“Ari?” Dean said into her ear.
“Dean I saw him he is over there by the trees,” she said as she grabbed his arm.  He looked in the direction she pointed but saw no one.
Those who had gathered looked also but there was only a tree to be seen.  She looked wildly around, but did not see what she had seen originally then she felt stupid.  People had begun to stare.  Dean led her to the seat and everyone settled down again.  The service began but Ari looked at Dean, “You believe me right?”
He nodded as he squeezed her hand.  What could he say?  No Sweetie you are losing your mind.
 
    Afterward she and Dean sat still while those well-wishers who had not spoke with her earlier came by to say something.  Dean felt it was the longest day of his life.  Part of loving is sacrifice, he thought.  He could do this for her; she needed his compassion not just his passion.  When everyone had gone they still sat quietly by her mother’s grave.  Ari had begun to cry again once the last car had driven away.  Dean stroked her hair as he allowed her to cry on his shoulder.
“It’s okay we are on no hurry,” he said in her ear.
Suddenly the wind picked up to swirl the roses around that lay on top of the dirt that had been placed on the casket.  Ari looked up and couldn’t believe it.
“Dad?”
The ghost of her father stood in front of them, he looked the same as the last time she had seen him when he was buried.  Dean did not see him but he did believe that she did so he kept silent.
“I’m sorry,” was all her father said before he faded away.
After a minute Ari seemed calmer.
“He is gone.  He said he was sorry, that’s it,” she said as she stood to indicate she was ready to go.
“If you are not done we can stay longer,” Dean volunteered.
“No, I’m good.  Thank you for your patience,” she said as she took his hand so they could go to the car. 

    Neither had seen the shadow behind the tree as it watched them during the service or after the crowd had gone.  It stood now as it glared.  When it stepped out into the open it looked as if it was a beautiful woman.  Its hair was long and beautifully red.  The eyes though green were marred by the spirit that possessed it.  Not only had Dean been patient but this being was infinitely more patient.  The time schedule that was its guide was marked open to changes. 
“Poor Ann, if your husband had not been greedy you could have lived a full life,” it said over the grave where it picked up the roses only to crush the tender petals in its hand. 
Anyone watching would have assumed she was just another mourner wandering the cemetery. 
“Now your daughter’s time is limited too, the Winchesters can’t keep me from what is due me.”

    The first few days after Ann’s death Amber had slept with her mom at night. But the little girl believed in her independence and soon went back to her own bed.  Dean had suggested he sleep on the sofa because of Amber but Ari insisted it was okay. 
“Do you think I am being selfish?” Ari asked as Dean stood at the door after his shower.
“What do you mean?”
“Having you in her with me?  It’s a bad example right?”
“It’s your decision.  I am no moral compass for anyone.  I am not going to judge your decision.”
“Just enjoy it?”
“Absolutely,” he grinned. 
“Compromise, you can visit me but sleep on the sofa afterward,” she had said.
“So you want to have your cake and eat it too?” he teased.
“Absolutely.”

    So that was how the bedroom arrangements worked.  Though Sam and Dean switched sofa and guest bedroom every few nights.  After the funeral the boys had to decide what they were going to do.
“Dean I know you are attached to Ari but we need to get back to our lives,” Sam said as he sat on the floor by the sofa. 
Ari and Amber were already asleep for the night as the two spoken in low tones.
“That is all I have been able to think about, Sam.  First we need to get the interviews done before those people leave in the next couple of days.”
“So after this weekend we will decide something okay?”
Dean nodded.

***

    The two interviews they had set up were with former ministers who were friends of Ari’s father.  The first one was a seventy-year old Caucasian man who lived in Chicago.  They met him at the restaurant of the hotel where he was staying.
“Mr. Harris?” Dean asked as he walked up to the older man who was waiting for them at a table outside on the patio.
He was a tall man who wore khaki’s, a white shirt with suspenders and a wide brimmed hat.
“Nice hotel,” Sam said with a smile.
“It worked for my purposes,” Mr. Harris said.
“We need to ask some question about Reverend Darren Mayfield.  They may sound rather odd but it is important that you tell us what you remember,” Sam said.
“Okay, young man, I will do my best.”
“Mrs. Mayfield, mentioned that when her husband returned from a retreat ….”
“Wait what is this about?” the man asked suddenly uncomfortable with the mention of Ann.
“It’s about a retreat that you and several ministers attended several years ago,” Dean said as he noticed the older man stand up.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t know that is what you wanted to discuss,” he said as he looked around the area as though he thought someone might attack him. He had begun to sweat and he wiped his brow with his hand.
“Please, Mr. Harris, we need your help,” Sam insisted.
“What I can tell you is that you need to leave this alone,” he said as he walked hurriedly from the patio.
Sam shook his head, “That did not go well.”
“I just hope he doesn’t phone our other contact,” Dean said as they left the hotel.
Neither of them saw the red head follow the older man of the stairs.

    Once outside Sam hesitated to get in the car, then pain shot through his skull as he grabbed his head.  Flashes went through his mind, there was blood, or something red.  Then a man on the floor with a mark on his arm.  A lady laughing as she left a room.
“Sam, what’s the hold up?” Dean said since he saw Sam through the window as he stood by the door.
“We got to go back inside Mr. Harris in trouble,” he said as he raced around to the back of the car.
He hurriedly explained to Dean, while they grabbed the weapons and hoped it wasn’t too late.
 
