Night. At the theater.
Another girl had gone missing. Great.
Dean walked to me and Sam "i checked with the principal. There's nothing on the surveillance tapes. What do the cops think?"
Sam "the only clue they found was by the Dumpster"
He showed him a photo "they found the same flower near Mrs. Chandler's cell phone. you recognize it?"
I shook my head.
Dean "no"
Inside.
We walked over to Marie.
Me "hey"
Marie "Let me guess. You guys came here to laugh at me too, right?"
Me "why don't you tell us what happened to your friend?"
Marie "Maggie quit the show. She was trying to get us shut down, and so we were fighting. Then she left, and i heard her scream. so i ran outside to help. And--and i saw a scarecrow. it looked just like the one from our show, but ...alive"
Me "what then?"
Marie "it wrapped her up in vines and took her behind a Dumpster. And then they were both just gone. So i called the cops, and a bunch of adults just told me i had an overactive imagination. but it's all real. Ghosts, angels. Demons"
Meave "i wanna believe that"
Sam "you should believe. You both should. Because it is all real. And so are we. I'm Sam Winchester. That's Dean. And that's Elena. "
The girls look at each other and started laughing.
Marie "okay, now, look. I'm willing to accept that monsters are real. but those books are works of fiction. "
Meave "and you guys are way too old to be Sam or Dean. and you're not as pretty as Elena was described in the books"
Marie nodded "yeah. "
Maeve "more of a Rufus-Bobby-Ellen combo. Maybe"
Dean "Little Miss Sunshine, we are what the books call hunters"
Meave "FBI hunters?"
Dean nodded "Yes"
Meave "you guys are X-Files"
Sam nodded "Sure. Yeah. You could say that. So this scarecrow in your musical, is it based on the one from the books?"
Marie shook her head "no. I changed it. I got scared of a local legend when i was a kid. There was this old creepy scarecrow on an abandoned farm outside of town. Kids used to say if it caught you, it would take you away"
Dean "if this scarecrow was based off of you version,Ms. Chandler and Maggie might still be alive"
Meave "you think the scarecrow was created by the play?"
Marie "you think it's a Tulpa"
In the school library.
Sam showed us an open book "Tulpas are monsters that are created by intense focused energy on an idea"
Marie "yeah, or a story"
Maeve "Great. how do you kill an idea?"
Marie "well, in Hell House, Sam and Dean burned the house down to take out the Tulpa they hunted. "
Sam looked at Dean who rolled his eyes annoyed.
Dean "yeah. You kill the symbol, you kill the Tulpa. It's actually a pretty good start"
Sam "so the scarecrow in your play, is it a person or a prop?"
Marie "prop. And it's terrifying. We keep it in the boiler room"
Sam "that's great. okay, you guys read up. Just give us a second"
The boys and i walked to the shelves.
Sam "so this doesn't add up. Tulpas require a ton of psychic energy to juice up. It's not like the Supernatural books are tearing up the New York Times best-seller list. I seriously doubt this play is even sold out. "
Me "why would it? i mean, i think we all can agree on the fact that our lifes are pretty miserable"
Dean nodded "True"
Sam "but this flower. I know i've seen it in the lore somewhere. There's gotta be a connection"
Dean "you get on that. I'm gonna take a shot at Burning Man"
He looked at me "you coming?"
Me "Dean, the only things that scares me more than dolls are scarecrows"
Dean rolled his eyes "you're half demon, Elena"
I shook my head "doesn't make them any less scarier"
In the boiler room.
I stepped behind Dean when we stopped at he scarecrow. That thing was so ugly.
Dean grabbed the tongs that were on the table and offered it to Marie "you wanna pinata this asshat?"
Marie ""asshat"? nice. It's, uh, very Dean"
I looked at Dean who rolled his eyes annoyed.
Marie "No. He's all yours, Agent Smith"
Dean nodded and hit the scarecrow with the tongs and it flew to the side.
Then he threw it into the fire of the boiler room.
In the Library .
We walked back inside.
Dean "We came, we saw, we kicked it in the-"
Sam "It's not a Tulpa"
I asked shocked "what?"
