The Winchester Three (S1): The Beginning

Ch 6 Section 4

Dean and Angel both tried to pool their strength and open the cellar door but failed.

"I don't understand." Emily shook her head, "They're gonna kill us?"

"Sacrifice us." Dean corrected with a shrug, "Which is, I don't know, classier, I guess?"

"You know what would be even classier than that? Not dying." Angel wiped the blood from her forehead as she and Dean walked back over to Emily, "So, you really didn't know what kind of operation Auntie and Uncle were running here?"

"You mean the scarecrow god?" She scoffed, "I can't believe this."

"Okay, listen babe. You gotta start believing and fast." Angel pressed getting straight to business, "Dean and I don't have any time to coddle you through this if we all wanna live alright? We're gonna need to help each other here, understand?"

She nodded slowly, "Okay..."

"Good. Now look, we can destroy the scarecrow but we need to find the tree that its getting its power from to do so."

"What tree?"

"Its old, like ancient old. Might be some kind of historical monument or some shit." Angel described quickly, "Uh, crazys that just abducted us would treat it with a lot of respect, you know, like it was sacred."

"There was this one apple tree." Emily offered, "The immigrants brought it over with them. They call it the First Tree."

Dean asked, "Is it in the orchard?"

"Yeah, but I don't know where."

The cellar door opened just then to reveal the town elders: Stacy, Harley, Scotty and the Sheriff, staring down at them.

Stacy nodded, "It's time."

At that, the three of them shared a nervous look.

In the orchard...

The elders quickly and tightly secured Angel, Dean and Emily to three adjacent trees. The Sheriff worked on Dean as Scotty tightened Angel's hands above her head.

"I gotta say, Scotty..." Angel winked in sarcasm, "I didn't have you pegged for an S&M kink kinda guy. Came off as a little vanilla when we first met." He rolled his eyes and walked away from her, ignoring her comments, "Awe, come on baby, don't be like that."

"How many people have you killed, Sheriff?" Dean grimaced as he tightened the ropes, "How much blood is on your hands?"

"We don't kill them."

"No, but you sure cover up after. I mean, how many cars have you hidden, clothes have you buried?"

Like Scotty, the Sheriff walked away, opting to ignore him completely.

Angel looked over to her brother, "Tough crowd, D."

Emily cried from the other side of Angel, "Uncle Harley, please."

"I am so sorry, Em." His eyes saddened, "I wish it wasn't you."

"Why is she even here in the first place?" Angel yelled over, "The deals one chick and one dude, right? You got that, so let her go."

"These two share the same blood, sweetheart. We need you." Stacy smoothed Emily's hair down, "Try to understand. It's our responsibility, and there's just no other choice. There's nobody else but you."

"I'm your family."

"Sweetheart, that's what sacrifice means. Giving up something you love for the greater good. The town needs to be safe. The good of the many outweighs the good of the one."

As the four elders walked away, Angel scoffed, "Geeze, somebody seriously spilled some crazy into the water system here."

Dean glared at their backs, "I hope your apple pie is freakin' worth it!"

Emily leaned over and looked between Angel and Dean, "So, what's the plan?"

The Winchester looked at one another before Dean answered, "We're workin' on it."

Hours later...

"You guys don't have a plan, do you?"

Slight panic laced Dean's voice, "Still workin' on it..."

Angel craned her neck but couldn't make anything out, "Emily, can you see?"

"What?"

"The scarecrow." She explained, "Is he moving yet?"

Emily tried craning her neck but also couldn't make anything out, "I can't see..." A shadow moved near the trees, the noise catching all of their attention, "Oh my God." As it moved closer, Angel and Dean frantically tried to undo their ropes, "Oh my God!"

Instead of the scarecrow, Sam popped out from behind the trees, "Angel? Dean?"

"Holy shit." Angel sagged in relief, "Sam! I've never been so happy to see you, little brother."

Dean was also overjoyed, "Oh, I take everything back I said. I'm so happy to see you. Come on." Sam began untying him from the tree, "How'd you get here?"

"I, uh-" He shrugged, "I stole a car."

"Haha!" Dean laughed giddily, "That's my boy!"

"Sam, watch out for the scarecrow." Angel warned, "He could come alive any minute."

Sam finished untying Dean, looked around for a second and then went to untie Angel, "What scarecrow?"

Dean got up and saw the scarecrow's post was empty. The three of them each exchange nervous looks as Sam hurriedly unties their sister.