    On the way back inside, they ran into Mr. Harris at the check in desk.  He told them he had forgotten his key inside the room.  They laughed with him for a moment.  Sam took a deep breath as the guided the older gentleman over to some chairs in the lobby. 
“Mr. Harris, I don’t know how to explain but I think you are in danger.”
The man shook his head.  “What do you mean?”
Dean told him about Sam’s visions just to make things simple to understand, Mr. Harris nodded after he finished explaining. 
“Do they always come true?” he asked as though he found the idea of visions fascinating.
“They do if I cannot prevent them.”
“Have you ever prevented a vision only for something worse to happen?”
Sam and Dean looked at one another.
"Not as far as I know."
“That is because things happen for a reason.   Even if you save me today who is to say something worse will not happen tomorrow?”
They couldn’t argue with the old man.  He thanked them for trying to help him as he went off to his room and possible death.

    They were silent in the car as the thought about the words of Mr. Harris.
Sam looked over at Dean’s determined expression.
“Do you think he is right?”
“No.  The reason is because we kill the things that we go after so that they cannot come back to harm anyone.”
“But okay say we save someone like …..”
”We cannot force anyone to let us help them but those that do trust us we have to do our best for them, enough said.”

    The next person they spoke with was a deaconess the one of the only two females that had gone on the infamous retreat.  She met them at the diner not far from her hotel. She waved to them as they came in the door. The place was almost empty which suited them considering the discussion they planned to have.
“Hi, Mrs. Jenkins?”
“Yes, that’s me.  Have a seat,” she said with a broad grin. 
She was a bit round but had a cheery brown face, that Sam liked right away.  It reminded him of a plumper version of Missouri.  He remembered he had meant to call her since he knew she worried about them.  He sat down near her and let Dean have the seat across him at the table.
“Our questions may sound odd or out of place but we are trying to find out about the retreat that you attended several years back with Mr.Mayfield and a few others.”
She pursed her lips and they thought she might bolt from the table but she didn’t.

“First of all it was not a retreat.  You know I heard you asking to talk with old associates of Darren's and I had a strange feeling it was about that incident.”
“Can you help us?  If you were there then you know that …..”
“I saw you with Ari, young man, I hope you plan on keeping her safe. She is a sweet girl and her daughter is just precious.”
“I plan to do whatever I can to help her,” Dean said as he cleared his throat.
No need for him to go into the fact that he had no desire to walk away from Ari, now or ever.
She sighed as she held her hands in her lap.
“What I know is I wish I had never gone that is for certain,” she looked around to be sure no one else was near them.
The diner remained mostly deserted, only a few customer near the other end by the door.  The waitress walked up a second later with assumption they needed her help.
“Coffee?”
They all nodded just to get it out of the way.
With the steaming mugs in front of them, Dean and Sam listened to her talk about that weekend.
 
    She shared it was not what they all said that it was to begin with.  Some of the young pastors and a couple of ladies, including her had gone.  The weekend they had was something out of Skull and Bones.  They talked and played like children.  It was debauchery at its most intense, she confessed.  There was nothing spiritual about it.  They were drunk on their freedom.  Freedom from spouses and significant others, all because they knew no one would tell a soul.  She imagined it was that way with the children of  Israel as they waited for Moses to come down from the mountain, they grew impatient with waiting and fell into sin.  The thought of it always made her ashamed. 

    Sam handed her a napkin to wipe her tears.  He felt bad that she had to relive that time that obviously had been completely kept secret from those who did not attend.
“So was there some kind of deal with the devil?” Dean asked.
“The billion dollar question,” she said before she blew her nose.
“We thought it was a joke.  A morbid ending to our time of immorality,” she said in a whisper.
“But it did take place some sort of exchange for each of you?”
“Each one of us took turns in the ritual.  And we were never to speak of it again, it was all so cloak and dagger.”
Dean nodded.  He had no idea how he was going to tell Ari or if he should. 
“Now that several have died do you think their deaths have anything to do with that weekend?”
“Oh because at least two of the people kept telling me they were hearing the sounds of dog’s barking, but when they looked around they were alone?  I thought they were losing it, totally going bonkers,”
Sam nodded.  She shrugged. She thought they may have felt guilty after all those years until she did some research. 
“I found all kinds of things about deals and devils but one thing stood out and that was hell hounds,” she informed them.
Dean and Sam looked at her, maybe they had found an ally.

    When they returned to Ari’s that night she sat in front of television sound asleep with Amber on her lap.  Dean wanted to cover them up but Sam thought they should wake them so they could get a good night sleep.  Dean rolled his eyes at his little brother as he went upstairs to the guest room.
“Ari, honey wake up,” Dean said as she lightly shook her.
“Hey, you made it finally,” she said as she adjusted Amber in her lap.
“Wake up sleepyhead,” she said to her daughter.
Dean picked up the little girl so Ari could get up to take her in the room.  He sat down and flipped the channels on the remote.  There wasn’t anything on so he went to the kitchen for a beer, but something on the kitchen table caught his attention.

    There was a letter with a flyer on top of it.
HAVE YOU SEEN THIS MAN?  The picture was of him plus an article about the killings.  He turned the envelope over to see who had sent it, but there was no name.  Dean looked up to see Ari stood in the door.  She did not say a word as she came into the kitchen to have a seat.  They only looked at one another for several moments.  He could see the hurt in her eyes and it frightened him.  This can’t be happening.

“I don’t usually get a sense about people, but I use the stereotypical method of judging, generally.  You know the way they walk, talk, dress or speak.  I rarely go to bars at all that one were you met me, I can count on one hand the times I had gone before that night….
Dean interrupted, “Ari…”
She put her hand up.
“I had talked to Rick a few times, dance with him but that is it, nothing more.  But you, I fell for you despite your arrogant walk, they way you wore the desire to get laid on your face, it didn’t matter.  I had a good feeling about you.”
She pursed her lips.
“I trusted you, can you tell me that I believed a lie?”


TBC