Hi all! So, I considered splitting this chapter up into two since it's rather long, but seeing as I'm going to be busy over the course of the next few days and will likely not have much time to write, I'd figured I'd wrap this chapter up for you and give you a nice long one to hold you over until I can get going on the next one. Once again, this chapter holds some strong warnings. If you read that last one, then you know there's nothing "graphic" really, but its still got a big old M rating on it for a reason. I also wanted to throw out a quick hello and welcome to the new followers we've picked up before letting you get to it! Xoxo-NickyLynn
Despite Dean's best efforts in hurrying along the process of getting hold of the surveillance footage, the sun was already dipping below the horizon by the time he and the officer helping him were on the road and tracking down their next lead. It was nearing twenty hours since Sam and Ariella had been taken, which meant twenty hours of Dean's imagination getting the better of him. They were both skilled hunters, capable in their own regards, so the fact that they still hadn't managed to free themselves from whatever situation they had been stuck in and get ahold of him was enough to worry him immensely. Yet here he was, sitting practically useless in the passenger seat of the police cruiser while they combed the streets for anything unusual.
The deputy who had been helping him, Kathleen, had managed to gain access to the video he had been after, showing him the printed-out image of an old camper truck which had been seen leaving the bar right around the time Sam and Ariella went missing. After some heavy instance on Dean's part, she had begrudgingly agreed to let him ride along with her while she searched the area it had been heading.
"The next traffic cam is fifty miles from here." Kathleen told him as they drove past the last camera which had picked up the suspicious vehicle. "Which means your pick-up had to pull off somewhere between here and there." She reasoned.
"I don't see any other roads out here." Dean added as his eyes swept over the map spread out across his lap.
"Well, a lot of these back-woods properties have their own private roads." She explained with a shrug.
"Great." Dean muttered as his eyes moved to the window beside him, watching as they passed by a series of dirt driveways which presumably lead to houses hidden behind the thick layer of trees. There had to be hundreds of houses within this stretch of roadway. Short of knocking on each and every door, he had no idea how they were going to find the one they were looking for. And they were running out of time.
After a moment of being swept away into his thoughts yet again, the deputy cleared her throat, pulling him right back out before he could fall too far down the rabbit hole. "So…Gregory." She said, it being the name on his stolen badge. "I ran your badge number." She said, causing his worry to spike. "It's routine when we're working a case with State Police, for accounting purposes and whatnot. And, uh—they just got back to me." she explained as she began steering them to the side of the road, sending Dean's uneasiness through the roof. "It says here your badge was stolen." She said as they came to a stop, turning to give him a look that said the jig was up. "And there's a picture of you."
Dean watched as she swiveled the laptop screen between them around, displaying the image of the officer he had assumed the identity of. Dean let out an uncomfortable laugh as he pulled his eyes away from the picture of the older black man. "I—uh…lost some weight." He supplied, knowing there was no way he would be talking his way out of this one. "And I got that Michael Jackson skin disease—" he tried to say as she threw the car into park with a humorless laugh.
"Okay, would you step out of the car, please?" she ordered in a stern voice as she unbuckled herself.
"Look, look…" Dean said, dropping the humor as he lifted his hand to placate her. "You want to arrest me, that's fine." He said seriously, knowing that if he was arrested now, Sam and Ariella would never be found. "I'll cooperate, I swear. But first, please let me find them." He pleaded.
"I don't even know who you are." Katheen threw back at him with a shake of her head. "Or if these people you're looking for are really missing."
"Look into my eyes and tell me I'm lying about this." Dean pressed. "I know you got no reason to believe me, but I am begging you here." He said, willing her not to take him in yet.
"You've been impersonating an officer." Kathleen defended. "How am I supposed to believe anything you're telling me right now?"
"Because right now, like it or not, you're the only thing standing in between me and finding those two. And if you take me in right now, they're not making it out of this alive. I think we both know that. And I can't let that happen. They—" he said, voice nearly breaking as he considered what would happen if he couldn't convince her. "They've saved my ass more times than I can count and I'm not going to let anything happen to them….I can't." he told her in a thick voice, finding it hard to keep the flood of worry bottled up any longer. "They're all I've got left." He admitted.
