Seven Bridges Road

VIII. Scarecrow

Sam, Dean and Johanna were sleeping. Dean's phone rang, but he and Johanna didn't wake up.

"Dean. Josie," Sam called, but they didn't wake, so he answered the phone. "Hello?"

"Sam, is that you?" John asked from a payphone in California.

Sam sat up in bed. "Dad? Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine."

"We've been looking for you everywhere. We didn't know where you were, if you were okay."

"Sammy, I'm all right. What about you, Dean and Johanna?"

Dean and Johanna were slowly waking up.

"We're fine. Dad, where are you?"

Dean sat up in bed and Johanna slightly raised her head over the couch.

"Sorry, kiddo, I can't tell you that."

"What? Why not?"

"Is that Dad?" Dean and Johanna asked.

"Look, I know this is hard for you to understand. You're just gonna have to trust me on this."

"You're after it, aren't you?" Sam questioned. "The thing that killed Mom."

"Yeah. It's a demon, Sam."

"A demon? You know for sure?"

"A demon?" Dean repeated. "What's he saying?"

"I do. Listen, Sammy, I, uh... I also know what happened to your girlfriend. I'm so sorry. I would've done anything to protect you from that."

"You know where it is?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, I think I'm finally closing in on it."

"Let us help."

"You can't. You can't be any part of it."

"Why not?"

"Give me the phone," Dean demanded.

"Listen, Sammy, that's why I'm calling. You, your brother and your sister, you gotta stop looking for me. All right, now, I need you to write down these names."

"Names?" Sam repeated. "What names, Dad -- talk to me, tell me what's going on."

"Look, we don't have time for this. This is bigger than you think, they're everywhere. Even us talking right now, it's not safe."

"No. All right? No way."

"Give me the phone," Dean said again.

"I have given you an order. Now, you stop following me and you do your job. You understand me? Now, take down these names."

Dean took the phone from Sam. "Dad, it's me. Where are you?" ... "Yes, sir." ... "Uh, yeah, I got a pen. What are their names?"

They got into the Impala and drove off.

"All right, so, the names Dad gave us, they're all couples?" Sam asked.

"Three different couples," Dean replied. "All went missing."

"And they're all from different towns? Different states?" Johanna questioned.

"That's right. You got Washington, New York, Colorado. Each couple took a road trip cross-country. None of them arrived at their destination, and none of them were ever heard from again."

"Well, it's a big country, Dean," Sam said. "They could've disappeared anywhere."

"Yeah, could've. but each one's route took 'em to the same part of Indiana. Always on the second week of April. One year after another after another."