Good Times, Bad Times

09. Scarecrow

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

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

In the midst of trying to talk to her father, Susana's phone cut out and the battery died. "Should've charged it," she muttered, moving to sit next to Sam.

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

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

"We're fine."

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

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

Dean was slowly waking up.

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

Dean sat up in bed.

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

"What? Why not?"

"Is that Dad?" Dean 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 two know for sure?"

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

Susana glanced back with a light shrug. "I can't really hear."

"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 friend, you gotta stop looking for me and Pedro. 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?" Susana 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."