𝐱𝐱𝐢𝐯
( 𝗄𝗂𝗅𝗅𝖾𝗋 𝗍𝗋𝗎𝖼𝗄 )
𝖼𝗈𝗇𝗍𝗂𝗇𝗎𝖾 𝗈𝖿 1𝗑13 - 𝗿𝗼𝘂𝘁𝗲 666
▬▬▬ BACK IN THE HOTEL, Sam and Elena were researching.
"What do you think Dean is doing?"
"Well, knowing he's with Cassie right now, something we don't want to know."
Elena went into deep thought then made a disgusted face. Sam laughed at her.
"So remember earlier you were talking about the ball you had in your hometown?"
"Yeah?"
"You seemed like someone who wouldn't go to dances or in your case, a ball." Sam says.
"Yeah, I went with uh, my boyfriend at the time and friends too." Elena looked nervous telling Sam about that day, she promised herself that she would hopefully forget about it.
"Oh? You had a boyfriend and friends, then you decided to drop everything and leave?"
"It's okay to love them both. I did. If you think this isn't okay, I suggest you leave and never come back here Elena." Katherine's voice went to Elena's mind.
"It's a long story Sam."
"I have time." Sam checks his watch, "Dean won't be back till who knows when."
✫☆✫
Dean lies on his back, his arm around Cassie tucked against his side.
"We should fight more often."
Dean stares at the roof, absentmindedly running his fingers up and down Cassie's arm, "Absolutely."
"Actually we were always pretty good at fighting. This we were good at. It's all the other stuff, not so much."
"Hey I tried. I told you who I really was. That was a big first for me."
"Why'd you tell me?"
"I don't know. I guess I couldn't lie to you."
"Dean. You told me that story it scared the hell out of me. I thought you were nuts. Dangerous even. Actually, maybe I was looking for a reason to walk away."
"In my work, uh, I see some horrible things. Things that can't be explained. I deal with them. But working things out with you?"
"I'm a scary one all right, well, usually things get worked out. When you really want them to."
Dean hesitates, "You know, I'm still really involved. With my dad's work."
Cassie leans up on one elbow to look down at Dean, "No more excuses ok? From you or me."
"Ok."
They start kissing. Dean's phone rings and he reaches for it.
"Yeah."
Dean listens and looks startled, "You're kidding!"
✫☆✫
It is snowing. Dean approaches Sam and Elena, Sam is talking to a cop.
Sam puts away some sort of id, "He's with us."
The cop leaves. Sam and Elena turn to Dean with a half smile.
"Where were you last night? You didn't make it back to the hotel." Elena asks.
"Well."
"I'm guessing you guys worked things out?" Sam questioned.
"We'll be working things out when we're ninety. So what happened?"
"Every bone crushed. Internal organ's turned to pudding. The cops are all stumped, it's like something ran him over."
"Something like a truck?" Dean questions.
"Yep." Elena replied.
"Tracks?"
"Nope."
"What was the Mayor doing here anyway?"
"He owned the property. Bought it a few weeks ago."
"But he's white, he doesn't fit the pattern."
"Killings didn't happen up on the road. That doesn't fit either."
✫☆✫
At a newspaper office, Cassie makes two mugs of tea and takes them over to where Dean sits at a computer.
"Here."
"Thanks. So I'm trying to find some link between those killings back in the '60s and what's going on now. There wasn't a lot about it in the paper."
"Not surprising. Probably minimal policework too. Back then equal justice under the law wasn't too literal around here."
Dean's phone rings, "Yeah."
Elena is on the other line, "Ok, the courthouse records show that Mr and Mrs Mayor bought an abandoned property. The previous owner was the Dorian family for, like, 150 years."
"Dorian?"
"Yeah."
Dean turns to Cassie, "Didn't you say the Dorian family used to own this paper?"
Cassie nods, "Along with everything else around here. Real pillars of the town."
"Right, right."
Dean clicks a few links on the computer.
"That's interesting."
"What?"
"This Cyrus Dorian. He vanished in April of '63.The case was investigated but never solved. It was right around the time the string of murders was going on back then."
"Well, Sam and I pulled a bunch of papers up on the Dorian place, it must of been in bad shape when the Mayor bought."
"Why's that?"
"The first thing he did was bulldoze the place."
"Mayor Todd knocked down the Dorian place?"
"It was a big deal. One of the oldest houses left. He made the front page." Cassie says.
"You guys find a date?"
"The third of last month."
Dean reads from computer screen, "Mayor Todd bulldozed the Dorian family home on the 3rd. The first killing was the very next day."
✫☆✫
Elena and the brothers are at Cassie's house, Sam hands Cassie a cup of tea. Dean sits beside her protectively.
"You didn't see who was driving the truck?" Elena asked.
"It seemed to be no one. Everything was moving so fast. And then it was just gone. Why didn't it kill us?"
"Whoever was controlling the truck wants you afraid first." Dean says.
"Mrs Robinson, Cassie said that your husband saw the truck before he died."
Mrs. Robinson is shaking.
"Mom?"
"Oh. Martin was under a lot of stress. You can't be sure about what he was seeing."