Sam "it's not a Tulpa"
Dean "say it one more time but just a little bit more Arnold. "It's not a Tulpa.""
Sam "Dude, come on. It's Calliope"
Me "the goddess of epic poetry? The muse"
Maeve nodded "Yes"
Sam "she's associated with this. The Borage or Startflower. That's the picture"
He showed us a photo in the book.
Me "then why the scarecrow?"
Sam "According to the lore, Calliope manifests creatures from the stories she's turned into"
Marie "so the scarecrow is still alive. We burned my prop for nothing?"
Me "i would've burned that thing either way"
Maeve "the only way to destroy the scarecrow is to kill Calliope"
Sam nodded "Right. She uses these manifestions, like the scarecrow to inspire the author and protect them until their vision is realized. "
Me "then what?"
Sam "then she eats the author"
Marie nodded, shocked "okay. that's bad. well, you get your wish. Let's cancel the shot"
Sam "That's what the others did. They tried to shut you down and the scarecrow took them. Protected you and the show"
Dean "so the scarecrow is the bogeyman. We gotta take our shot with this, uh..."
Me "Calliope"
Dean"...Calliope. But she won't show herself until your vision is realized"
Marie asked confused "What are you saying?"
Dean "the show must go on"
Marie started to breath heavily. Then she rushed into the kitchen. we followed her.
She grabbed a paper bag and breathed into it.
Dean to sam "why don't i-?"
Sam "you guys rally Marie. I'm gonna grab some wooden stakes from the trunk and do the blessings"
Then he rushed out .
Maeve "is Marie gonna get eaten?"
I shook my head "not gonna happen. Soon as the curtain rises, we are gonna be there to take out this Calliope. "
Dean walked over to Marie and kneeled down to her "how you doing, champ?"
Marie "This-this is all my fault. If i hadn't written this dumb play, none of this would have happened"
Dean "Well, first of all, the play's not dumb"
Meave "i thought you didn't believe in this interpretation"
Dean shook his head "Yeah, i don't. Like, at all. But you do, okay? And i need you to believe in it with all you got so that we can kill Calliope and we can save your friends. Can you do that. "
Marie nodded "Yeah, right. If Sam and Dean were real, they wouldn't back down from a fight. Especially my sweet, brave, selfless Sam. There's nothing he can't do"
Dean's face dropped, annoyed "Well, except getting the girl"
My eyes widened.
Marie then looked into the mirror and exhaled.
I hit Dean in the back of the head when no one looked.
Dean shot me a shocked look.
i whispered "Too soon"
Marie looked at us and grabbed the wig from the table "i understudy Sam, so i used this for my one-woman Orphan Black show last year.but it's gonna work for Sam "
Then she put the wig on "Writer. Director. Actor. I'm gonna Barbara Streisand this bitch"
I rolled my eyes "and i thought Dean was dramatic"
On Stage.
The actors were all ready for the show. The curtains were still closed through.
Marie asked the girl who played Dean "the Samulet?"
The girl took the necklace out.
Dean asked confused "the Samulet?"
Marie "that amulet is a symbol of the Winchester's brotherly love"
Dean's eyes widened, speechless.
Sam showed up and cleared his throat "hey"
We walked over to him and he handed us the stakes.
Me "okay"
Sam "pretty good. Wait a second. Where's Chuck?"
Marie "oh, i love him. I do. But, honestly, the whole "author inserting themselves into the narrative" thing, it's just not my favorite. I kind of hate the meta stories"
The boys and i said in unison "me too"
Dean looked at the girls "All right, listen up, girls. Now, i know you're all here because you love Supernatural. "
The girl who played Mary "actually, i was hoping we'd do Wicked"
Marie scoffed.
Dean "Yeah, that's been easier. uh..i have expressed some differences of opinion regarding this version of Supernatural. But tonight it is all about Marie's vision. This is Marie's Supernatural. So i want you to get out there, and i want you to stand as close as she wants you to and i want you to put as much sub into that text as you possibly can. there is no other road, no other way, no day but today. You get out there and you kick it in the ass"
Marie "all right. Bring it in"
They put their hands in the middle and said "Ghostfacers"
Dean and Sam looked at each other.