"I'm sorry." Kathleen told him with a sigh, turning away from the sight of him looking so vulnerable. "You've left me no choice here." She told him heavily. "I've got to take you in."
Dean's face fell at that. He was ready to drop down to his knees and full on beg for the chance to find them if he had to, but, before he could, she let out a sharp exhale, eyes swirling with an inner conflict he couldn't hear. After a moment, she shook her head before reaching for her seatbelt. "After." She relented, eyes briefly drifting up to the visor above her and the picture clipped to it. "I'll take you in after we find Sam Winchester and Ariella Singer."
Dean nearly lunged across the seat to plant a big, sloppy kiss on the woman with the amount of relief that flowed through him at those words. He knew that being arrested would inevitably lead to a whole string of problems for him, but it didn't matter. He would gladly face any punishment in store for him if it meant finding Sam and Ari.
The muscles in Sam's arms had grown sore and shaky from the amount of straining against the electrical cords he had been doing. No matter how hard he pulled, they refused to give, and he knew there was a slim chance of his plan actually working, but he couldn't stop himself from trying. He needed to try something. If what Alvin said was true, and Ariella had been taken alongside him, he needed to get out and find her.
"What's your name again?" Alvin asked as he continued pulling against the cords with all his might, grunting with the effort of it.
"It's Sam." He answered in a strained voice, doing his best to block the other man out.
"Why don't you give it up, Sammy." He supplied, having been watching him go at it with no effect for two hours.
"Don't…call me…Sammy!" he huffed back angrily in between pants. To his surprise, the cord came free in the next moment, causing Sam to stumble backwards slightly as a loud clunk echoed through the room. He didn't manage to affect the wiring itself, but he broke it free from the housing, at least, pulling it into further into the cage. He pulled a small metal piece off of it as it came free, holding it up into the light to inspect it.
"What is it?" Alvin asked curiously, seeing the glint of something metal in his hold.
"It's a bracket." Sam answered as his mind began working double, conjuring ways it could be used.
"Oh, thank God—a bracket." Alvin huffed humorlessly, not seeing any use in a broken piece of metal. "Now we've got them, huh?"
The sound of Alvin's cage unlocking suddenly filled the room then, the unexpectedness of it sending both him and Sam onto their feet in shock. Alvin's wide eyes moved from Sam onto the opened door, moving towards it cautiously. "Must have been a short-circuit or something." He offered in explanation as he pushed the door open, eyes flicking around nervously. "Maybe you knocked something loose."
Sam let his eyes trail from Alvin's cage, over to the electrical box. Those instincts that had been drilled into him as a hunter flared to life as he studied it. Something wasn't right. He didn't damage the wiring, he was sure of it. Even if he had, there was no way he would have caused a short-circuit on Alvin's cage and not his. "I think you should get back in there." He told the escaping man warily, his instincts warning him it was a trap.
"What?" Alvin asked in shock, turning wide eyes back onto Sam as he stepped out into the open.
"Something's not right." Sam insisted.
"Don't you want to get out of here?" Alvin asked as he continued moving for the door.
"Yeah, but that was too easy!" Sam tried telling him.
"I'm gonna get out of here." Alvin told him with a nod. "I'm gonna go find help."
"No." Sam said, slamming his palm up against the bars. "I'm serious—this might be a trap!"
He didn't bother listening to Sam, unfortunately. He rushed towards the door without so much as looking back. "Bye, Sammy." He tossed back at him with a wave before slipping out of the door and into the night outside.
"Jenkins!" he yelled, slamming against the metal bars once again. Alvin didn't return, and the screams that echoed through the wooden walls around him no more than five minutes later did not bode well for him ever returning.