"Well after tonight I think we can be reasonably sure he was seeing a truck. What happened tonight, you and Cassie are marked. Ok? Your daughter could die. So if you know something now would be a really good time to tell us about it."
"Dean."
"Yes. Yes, he said he saw a truck."
"Did he know who it belonged to?" Sam questioned.
"He thought he did."
"Who was that?"
"Cyrus. A man named Cyrus."
Sam, Dean, and Elena all looked at each other, Dean reaches for his bag and shows Mrs. Robinson the newspaper article about Dorian's death.
"Is this Cyrus?"
"Cyrus Dorian died more than 40 years ago."
"How do you know he died, Mrs Robinson? The paper's said he went missing. How do you know he died?" Dean softly asks.
"We were all very young. I dated Cyrus a while, I was also seeing Martin, in secret of course. Inter-racial couples didn't go over too well back then. When I broke it off with Cyrus and when he found out about Martin, I don't know, he, changed. His hatred. His hatred was frightening. "
"The murders." Elena says.
"There were rumours. People of colour disappearing into some kind of a truck. Nothing was ever done. Martin and I, we were going to be, uh, married in that little church near here, but last minute we decided to elope as we didn't want the attention."
"And Cyrus?"
Mrs. Robinson breaks down, "The day we set for the wedding, was the day someone set fire to the church. There was a children's choir practising in there. They all died. "
"Did the attacks stop after that?" Sam asks.
"No! There was one more. One night that truck came for Martin. Cyrus beat him something terrible. But Martin, you see, Martin got loose. And he started hitting Cyrus and he just kept hitting him and hitting him."
"Why didn't you call the cops?"
"This was forty years ago. He called on his friends, Clayton Soames and Jimmy Anderson, and they put Cyrus' body into the truck and they rolled it into the swamp at the end of his land and all three of them kept that secret all of these years."
"And now all three are gone."
"And so is Mayor Todd. Now he said that you of all people would know he is not a racist. Why would he say that?"
"He was a good man. He was a young deputy back then investigating Cyrus' disappearence. Once he figured out what Martin and the others had done, he did nothing, because he also knew what Cyrus had done."
"Why didn't you tell me?" Cassie looked upset.
"I thought I was protecting them. And now there's no one left to protect."
"Yes there is." Dean looks at Cassie. So does Mrs. Robinson.
✫☆✫
It was late at night, Sam leans against impala, Dean walks up and down while Elena is pondering.
"Ah, my life was so simple. Just school, exams, papers on polycentric cultural norms."
"So I guess I saved you from a boring existence."
"Yeah, occasionally I miss boring."
"So this killer truck." Elena starts.
"I miss conversations that didn't start with 'this killer truck'."
Elena rolls her eyes, "Well this Cyrus guy. Evil on a level that infected even his truck. When he died, the swamp became his tomb, and his spirit was dormant for forty years."
"So what woke it up?" Sam questions.
"The construction on his house. Or the destruction." Dean answers.
"Right. Demolition or remodelling can awaken spirits, make them restless."
"Yep."
"Like that theatre in Illinois, you know?"
"And the guy that tore down the family homestead, Harold Todd, is the same guy that kept Cyrus' murder quiet and unsolved." Dean says.
"So now his spirit is awakened and out for blood."
"Yeah I guess. Who knows what ghosts are thinking anyway."
"You know we're going to have to dredge that body up from the swamp right."
Dean smiles at Sam.
"Man."
"You said it."
"Yeah."
Cassie approaches from the house. Dean stands.
"Hey."
"Hey. She's asleep. Now what?"
"Well you should stay put and look after her, and we'll be back. Don't leave the house." Dean ordered.
Cassie smilies, "Don't go getting all authoritative on me. I hate it."
Dean glances behind him to Sam and Elena. Elena looks down, grinning, so does Sam.
"Don't leave the house please?" Dean mumbles.
Cassie blinks slowly at Dean and he leans in to kiss her, smiling.
Elena glances over, grinning at them making out, and clears her throat. Dean keeps kissing Cassie, holding one finger back at Elena to wait.
Dean breaks his kiss, "You guys coming or what?"
Sam and Elena stared at each other whether or not wanting to laugh.
✫☆✫
They arrived at the Dorian property.
"Alright. Let's get her up."
Dean is at the wheel of a tractor. He backs it up, pulling a truck from the water.
"Alright. A little more. Little more. All right, stop." Sam says.
Dean turns off the engine and jumps down.
"Huh, you guys could be farmers instead of hunting." Elena says.
"Well being a farmer doesn't save lives." Sam says.
Dean moves to the trunk of the impala, "Hell yeah."
"Now I know what she sees in you." Elena says.
Dean is rummaging among the weapons, "What?"
"Come on! You can admit it. You're still in love with her."
"Can we focus please?"
"Dean don't deny it." Sam says.
Dean handles Sam something from the trunk, "Hold that."
"Alright. What am I getting?"
"Gas. Flashlight." Dean says.
"Got it. got it."
"Ok, let's get this done."
"What the hell am I supposed to do? Stand by and watch?" Elena asks.
"Basically." Dean said, he lowers the trunk of the impala, "Got it."
