Halloween afternoon.
Dean and Sam stood in front of the house, looking at the decorations spread across the yard. Pumpkins sat along the walkway, fake cobwebs covered the porch, and plastic skeletons hung from the trees.
Dean smirked. "Looks like Henry's really getting into Halloween."
Sam smiled. "He always celebrates holidays. Unlike a certain someone who usually sleeps through most of them."
Dean rolled his eyes. "Give me a break, Sammy."
"You really think I'd enjoy dressing up as the same things we spend our lives hunting and then going door to door asking for candy? Besides, we're a little old for trick-or-treating."
Sam chuckled. "It's not really about the candy. We never got to enjoy Halloween as kids."
"Most years we spent it in some motel while Dad was out working a case. By the time we were old enough to go on our own... we were hunting with him."
Dean's smirk faded for a moment. "Yeah... Dad wasn't exactly the 'take your kids trick-or-treating' type."
"A small smile returned. "Still, if I had to pick between free candy and getting chased by vampires, I'd probably take the candy."
Dean pressed the doorbell. A few moments later the front door opened, and the moment Bela recognized the Winchester brothers, the faint smile on her face disappeared.
"Well, Bela, how are—"
Dean never got to finish. Without a word, Bela began closing the door in their faces. Dean reacted instantly, sliding his boot into the doorway before it could shut.
"Hey, what the hell? Why are you closing the door?"
Bela looked at him with complete indifference. "Because every time you two show up, trouble comes with you. I'd rather not have my Halloween ruined, so do everyone a favor and come back after it's over."
Dean let out an exasperated sigh while Sam stepped forward. "Bela, we're serious. This whole town could turn into a disaster tonight if we don't stop what's coming."
She folded her arms, unconvinced. "And why, exactly, should I believe that?"
"Because something very dangerous is going to happen," Sam replied, meeting her gaze. "We're not here to drag you into trouble. We're trying to stop it before anyone else gets hurt."
Bela glanced down at Dean's boot still wedged in the doorway before looking back at the brothers. "Forcing your way into someone's house is a rather strange way of asking for help."
After a few seconds she let out an annoyed sigh and stepped aside. "Fine. Get in."
Dean and Sam walked inside. Dean glanced at Bela. "Since when did this become your house? Last time I checked, this was Henry's place."
Bela closed the door and shrugged. "Don't get caught up in the small details."
Dean narrowed his eyes but let it go. "So... where's the man of the house?"
Before Bela could answer, footsteps echoed from the hallway. Henry walked in carrying a basket full of freshly folded clothes.
The moment Dean and Sam saw him, both froze. A pin-drop silence filled the room.
Henry looked from Dean to Sam, then down at the basket in his hands, then back up. "This is your imagination."
The silence somehow became even more awkward.
Dean stared at him for a long moment. "...I don't even know what I'm looking at."
"You've finally lost your grip on reality."
Sam rubbed the back of his neck. "I was expecting pretty much anything except this."
Henry shifted the basket. "People wear clothes. Clothes get dirty. They need washing. It's not exactly a mystery."
Dean let out a short laugh. "No, the laundry isn't the weird part. You are."
Bela leaned against the wall, looking thoroughly entertained. "I told you they'd react like this."
Henry sighed. "Have you two finished?"
Dean's amusement faded as he remembered why they had come. "Yeah. We've got a case, and it's a bad one."
Henry's expression grew serious. "What happened?"
"A witch is trying to summon Samhain tonight," Sam said. "Castiel says she's already completed two sacrifices. If she finishes the third, another Seal breaks."
Dean folded his arms. "And if we don't stop her before nightfall, the angels are planning to wipe this entire town off the map."
Henry stared at the brothers for a moment.
"...What the heck?"
Samhain. Another Seal. He had genuinely thought this town would be peaceful for once. First a hex bag, then Halloween murders, and now a demon tied to another Seal.
Is there seriously nowhere on Earth where a man can take a break for a month without the apocalypse showing up?
He let out a long sigh before turning toward Bela. "Let Madison know you two can celebrate Halloween without me tonight." He picked up his jacket from the couch. "I've got a witch to find..." A grim smile crossed his face. "...and burn alive."
***
A few minutes later, Henry climbed into the Impala as Dean pulled away from the house. "Any leads on this witch?"
Dean nodded, keeping his eyes on the road. "We've got one. Her name's Tracy. We talked to Don Harding, the art teacher at her academy."
Sam picked up the file from the dashboard. "According to Harding, Tracy nearly clawed his eyes out after he told her her artwork was inappropriate. He said she filled pages with cryptic symbols and violent drawings — in every one of them she was taking part in ritual killings."
Henry frowned. "So Tracy's the witch."
"Looks that way. Only problem," Dean added, "she's disappeared. We don't have a current location."
Henry leaned back in his seat and looked out the window as the Impala sped down the road. "Then we've got one job before nightfall. Find the witch and kill her before she can complete the final sacrifice."
*****
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