Play With Fire

09. Scarecrow

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

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

"Sam, is that you?" John asked from a payphone in California. Conor stood next to him.

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

"We're fine."

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

"Sammy, we're all right. What about you, Dean and Penny?"

Dean was slowly waking up.

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

Dean sat up in bed.

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

"What? Why not?"

"Is that Dad and Conor?" Dean asked.

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

"You're both after it, aren't you?" Sam questioned. "The thing that killed Mom and Penny's 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, Conor and I think we're 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 Penny, you gotta stop looking for me and Conor. 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?" Penelope 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."