The rest of the night passed without any leads on Dean's end. He and Kathleen had continued searching the fifty-mile stretch of roadway well into the night, having to stop for gas and coffee as the sun rose above the horizon again. It had now been two days since Ariella and Sam had gone missing; a fact that Dean had been hyper-aware of. He didn't know how much more of this searching every backwoods road he could take before he completely lost it and began kicking in every door he came across until he found them. As he and Deputy Kathleen made their way back towards her cruiser after filling up on some much-needed caffeine, Dean had to force his mind onto something else or risk losing his mind completely.
"Okay, Officer." He began, a thought having been nagging at him the whole night. "Look, I don't mean to press my luck—"
"Oh, your luck is so pressed." She scoffed in response.
"R-right." He said, coming to a stop next to the car. "I was just wondering…" he said, turning around to face her. "Why are you helping me out anyways?" he asked, genuinely curious why she had decided not to arrest him. "Why didn't you just lock me up?"
Kathleen drew in a breath before giving a shake of her head. "My brother, Riley…" she said, eyes drifting over his shoulder in thought. "He disappeared three years ago…a lot like your friends." She admitted, eyes darting back to his. "We searched for him, but—nothing. I know what it feels like to be responsible for someone and for them—" Her voice broke off then as painful thoughts flashed across her eyes. After a moment she gave another shake of her head before tipping it towards the car. "Come on." She said, not willing to share more on the matter. "Let's keep at it."
By midday, they seemed to hit their first stroke of luck. They had come across a two-track road off the main highway, devoid of any mailbox or any other marking, yet having fresh tire tracks sunk deep into the mud. "Wait, wait, wait!" Dean sputtered as he caught sight of it. "Pull over here. Pull over."
Kathleen obliged, pulling them to the side of the road just past the suspicious roadway. Dean was pushing open his door before she even had it in park. They had been nearing the end of the fifty-mile marker in their search, which meant that they had to be getting close. The first flicker of hope sparked in Dean's chest as he got out of the car. He just hoped it wouldn't end up being false hope. "This has got to be one of the last turn offs before we hit that traffic cam." He reasoned as Kathleen got out of the car after him.
"I'll go check it out." She told him with a nod. "You stay here."
"No way." Dean said in refusal, knowing there was no way in hell he would be letting her go in alone.
"Hey!" Kathleen said sharply, pulling to a stop as she shot Dean a displeased look. "That wasn't a request. You're a civilian." She reasoned. "And a felon. I'm not taking you with me."
"You're not going without me." Dean said in retort, eyes sweeping from her, up the length of the curved driveway, knowing anything could be lurking behind the tree line.
The officer shook her head in exasperation before letting out a heavy sigh. "Alright." She relented. "You promise you won't get involved?" she questioned. "You'll let me handle it?"
"Yeah, I promise." Dean said instantly, the lie falling from him easily.
"Shake on it?" Kathleen supplied with an arched brow, reaching her hand out towards him expectantly.
Dean reached forward and slipped his hand into hers without having to even think it over. Unfortunately for him, however, he really should have. Perhaps then he would have realized she was using it as a chance to latch a handcuff around his offered wrist. "Oh, come on!" he huffed as it clicked tightly into place.
She practically dragged him back to the car then, securely latching the other end of the cuffs around the driver's side door handle. "This is ridiculous." He complained as she walked away from him with a self-satisfied grin. "Kathleen, I reallythink you're going to need my help!"
"I'll manage." She tossed back at him before hitting the lock button on her key fob, the locks of the car clicking into place in response.
Dean watched her walk away in growing frustration as he pulled against the cuffs with a groan. "I think Ari's right." He sighed, knowing there was no way he was slipping out of them through force. "I really got to start carrying a paperclip on me."
Ariella had become a prisoner of her own mind as her time hanging in the basement continued to stretch on seemingly forever. The sunlight had stopped filtering in through the small windows hours ago, and, as the moonlight took its place, she began to wonder how many more nights would pass before she got out. Her mind had been stuck on Sam nonstop since the night prior. The screams of a man had roused her from a stint of sleep, echoing throughout the entire property eerily. And, to her horror, she had realized they had hunted someone.
