She tossed back before her smile faltered. "I miss you, Dean." She admitted. "And maybe if we manage to get the hell out of here, we can work on traversing this mess together instead of constantly pretending like we can handle it alone. Maybe we can actually try being a family again."
"Hold me, Ari. That was beautiful." Dean said in response, his own mouth pulling up in the corner.
"Okay, I take it back." She told him in exasperation. "I hope the scarecrow eats you first."
It wasn't long after that the orchard became blanketed in darkness. Any thoughts of mending their broken relationship quickly evaporated as reality set in around them. At any moment, the scarecrow would be coming to life…coming to actually eat them. As the minutes ticked by, their fear only grew, as neither one of them were able to come up with an actual plan.
"Can you see?" Dean asked after a while, jerking his head back to where he knew the scarecrow had been behind them. "Is he still up there?"
"What makes you think I can see him?" Ariella huffed at him in response. "I'm stuck here the same as you!" she said, unable to crane her head around enough to see behind them either.
"Well, I didn't know! I was hoping you had a better view than me!" Dean defended, voice laced with fear. The sound of feet crunching against the ground sounded behind them then, sending both their heartrates shooting into dangerous rates. "Oh my God, we're going to die." he breathed out, eyes going wide.
Ariella began pulling against her bindings are hard as she could as the footsteps grew closer, praying a miracle would happen and she could tug herself free. The voice that hit her ears next, however, was enough to leave her sagging with relief. "Dean?" said Sam, coming into sight between them.
"Oh, Sam!" she sighed in relief, working to suppress her erratic heartbeat. "I'm so glad to see you!"
Sam's eyes swept between her and Dean for a moment in confusion before he stepped towards Dean, quickly working on freeing him from the rope wound tightly around his wrists. "How'd you get here?" Dean asked him as he worked at untying him.
"I…uh…I stole a car." He admitted sheepishly.
Dean let out a laugh at that. "That's my boy!" he shouted in delight before tipping his head backwards. "Make sure you keep an eye on that scarecrow. It should be coming alive any minute."
Sam's gaze flicked in the direction Dean had pointed out, face falling. "What scarecrow?" he asked, sending Ariella's heart plummeting into her stomach.
Dean finished pulling the rope off of himself in a frenzy before shooting up onto his feet and swinging around to get a look at the cross the scarecrow had been hung on. The worry that washed over his face was enough to send Ariella into a full-blown panic. "Well, don't just stand there!" she shouted, pulling harder against the rope holding her place. "Untie me!"
Sam quickly dropped down beside her then, sweaty fingers working at undoing the knots. After what felt like hours, she was able to pull herself free, and quickly shot to her feet as well as she finished pushing the rope off of herself. "Last one back to road has to be eaten for dinner." She called out before taking off in a sprint through the trees.
"Wait! We have to find the sacred tree this thing's linked to and burn it down!" Dean shouted as he and Sam took off after her.
"Yeah, in the morning!" Ariella shouted, knowing there was no way in hell she was hanging around while that thing was somewhere out there.
"Good plan!" Dean agreed.
The three of them continued running through the orchard, but as Ariella swung around one of the rows of trees, she came to an abrupt halt as she came face-to-face with the barrel of a gun. Her wide eyes fell on the same man who had helped tie her up as Dean and Sam pulled to a stop behind her, all three of them turning to find the other locals surrounding them in every direction, several guns holding them in place. A low growl sounded from somewhere in the orchard then, the god closing in on them and sending Ariella's heart shooting into her throat. "Let us go." She demanded lowly. "Your crops aren't worth it."
"It'll be over quickly. I promise." The man said instead, refusing to lower his weapon.
"You people have no idea what you're messing with!" she shouted as panic began taking hold of her.
"You have to let it take you." The man insisted. "You have to—" he said, being cut off by a sudden blade slicing through him and protruding from his chest. He let out a grunt of pain as the god chose him as his victim, followed by the scream of the woman who had been standing beside him.
Ariella jumped back in response, feeling Dean wrapping a hand around her waist and pulling him closer to him as the man continued to scream in agony. A hand shot out and wrapped around the woman's throat then, pulling the two of them away as the sheriff and others began running for their life. Ariella watched as the animated scarecrow began dragging the man and woman away, before Dean's hand on her waist began pulling her backwards as well. "Come on!" he shouted as he pulled her along. "Let's get the hell out of here before it comes back for seconds!"
Luckily, nothing else tried stopping them from getting back to the road. Sam had led them back to where he had left his stolen car parked, and the three of them got as far from the orchard as they could until the sun came back up. Once they were sure it was safe again, they returned, knowing they needed to bring an end to this town's connection to the deity. Dean had uncovered a link to a sacred tree, which bound the god to the area. So, all they had to do was burn it down and it would all be over. No more Vanir. No more sacrifices.
After doing some digging around on the farm they had been kept hostage at, they were able to find their cars hidden in one of the barns, the locals not having time to properly dispose of them yet, thankfully. From there, they gathered some fuel before heading back out to the orchard to put an end to things. It didn't take very long for them to find the old tree, the runes carved into its base being a dead giveaway. Dean doused it with the gasoline they had carried in, followed by Ariella throwing a match into the fuel. They watched the tree go up in a blaze then, fire consuming it within seconds.
As they watched it burn, Ariella turned towards Sam, her mind returning to their troubled personal life now that they knew the case was over. "You still looking for that ride out to Sacramento?" she asked, still surprised he had decided to come to Indiana to begin with.
Both Sam and Dean pulled their gaze away from the flames as she voiced the query, pulling their focus onto her. "Actually…" Sam said, letting out a sigh as he turned to face them. "I was thinking that maybe I should stay. You know…figure this out together."
"So, you don't want to go after Dad?" Dean asked skeptically, caught off-guard by the sudden revelation.
"No, I still want to go after Dad." Sam explained with a shake of his head. "I want to find this demon more than anything."
"So why stay?" Ariella asked in confusion. "Why the sudden change in heart?"
"Because you were right." Sam answered with a sigh. "Dad's vengeance on this thing has royalty screwed up our lives. He put finding it over us, and I'm not going to make the same mistake. What's the point of finding it, if we lose each other along the way?"
"So, we do this together?" Ariella asked, hopeful eyes swinging from him over to Dean.
"No." Dean said with a shake of his head. "We do this as a family."
Ariella felt her heart lurch with that vow, unable to help the pained smile that pulled across her face with it. Her eyes moved from him, back over to Sam, giving a nod as she let herself grasp onto that hope like a lifeline. "A family." She agreed.