Author's Note: And here it is... the final chapter. Thanks so much to PsychoPicasso, new21writer, julefor, emebalia, Colby's girl, Wunjo, DWMutt, snseriesfan, Eliza Ghost, Hasmik Aharonyan, Supernaturalfreak, and NewbieOnTheBlock for their awesome reviews. You guys are the best.

Chapter Twelve: Happy Halloween

Dean pressed down on the machete as he shifted to the left. He felt the creature's sharp nails dig deep into his skin just under his bandaged ribs. It hurt like all hell to have the claws inside of his body, but he was pretty sure that he'd avoided puncturing anything vital. The Harvester, on the other hand, was now missing its head.

Dean took a moment to focus on his breathing, trying to fight past the pain. He knew better than to move before pulling the clawed fingers free from his flesh. If he didn't, he'd tear his entire side open. And he really wanted to live long enough to get back to the motel and give Sam a hard time about all of this.

Sam. He had to be okay now, right? That thought prompted Dean to get moving. He grasped the Harvester's limp hand and pulled the dagger-like nails out of his side, trying to guide them straight out to minimize damage. Once freed from the dead creature, Dean rolled off the Harvester and onto his back. After a moment he sat up, keeping his hand pressed to the bleeding wounds. They were nowhere near as bad as they could've been, but it still hurt like a bitch. The hunter let out a tiny moan as he struggled to his feet. He looked down at himself and saw shallow cuts that ran from the spot on his stomach where the Harvester had originally dug his claws in, all the way to the five deep puncture wounds on his side. He was a mess, but he'd live.

Dean took a moment to finally look around the room. Like the other hospital storage spaces, it was painted white and adequately lit. But unlike the other rooms, there were symbols painted in blood all over the walls. Dean felt bad for the janitor who'd eventually have to clean the place up. In the center of the room was a table that was covered in lit candles that surrounded a huge jack o'lantern. Strange blue light spilled from its eyes and mouth. Dean was about to go over to investigate when he saw something out of the corner of his eye.

He spun around and saw the Harvester's eyes blink and its mouth open and closed as though speaking. But no sound came out. Yet the decapitated thing looked way too smug for a creature that had just had its head hacked off. Dean stepped over to the grotesque thing and stared down at it.

"Dude, I don't know what you're smiling about, but you just lost." The mouth opened wider and if Dean didn't know better he'd swear the thing was laughing at him. Then the blue glow from the jack o'lantern on the table intensified, lighting up the room. And Dean understood. The ritual had not been stopped.

The hunter looked between the head and the table. He figured he only had time to make one more move. He could pick up the machete and hack the head to tiny pieces, thus killing the Harvester of Souls. Or he could turn over the table and try to destroy the strange alter. He was sure that one of those actions would stop the ritual but which one? There was a chance that the death of the Harvester might not solve the problem, but the same could be said about destroying the alter. Dean had to make a decision and make it fast.

Then he heard something. Ever since entering the room, there had been some sort of background noise that he'd ignored because he'd bee slightly preoccupied. But now, as he concentrated, he could make out what sounded like distant screams. They were filled with fear. But that wasn't what caught his attention the most. One of the voices wasn't screaming in mindless terror. It was calling out a name. His name. And Dean would recognize that voice anywhere.

"Sammy?" He looked around the room. No one else was there. But then he realized where the cries were coming from. Dean turned to stare at the decapitated head of the Harvester. "The pumpkin? You were keeping their souls inside the pumpkin? That's kinda gay, dude."

Dean walked over to the table. He heard his brother's call get louder. He reached out and laid a hand on the gigantic pumpkin. It was warm.

"I'm here Sammy." This time when the voice called out his name, Dean swore the voice was tinged with relief. The hunter knew that he had to get the souls out of there quickly.

He reached over and grasped the stem, prepared to lift the top off. Then he hesitated. While he was certain that this would free the souls, Dean wasn't sure if they would return to their bodies or just move on into whatever the afterlife had planned for them. But anything was better than being consumed by a monster, right? So, he yanked the top off of the jack o'lantern.

Blue light shot out of the top of the pumpkin and rushed past him and out the door. It was over in seconds and then the door slammed shut.

Dean blinked his eyes to clear the spots burned into his retinas by the brilliant glow. After a moment, his vision was back to normal and he turned his attention back to his beheaded foe. Now the head was scowling at him, a look of pure hatred written across its gruesome features.

"Sorry to ruin your dinner plans, but you should've just stuck with trick or treating for Halloween." With that, Dean picked up the machete and hacked the Harvester of Souls' head to pieces. Then he took two steps towards the door and collapsed onto the ground from the pain and exhaustion.