She had tried to demand answers from one of the sons who had come down, trying to feed her some rations of food, only to receive a hound of laughter and snide remarks. Ariella had busted his nose with the eminence of her forehead as soon as he got close enough, driving it so far out of place, she doubted it would ever heal properly. It gave her some semblance of satisfaction at the moment, but the strike against her cheek which followed suit had likely left her own cheek shattered, judging by the pain emanating from it still.
She didn't care about the broken bone, however. She didn't even care about what the fucker's father did to her anymore. She only cared about Sam….and if he was still alive or not.
She didn't know whether to blame the sleep deprivation, or if the sheer hysteria was finally catching up to her, but more than once she had looked up at those pictures and swore she saw Sam's face strung up with them. She tried to convince herself that he was fine. That it was perhaps someone else who had let out that gut-wrenching scream. But, the rhythmic sound of a meat-cleaver slamming against the table in heavy thuds just above her was enough to quell those thoughts every time they would rise.
Around and around her mind spun, pushed further and further in madness with every strike of that cleaver. Suddenly, another sound joined in, startling her out of her spiraling thoughts. Her head snapped up as the sound of grunting filled her ears, followed by a heavy thud hitting the concrete. Someone was in the basement with her, and by the sound of it, they had slipped in through one of the slim windows. Her heartrate kicked up a notch as she strained her eyes against the darkness, fresh hope renewing in her.
"Sam?"she called out in a hushed voice, praying it was him and not one of the men….or worse, some trick of her imagination.
"Ari?" A voice answered, and although it wasn't Sam's, it still sent a round of tears rushing to her eyes.
It was Dean. Dean had found them.
A bright light lit up the area then, causing her to turn away from the beam as the flashlight hit her sensitive eyes. "Jesus Christ." She heard Dean mutter as the light fell on her. If Ariella could, she would have shielded her body from his view. She had been left in nothing but her bra and underwear, and the amount of smeared fingerprints littering her bare skin were enough clues for anyone to figure out just what she had been enduring those past two days.
"Where's Sam?" she demanded before he could say anything on the matter, turning to find him frozen in place just before her. He didn't respond, however. He just stared at her like a deer caught in the headlights of a car. "Dean!" she snapped, finally pulling his wide eyes up to hers. "Where's Sam?"
"B-barn." He answered before quickly moving towards her with a shake of his head. "He's out in the barn. They've got him locked up in some cage out there."
Ariella practically sagged with that news. "Oh, thank God." She breathed out, ready to break down in tears with the amount of relief now flowing through her.
"I'm gonna cut you down." He told her as he stepped up to her side then, reaching up with a small blade he had slid out of his sleeve. Within seconds she was cut loose and would have most likely collapsed on the floor had Dean not taken her weight with a strong hold around her waist. "Whoa, I gotcha." He said as she regained the feeling in her feet.
"I'm fine." Ariella responded curtly, trying to push herself out of his hold as she clawed off the rope still hanging around her wrists loosely. She could barely feel her fingers, however, her hands noticeably shaking as she worked it off. Dean retracted his hold on her as soon as she was steady on her feet, and, in the next moment, she felt something heavy settle around her shoulders. She looked up to find Dean's jacket around her. She quickly slid her arms into the sleeves without hesitation, glad of the cover and warmth it provided. "There's four of them." She began to tell him as she adjusted the oversized jacket around her frame. "Three guys and a young girl."
"They all upstairs?" he asked, eyes bouncing from her to the stairwell behind them.
"I think so." Ariella said in response, having heard muffled voices coming through the floorboards all night.
"All right, I'm gonna go up there and try to find the key to get Sam out." He said as he began moving towards the stairs. "You slip out that window I came in and wait for me."
"What?" Ariella asked, reaching out and latching onto his arm. "Dean, you're not going up there alone." She insisted.