The three move toward the door of the truck, glance at each other. Dean opens it. A decayed body falls out.
"What the hell!" Elena screams.
"All right let's get to it."
The brothers salt and burn the body and stand watching.
"Think that'll do it?" Sam asked.
The ghost truck appears, headlights come on and engine reving.
"I guess not." Dean says.
✫☆✫
Elena looked at the truck like if it was about to talk them, "So burning the body had no effect on that thing?"
"Sure it did. Now it's really pissed." Dean says.
"But Cyrus' ghost is gone, right Dean?" Sam asked.
Dean walks away, "Apparently not the part that's fused with the truck."
"Where you going?" Elena questioned.
"Going for a little ride."
"What!"
"Gonna lead that thing away. That busted piece of crap, you guys gotta burn it."
"How the hell are we supposed to burn a truck Dean?"
"I don't know. Figure something out."
Sam catches a bag that Dean threw at him, "Figure something." He sputters.
Dean reverses the impala and takes off. The ghost truck roars after him. Sam and Elena hid until it has passed. Dean lead the truck on a wild ride through the misty back roads.
Sam's phone rings.
"Hey, you gotta give me a minute."
"I don't have a minute. What are we doing?"
"Let me get back to you." He hangs up.
Sam is on the phone again, "Hey Cassie? Hey, it's Sam, I need some information and it has to be exactly right."
Sam back on the phone with Dean, "Alright, Dean?"
"This better be good!"
"Where are you?"
"In the middle of no where with a killer truck on my ass! It's like it knows I put the torch to Cyrus."
"Listen to me, this is important. I have to know exactly where you are."
"Decatur road, about two miles off the highway."
"Ok. Headed East?"
"Yes! You son of a bitch!"
"Ok, turn right! Up ahead, turn right."
Dean swings right, the truck follows, both engines screaming and revving.
"You make the turn?"
"Yeah I made the turn! You need to move this thing along a little faster."
"You see a road up ahead?"
"No! Wait. No, yes, I see it."
"Ok, Turn left."
"Alright, now what?"
"You need to go seven tenths of a mile and then stop."
"Stop?"
"Exactly seven tenths Dean."
"Seven tenths, seven tenths." At the right moment Dean spins the car around and moves it back to sit exactly where Sam advised, facing back the way he had come. He is between two posts on each side of the road and the last remains of a wall, almost totally broken down. The ghost truck appears back down the road he came down, revving it's engine.
"Dean, you still there?"
"Yeah."
"What's happening?"
"It's just staring at me, what do I do?"
"Just what you are doing, bringing it to you."
The truck spins it's tyres and comes barreling toward the impala. Dean watches it come, hanging tightly to the impala's steering wheel.
"Come on Come on."
As it reaches him he closes his eyes and hangs on tight. The truck roars through him, disintegrating into nothing as it does so. Dean opens his eyes and stares at the now empty road in front of him. All that can be heard is the purring of the Impala's engine, the truck's revving having completely disappeared. Dean twists quickly to look behind and sees nothing.
"Dean. You still there? Dean?"
"Where'd it go?"
"Dean, you're where the church was."
"What church!"
"The place Cyrus burned down. Murdered all those kids."
Dean looks at the posts left on the side of the road, "There's not a whole lot left."
"Church ground is hallowed ground, whether the church is still there or not. Evil spirits cross over hallowed ground, sometimes they're destroyed, so I figured, maybe, that would get rid of it."
"Maybe? Maybe? What if you were wrong?"
"Huh. Honestly that thought hadn't occurred to me."
Dean stares at his phone, then hangs up and mimics Sam, "Well it honestly didn't occur to me." He slaps the wheel, "I'm gonna kill him."
✫☆✫
At the dock, Dean and Cassie walk toward the impala, Sam is already in the driver's seat and Elena in the back seat.
"My mother says to tell you thanks again." Cassie says.
Dean nods and they come to a stop beside the impala, facing each other.
"This is a better goodbye than last time."
"Yeah well maybe this time it will be a little less permanent."
"You know what? I'm a realist. I don't see much hope for us Dean."
"Well I've seen stranger things happen. A hell of a lot stranger."
"Well, I hope you treat her right."
"What?"
"Yeah, you and Elena."
"I told you we are not dating."
"Yeah but who's knows, goodbye Dean."
"I'll see you Cassie, I will." They kiss, and stare into each others eyes. Dean then gets in the car, Sam and Elena waved and the impala takes off.
✫☆✫
Dean stares out the window while Sam drives. Elena is sleeping in the back, she has headphones on.
"I like her." Sam says.
"Yeah."
"You meet someone like her, doesn't it makes you wonder if it's worth it? Putting everything else on hold, doing what we do?"
"Huh."
"You know, Elena told me the rest of her story of her ball."
"She did?"
"Yeah, apparently she had a boyfriend and a lot of friends, but the thing is why did she leave it all behind?"
"Who knows? Maybe she dreamed of living in California but we dragged her with us?"
"Maybe." Dean looks at Sam for a long moment. He slouches down in the seat with a sigh. Sam shakes his head and looks back at the long straight road.