Dean awoke to the sound of his cell phone ringing. With a groan, he rolled onto his back and wondered why the bed was so hard and cold. He also was curious as to why he'd fallen asleep with his phone still in his pocket. Dean pulled it out and answered it without even opening his eyes.

"Hello?"

"Dean?"

"Sammy?" And that's when everything came back to him. Dean sat up with a start, ignoring the fresh burst of pain that shot through his side. "Sam, are you okay?"

"I'm fine. What about you? I've been trying to call you for over an hour. Where are you? What happened?"

"I'm heading back now. We'll talk when I get there." Dean hung up the phone and let out a sigh of relief. Sam was safe. His brother's soul had returned to his body and he was going to be okay. A happy ending to a crappy job.

Dean got to his feet and left the storage room. He made a pit stop in storage room two to grab some bandages and quickly wrap up the deep puncture wounds that the Harvester's nails had caused. Then the injured hunter crept back up the stairs and slipped through the halls, occasionally ducking into rooms to avoid being seen. Luckily not many people were wandering the halls at one in the morning. Dean managed to make it out a side entrance without being spotted.

When he got into the Impala he was tempted to lay his head back but he remembered that he'd ended up taking a long nap the last time he'd done that and he was anxious to get back to the motel and see that his brother was okay with his own eyes. So he started up the engine and pulled out of the parking lot and onto the road.

Dean parked his car right in front of the door to his and Sam's room. He climbed out of the driver's seat, limped over to door, and rapped loudly on it. When it swung open to reveal Sam standing there looking perfectly fine save for the finger shaped burn marks on his forehead, Dean grinned.

"Trick or treat." He joked.

"I think you ate all our candy already." Sam replied.

As soon as Dean entered the room, his younger brother threw his arms around him and hugged him tight.

"When you didn't answer your phone I assumed the worst." Sam informed him.

"You woke up, coma-boy, so you should've figured that I won." Despite his dismissive words, Dean hugged Sam back. When they stepped apart, the older Winchester could tell that his brother was checking him over for injuries.

"You look like crap, Dean."

"Well, that's gratitude for you." Dean commented. "I save you're ass and you insult my good looks."

"I saved your ass first." Sam shot back.

"Well, my rescue of you was way more impressive."

"Why don't you tell me about it as I patch you up? Again."

Dean sat on his bed and removed his shirt. Sam knelt down next to him and placed the first aid kit on the edge of the mattress. As the younger man worked, Dean filled him in on what had happened. It turned out that Sam had no recollection of anything after the Harvester appeared in the motel room and was surprised to hear that his disembodied spirit had called out to Dean.

"That's just weird, man."

"Dude, you're telling me? I'm the one that had to hear you girly cry coming from a freakin' gourd."

Sam rolled his eyes. "Seriously though, you think it's all over now?"

"Well, you're awake, so I'm assuming that the other coma patients are fine too. And fugly face got hacked to pieces so I doubt he'll be eating anymore souls. I'd say this job's over."

"Good. I can't say this was one of my favorite cases." Sam put one last piece of medical tape on his older brother's bandages.

"I second that." Dean concurred, flopping back onto the bed as Sam started to clean up the first aid supplies. Despite the pain he was in, he was feeling good. Sam was safe and four other families were probably also celebrating a 'miraculous recovery' of their loved ones. Not bad.

"As soon as you're feeling up to it, we'll hit the road."

"Why the rush, Sammy? I was thinking of sleeping through the rest of this damned holiday."

"Well, you just saved my soul, Dean. Time for me to return the favor."

"Sam, I told you…"

"Yeah, I know. No way out of your deal. But we gotta try, Dean."

Dean groaned, not wanting to get into that argument again.

"Whatever. But I'm still gonna get some sleep. 'Cause some of us didn't go all comatose and sleep through all of the action."

Sam threw a pillow onto his face and Dean laughed before pushing it off the side of the bed and closing his eyes.

"Sleep well, Dean."

"Night, Sam."

"Happy Halloween." Dean could hear the smile in his brother's voice.

"Bite me." Dean responded, then allowed himself to drift off to the sound of his brother's laughter.

Author's Note Part Two: I hope you all enjoyed this little roadtrip. It's been fun and I want to thank you all for the support. And Happy Halloween! I will also be posting a halloween weechesters story today called 'The Winchester Rule of Trick 'r Treating' if anyone is interested, you can go check it out. And I will be starting a new story soon entitled 'Death Wish'. Please take a moment to leave a review and let me know what you thought of this final chapter and the story in general. Thanks so much.