"And if you think I'm letting those assholes anywhere near you again, you're out of mind." He said in retort, voice dropping to a low growl.
"Dean, I'm not some helpless damsel in distress." She huffed angrily.
"I know." He sighed back, wishing that she would just listen to him for once. "Look, I'm just finding that key and getting the hell out. Go find Sam, and if I'm not out in five minutes then you can come in guns blazing."
Ariella's eyes swept over his face in thought for a moment before letting out a defeated sigh. "Fine." She relented before moving back towards the table of weapons she had been fantasizing about. She swiped up the machete before pointing it in Dean's direction. "Five minutes." She stressed before moving for the window still propped open.
Dean watched her hoist herself up through the frame for a moment before recentering his thoughts onto the task at hand. Drawing in a deep breath, he began moving up the stairs then, doing his best to keep the sheer amount of anger coursing through him from completely taking over his senses. His fingers subconsciously tightened around the grip of his blade as he moved towards the upper level, having been seeing nothing but red since finding Ariella hanging like that, the image of it likely seared into the back of his mind forever. He knew that these people had been sick beyond belief, but they had crossed a line even the worst of monsters wouldn't. After all, monsters he got. They hunted for food…driven by inhuman instincts. These people, however? Hell, they were just doing this for fun. And it made them so much worse than anything else he had gone up against.
As he made it to the top of the stairs, he cautiously pushed open the door, poking his head out to find an empty hallway, items tossed haphazardly around the floor like a burglar had ransacked the place. He doubted anyone had actually robbed the place, however. These people were just nasty in every sense of the word. He hesitantly stepped out onto the main floor, the sound of someone moving around in the kitchen guiding him closer.
There was soft piano music flowing through the house, so scratchy it had to be from some type of phonograph. He used the music and loud thudding to help mute his footsteps as he moved down the hall, carefully moving past the kitchen doorway as quietly as he could. Inside, an older man was moving about, a thick blood-covered apron hanging around his body as he cut up something laid out on the table. Dean instantly decided he didn't want to know what was being served up for their next meal and tried sneaking past while the man was distracted.
Something clanged into his shoulder as he had his eyes glued to the man, however, startling him. He whipped his head around to find some type of windchime or something swinging around, having accidentally bumped into it. He quickly reached up to stop the pieces from clanging into each other, eyes snapping back to the kitchen to make sure the sound did not carry. Luckily, the man didn't seem to notice. Dean let out a silent breath as he brought his attention back to the ornament, only now realizing what he had been holding. They were bones. Mandibles, hips, and other parts he couldn't seem to identify, all of which he was sure were human.
"What the hell?" he whispered in shock, hands instantly pulling away from the objects like they burned him. "Oh, that's gross." He complained, feeling the need to wipe his hand on his shirt in response. He continued down the hallway then, moving with more urgency as he cautiously poked around each doorway to make sure no one else was around. After ensuring that the man in the kitchen was the only one, he grabbed hold of a large broken board leaning up against a wall which had several nails jutting out of one end of it, figuring it was as good of weapon as any.
He moved into the small sitting area across from the kitchen then, careful not to make any sounds as he searched the area. He spotted a small tin of various keys sitting on a small, stained side table then, one of which he was sure had to go to the electrical box outside. He made sure the man was still occupied before moving for the keys, trying his best to ignore the sounds of sawing now coming out of the kitchen. He went to swipe up the keys as quickly as he could, but just as his hand hovered over the metal container, a creaking of the floorboards next to him caused him to freeze. Drawing in a breath, he quickly spun around, ready for a fight, only to come face to face with a young girl.
Dean threw his hands up in front of him instantly, trying to look as non-threatening as possible. "Hey, it's okay." He told her in a low voice. "I'm not gonna hurt you."
The girl dropped her hand in response, the glint of a small blade catching Dean's eye. "I know." She responded as a smirk pulled across her lips. "DADDY!" she yelled then before lunging at Dean.