---
The play had started and the boys and i were backstage searching for the muse.
Well, Sam and i were searching for the muse while Dean was enjoying the play.
I looked at Dean who was sanding at the other side of the stairs.
He waved at and me and i waved back confused.
Suddenly he mouth "behind you!"
I turned around and saw the scarecrow there.
Me "oh shit!"
I tried to push if off of me but it disappeared with me through the wall.
---
I groaned and woke up.
Two people were standing in front of me.
It must've been Ms Chandler and the other girl who had disappeared.
Me "Where are we?"
Ms. Chandler "School's basement. Scarecrow brought us down here"
I stood up and tried to open the door but it was locked.
Ms. Chandler "i tried that days ago"
Me "so we're stuck in here?"
Suddenly a woman appeared "correct. You're gonna muss the big show"
I went to attack her but she used her power to press me against the door.
Calliope "ive consumed many authors, many stories. But tonight, soon as the curtain opened i knew something special was brewing with this one. Maybe it's because the story's actual inspiration's here . Mm, i don't know. I guess i'm just gonna have to kill you and the brother to find out"
Me "don't you have to wait until the version has been realized?"
She scoffed, amused "oh, gods. If i have to sit through that second act one more time ..there's robots and tentacles in space, i can't even"
Me "so why this story? why Supernatural?"
Calliope "Supernatural has everything. Life. Death. Resurrection. Redemption. But above all... family. All et to music you can really tap your toe to. It isn't some meandering piece of genre dreck. it's epic"
The two woman behind the muse were slowly moving towards the stake.
Calliope "Ant that, well, that is my bag of tea"
Suddenly the girl behind her hit the muse in the head with a book "taste that"
I dropped to the ground.
The muse turned to Ms. Chandler who kicked the stake over to me. I stabbed the muse in the back and she gasped out.
The muse exploded in purple goo.
--
I walked backstage and saw the actors all stepping on stage. Looks like the final act.
Dean looked at me "hey, you okay?"
I nodded and hugged him "Yeah"
Dean "got me worried there for a second"
Me "Well, it wasn't the scarecrow i had to fight off so..."
Dean nodded.
We looked at the stage. The actors who played Sam and Dean were in the fake Impala.
Sam "you know what? you were right. staying cooped up isn't helping us. We need-"
Marie spoke in her role "We need to be back on the rod, Dean..doing what we do best"
Sam "what is that?"
The girl playing Dean said "i don't know anymore"
Dean "it's the, uh, BM scene"
the girl Dean "saving people. Hunting things"
Sam asked confused "the burning- mother scene?"
Dean hissed "no, shh. just listen"
Marie "this is family business"
Girl Dean "You're right, Sammy. Out on the road. Just the two of us"
Marie "the two of us against the world"
Sam "what she said"
I smiled a little.
Suddenly the actor playing Mary stepped on stage and sang "Carry on my wayward son. For there'll be peace when you are done. "
"Cass " joined her singing "Lay your weary head to rest. Don't you cry no more"
"Bobby" who was still in the wheelchair but stood up again and "Elena" showed up singing "Once I rose above the noise and confusion. Just to get a glimpse beyond the illusion"
Suddenly a boy showed up singing "I was soaring ever higher, but I flew too high. "
Sam asked confused "who's that?"
Maeve "oh that's Adam, John Winchester's other kid. He's still trapped in a cage in hell with Lucifer. "
I whispered "oh shit"
Suddenly every actor on stage started singing "Masquerading as a man with a reason. My charade is the event of the season. And if I claim to be a wise man, it surely means that I don't know. On a stormy sea of moving emotion. Tossed about I'm like a ship on the ocean."
"Elena " moved over to "Dean" and took his hand. I smiled when i felt Dean grab my hand and i leaned a bit against him. I could feel him give me a kiss on the head before looking at the stage.
I smiled and sang quietly "Carry on my wayward son. For there'll be peace when you are done. Lay your weary head to rest. Don't you cry no more. "
Everyone clapped.
I smiled.