[Fic] "The Harvest Sacrifice"
Sep. 28th, 2016 04:06 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
lux_tuliThe month of September marked the start of the transition from summer to fall. The high heat started to wane until it reached a more moderate level and the beautiful blossoms started to wither until just a shriveled greyish green corpse was all that was left behind. The sun started to rise a little later in the morning and the night fell much earlier, making the day feel all that much shorter.
It was the time of the year that pumpkin started being offered as a flavor for a variety of sweets and other treats made for human consumption again. Of course, Dean’s favorite variety was that of pumpkin pie and he would not dare to eat it without a hefty dollop of whip cream.
Presently, the Winchesters found themselves in rural Pennsylvania. Outside of the major cities, the state was nothing but country.
Sam was struck in amazement by how many roadside stalls there were offering fresh produce. With the time of the year, it was mostly squash, apples, and pumpkin. But the brothers came to the area not to sample the local produce but to investigate a possible case involving people vanishing each year right around the autumnal equinox on the night of the full moon, which was also called the harvest moon.
All were labeled as missing cases since their bodies never showed and all were left unsolved. Missing people was not that strange, it happened everywhere even in the lesser populated regions, and normally it would not elicit their suspicion but what caught their attention was the consistent timing.
That was no mere coincidence.
While Dean was focused on driving, snickering when they passed by strangely named towns like Intercourse, Sam was perusing through the background information on the victims to see if he could find any correlations between them
Unfortunately, no matter how many times Sam re-read the documents, he could not find any connection.
“I have no idea what is going on here,” Sam admitted, growing frustrated by the lack of clues.
“Relax, talking to the locals should give us something.” Dean assured him.
He hoped that his brother was right.
As soon as they donned their FBI cover suits, the two of them dropped by the local police department to dig up the case files on all the missing persons and make some inquiries. A quick game of rock, paper, and scissors determined who would do what. It was almost unfair as Sam won practically every time.
“Hello, boys, what can I help you with?” A gruff older gentleman greeted, leaning against the front desk. His police uniform told them that he was not the receptionist, unless receptionists were packing heat these days. The brothers both flashed their fake badges at the man.
“The Feds? What do you want all the way out here in the boondocks?” The officer’s curiosity is piqued by their presence and looks at them in interest.
“There seems to be a peculiar trend with your missing people, they all disappear around the same time of the year.” Dean informs him. The police officer, who turns out to be the sheriff, does not seem too concerned about the missing people and despite his skepticism of their investigation, he allowed them to view the case files anyways.
While Dean was stuck reviewing the documents, Sam started his line of questions inside the police department before venturing outside. Oddly enough, everyone was unconcerned, just like the sheriff, and were clueless.
“So get this, there’s a monument with all the names of the missing at the center of town. Isn’t that a bit strange?” Sam mentions to Dean when they reunite inside the Impala.
“Yeah, I just got this vibe, you know. The locals know more than what they are letting on.”
The monument, made of stone with the names engraved into it, was seated completely outside. It stood about ten feet tall and at the base there were bouquets of flowers and trinkets. When they arrived, there was already a person there, a young woman with curly blond hair and a pair of thick framed glasses. She was hunched forward, adding white lilies to the collection. Tears were in her eyes and when she turned to face them, she wiped at them with her fingers.
“Yes…?” She said softly, her voice hoarse.
“Sorry to bother you. Did you personally know any of them?” Sam asks gently.
“It’s a small town, everybody knows each other real well unless you’re new to the area.” She wraps her shawl more tightly over her body, covering the pendant that she wore around her neck, though Sam was able to get a brief look at it. It was white and had a figure engraved into it. Looked classical as the style reminded him of the old Greek statues.
“If you would excuse me.” The woman says before she walks away.
They are no further in their investigation than when they started as the two of them sit down at the diner to get a good meal into their stomach. Sam swears that he can almost feel people gazing at the back of his head as he walks by even though the local residents remain polite on the outside. It is almost like something sinister is lurking underneath the surface.
He is unnerved but he puts on a strong face, not wanting to alert anyone that anything was amiss.
“Excuse me, you’re the Feds, aren’t you?” An older man stopped them later in the day on the sidewalk in the small business district. The vibe coming from him is much different than all the others that they have encountered, more open.
Sam supposed that he should not be surprised that news travelled fast in a small town like this. The brothers both looked at each other in mild confusion.
“Yes. Can we help you?” Sam offers. The man looks around.
“Not here. Follow me.” He requests and gets inside a pickup truck. His behavior suspicious but they both oblige in case the man might have information of interest to their case. They are led to a house on a farm and the man welcomes them inside.
“Daddy…?” The young woman from the monument earlier questions in confusion as she looks at the older man then at them.
“Sweetheart, these men can help you. Get you away before the harvest moon.” He urges her.
“No! I can’t just run away! Everyone else will get angry and they will turn on you! I don’t like this either but I have made peace with my fate.” The woman starts bawling.
“Cynthia, no, you’re still so young. You should still have your whole life ahead of you rather than throwing it away for some dumb crops.” The father embraces his daughter, holding onto her tightly.
“Okay, hold on, could you take a step back here and please tell us what’s going on?” Dean raises up his hands.
“The missing people that you are investigating….they’re not missing. They’re dead. Long ago, the mayor of our town made a deal with the goddess Demeter. She would guarantee us a bounty of crop, enough to keep us well fed as well have enough to sell for profit, but in exchange we would have to sacrifice a person to her each year on the night of the harvest moon.” The man relinquishes his hold on Cynthia to address them somberly.
Sam remembers the pagan gods they had encountered in the past, the incident that sticks the most in his mind was the Elysian hotel where the pagans were feasting on humans.
“And this year I was selected to be the tribute.”
“Fucking hell!” Dean curses over how messed up it was
“So, everyone in the town knows?” Sam seeks for confirmation.
“Except for the real young ones, yes.” The man nods.
Cynthia refuses to leave her father behind, no matter how hard he insists and Sam thinks it is pointless to try to change her mind when it was already set. She even refuses to assist in taking down Demeter by acting as bait when he asks, saying that breaking the deal would devastate the town because of how heavily they relied on the crops.
But of course, the Winchesters don’t give up that easily. They were told when the ritual happened, right on the harvest moon, so they conducted a stakeout at her house after making the proper preparations to take down a pagan goddess and follow her when she goes to leave.
Strangely, they are led to a cornfield. At first, both of them think they are at the wrong location but sure enough they find a clearing inside, which they are drawn towards because of light emitting from it. Many of the townspeople are gathered around in a circle, torches in their hands, and inside the center stood Cynthia. Her shawl was gone but the pendant was still around her neck.
Above them, the harvest moon was starting to rise towards it peak. It was a shade of orange that seemed more fitting on a pumpkin.
Demeter appears just as the sheriff is about to plunge a dagger into Cynthia’s chest and Sam is quick on the trigger. He shoots the sheriff’s hand to knock the blade out of his hand so he cannot stab the woman and Dean rushes towards the goddess to kill her with a blade that had been coated in a liquid infused with crushed spelt.
As the goddess’ body crumbles to the ground, the residents of the town turn mad, dropping their torches carelessly which sets the corn on fire, and lunges towards the brothers and Cynthia. There is no sanity left inside their eyes as they are utterly consumed by rage and they have no choice but to defend themselves and the woman that they saved.
As Sam looks down at all the corpses piled on top of each other and the fire spreading in the background, no one ever said that their job was easy.