He jumped out of the way just as the knife swiped dangerously close to his side. It ended up slicing through his shirt, effectively pinning him to the doorway behind him. "Daddy!" the girl yelled again, followed by the sound of hurried footsteps. Dean's eyes snapped down the hall just as a younger man came around the corner, marching towards him with angry eyes. He managed to rip himself free from the blade embedded into the wooden frame just as another man rushed towards him from the opposite end of the hall, Dean now trapped between the two of them.
The man behind him threw himself around Dean's midsection, trying to pull him off his feet. Dean brought both feet up in response, thrusting them into the chest of the other man as he came charging at him from the front. The man went soaring backwards from the blow, but the man who had a firm grip around Dean managed to pull him backwards before throwing him across them room. Dean landed on a table, his ribs throbbing with pain as the piece of furniture collapsed under his weight. He lost hold of his only weapon as he did, and before he could find it, his attacker was moving towards him.
The man was on him in an instant, grabbing hold of his shoulder to pry him back up. Dean used the momentum of the movement to throw a swing at him, his fist landing into his orbit with a loud crack that sent the man stumbling backwards with a grunt. His brother didn't give Dean a chance to throw another hit. He lunged at him like a football player, throwing his entire weight at his midsection and tackling him to the ground. The two of them fell together, though Dean managed to spin them around enough to throw the man off of him and into the wall beside them as he regained his balance.
The two burly men had Dean cornered then, eliciting his fight-or-flight instincts full force. He kicked a piece of the broken table at the man he had thrown into the wall before ducking out of the way of a punch thrown by the other. Dean threw his own hit back at the man, connecting with the side of his head and sending him falling backwards yet again as his brother threw himself at Dean again. Dean went toppling to the side from the blow, collapsing on the ground shoulder first before he managed to scramble back onto his feet, breathing haggard.
He pushed himself back up as the two men circled around him again, using the doorway behind him to hold himself up as the pain flaring through his body began to register in his mind. He had a brief moment of wishing he had let Ariella come with him before something smacked into the back of his head, sending him dropping face-first onto the floor as darkness swept in around him.
True to Ariella's word, she waited the allotted five minutes for Dean before heading back to check on him. She had crept up the front porch, trying to sneak a peek in through the windows when a loud crashing sound hit her ears, followed by the sound of struggle. She rushed over to the window, poking her head around the frame to find Dean in the midst of a full-on brawl with the two sons. Unfortunately, the fight didn't last long before he was knocked unconscious from behind by their father.
Ariella had to fight off the urge to rush in and start her own fight as she watched him fall to the floor unmoving. He wasn't dead, however, and, given the fact that she was only armed with a blade, she didn't think that decision would end well. She was now the only one free, which meant she couldn't risk rushing in without a plan. So, she watched and waited.
They hauled Dean onto a wooden chair, binding him tightly to it before he could wake up, muttering between themselves the whole time about a cop and what they were going to do. Ariella didn't know what cop they were talking about, but given the fact that Dean had to have tracked them down somehow, she figured they had probably come together. Which was why they had been so hesitant in killing him. They couldn't risk the possibility of more cops coming around in search of them.
Luckily, it didn't take very long for Dean to regain consciousness. He woke to them surrounding him, most likely doing their best to intimidate him into cooperating. Unluckily for them, however, was that they didn't know Dean. All their attempts at intimidation were met with nothing but smart-witted quips. They were more likely to force a grizzly into cooperating than Dean.
While they were talking, Ariella raked her brain for a plan. There was no way she could take on all three of them by herself. She needed to separate them first and take them down one by one. She scanned the room inside as she thought, eyes landing on a shotgun sitting next to the door, likely loaded. She chewed on her lip in thought for a moment before figuring this was the best shot she had. While they had Dean tied up in the living room, they wouldn't risk leaving him alone, which meant if she made enough of a ruckus outside to draw someone out, she could separate them. Whoever came out to check on things would likely take that shotgun along with them. And if she could get ahold of it, then her chances of taking down the other two rose drastically.
She drew in a breath before moving off the steps, quickly putting her plan into place as she went. She managed to grab hold of a large stick first, needing it for the first step of her plan. She moved towards the old, rusted truck parked out front then, pulling open the driver's door before jamming the thick piece of wood up against the seat. She drew in another breath as she readied herself before pushing the other end of the timber up against the steering wheel, effectively pressing against the horn and eliciting a loud, continuous honk that filled the air before she took off running. She hid herself in the shadows of another vehicle, waiting for someone to take the bait.
Sure enough, no more than a few seconds later, the door to the house slammed opened before the sound of running hit her ears. She watched as one of the younger men rushed up to her pseudo trap, finding herself counting her luck when she caught sight of the shotgun in his hold. She moved quickly as he turned his back to her, the sound of the blaring horn masking her footsteps as she ran at him. While he was busy prying the wood out of the truck, she attacked, bringing her arm down with as much strength as she could muster. The man turned just as the blade came slicing through the air towards him, eyes blowing wide in surprise. He didn't have time to react before the blade connected with his flesh. The splatter of his warm blood hit Ariella, but she didn't give herself time to contemplate it before pulling the gun from his hands as he dropped to the ground at her feet.
She let the machete drop to the ground as she checked that the weapon was, in fact, loaded. Upon seeing the bullets loaded in the chamber, she snapped the gun back together before moving again. She had two shots. She moved back towards the house then, tucking herself down in a shadow at the base of the porch as she waited for their next move. Someone would have to be coming out to check on things after a while, and that's when she would strike.
Not even a full minute later, the door opened again. "Lee!" the other brother shouted into the darkness, clearly worried that he hadn't returned yet. Ariella watched him move down the steps, leveling the barrel of her stolen gun on him as he went. She followed his movements for a moment, ensuring she had a good aim before pulling the trigger.
One shot left.
She waited for their father then.
The door slammed open as he stormed out next, holding a rifle of his own as he cautiously stepped outside. He had the gun pulled up against his shoulder as he swung it around, eyes searching the night. As his gaze landed on his son, he rushed towards him with a yell. "JARED!" he yelled upon seeing his unmoving form.
Ariella crept up behind him as he dropped to the ground next to his son, using his moment of distraction to kick the rifle out of his hold while his back was turned to her. She then aimed the barrel dead-center on his forehead. "You little bitch!" he seethed as his eyes landed on her. "I'm gonna kill you fer what ya done to my boys!" he threatened menacingly, spitting the words at her like venom.
Ariella cocked her head to the side as she regarded him, finding nothing but blinding rage filling her as she stared down at him. "Don't worry." She said, cocking the gun to unload the spent shell. "I like it when they scream."
It didn't take long for Dean to get out of his bindings after the men had left him alone with the young girl. He had easily knocked her out before locking her in the closet to ensure she was safe from harm and out of the way. He moved for the door then, but just as he reached for the handle, it pushed open from the outside with a bang. Ariella was filling the doorway, shotgun leveled with Dean's face as she stood blocking the way, shoulders heaving up and down as her eyes landed on him. Dean took in the gun, along with the blood splattered across her, and quickly put the pieces together. The two shots had to have come from her. Her frenzied eyes were enough to confirm that.
"It's been five minutes." She stated in a flat voice as she lowered the gun, eyes flicking around the room behind him. "Where's Kate?"
"I knocked her ass out and locked her in the closet." Dean answered honestly, jabbing his thumb towards the closet door with a chair shoved under the handle.
Ariella's mouth dipped into a frown as her eyes drifted over to the door before they moved back onto Dean. "They said something about a cop." She said as she let the empty weapon in her hold drop to the floor with a thud.
"Yeah, I had a deputy helping me out." Dean explained as his own eyes drifted to the door behind Ariella. "Are they—"
"They're dead." She stated bluntly, eyes suddenly dropping to the floor. "Let's just get the keys and free Sam."
Dean forced any thoughts on the matter down as he moved for the container of keys, quickly swiping up the lot of them before he and Ariella made their way towards the barn. Freeing Sam and Kathleen had been easy enough after that, all of them bloodied, bruised, and ready to be done with it all. Once they had all gotten outside, they realized the gravity of the situation they had been left in. They had found, along with the bodies, Kathleen's brother's car hidden among the overgrowth. Dean wasn't sure what the officer had been thinking as she took in the totality of the scene, but he knew he wouldn't be letting Ariella take the fall for their deaths.
He had quickly covered for her, confessing to all three murders in her place. He figured so long as he was going to be arrested anyways, he might as well be the only one. Ariella had eyed him as he made the confession, clearly not comfortable with him lying on her behalf, but chose to remain silent none-the-less. In fact, she had practically gone catatonic, face deceptively blank and completely unreadable as they worked out their next move.
"State police and FBI are gonna be here within the hour." Kathleen told them after radioing it in. "And they're, uh…they're gonna want to talk to you." She sighed, eyes flicking between the three of them briefly before landing on Dean. "I suggest you're long gone by then."
Dean blinked in surprise before nodding his head in appreciation. "Thanks." He told her, genuinely surprised she hadn't pressed for his arrest after everything.
"The girl inside…" Ariella said then, quiet voice pulling Kathleen's eyes over to her along with Dean and Sam's.
"What's going to happen to her?" she asked, eyes drifting from the officer, back to the house.
"I don't know." The officer responded truthfully. The entire situation was one giant mess.
"She's a victim." Ariella stated flatly, eyes drifting back to Kathleen as her mouth pulled into a frown. "She didn't have a choice in any of this."
"I'll do what I can to make sure she's taken care of." Kathleen told her with a nod, knowing the girl's future would be immensely complicated. Ariella only bobbed her head in response before falling silent again.
"Look, I don't mean to press our luck here—" Dean said then, knowing they needed to get the hell out of there. "But we're kind of in the middle of nowhere. Think we could catch a ride?"
"Start walking." Kathleen tossed back at him with a shake of her head. "Duck if you see a squad car."
"Sounds good to me." Sam said, willing to walk a hundred miles on foot if it meant none of them being arrested and this all being over. He turned to walk away then, but before he took more than a couple steps Dean spoke, stopping him.
"Listen..I, uh—" he said, eyebrows pulling together as he regarded Katheen. "I'm sorry about your brother." He told her truthfully.
"Thank you." She said before letting out a humorless laugh. "I thought it would be easier knowing the truth…." She said, voice wavering as she came to terms with his fate. "But it really isn't." Dean's mouth pulled down into a deep frown at that, knowing there was nothing he could say that would make it any easier. "Anyway." She said, clearing her throat before tipping her head up the length of the driveway. "You should go."
Dean gave her one last grateful smile before turning and walking away along with Sam and Ariella. It had begun raining, and the temperature had dropped below the comfortable level long ago. It was going to be one hell of a long walk back to civilization. Dean's mouth pulled into a frown as his eyed Ariella's bare and filthy legs before they fell on her shoeless feet, sinking into the thick mud. She trudged along stoically, however, any complaints on the journey ahead hidden under a thick layer of indifference. He was worried about her…for more than one reason.
Before he could voice his concerns, however, Sam squatted down in front of her and swept her up onto his back without so much as asking for her permission. She didn't seem to mind the ride, either, for she just tucked herself up against him, burying her face into his back. Dean wasn't sure, but judging by the way her shoulders shook, he had to take a guess that she was crying.
The three of them had faced a lot of creatures in their life, but in some cruel twist of irony, it was humans who had been the most monstrous. He didn't know the extent of what had happened to her over the course of the past few days, nor was he sure he wanted to know. All he knew was he would never let it happen again. He would sleep with both eyes open for the remainder of his life if it meant keeping this from happening ever again.
"We've got you." He said as the rain began to pick up, reaching over to run his hand along her back in an effort to give her some semblance of comfort as it began pouring down on them. "We've got you."