John Winchester didn't watch horror movies. He barely watched movies at all, but he avoided horror in every way possible. Yet, she tried to convince him as she sat cross-legged on top of her bed in the latest motel room.
"Real life is scary enough," he told her.
"True," she said, "but if you find the right kind of horror movie, it can actually be an escape from our lives."
"How?"
"We know how to kill everything, John."
"Mostly."
"We can watch a horror film and laugh at how bad it is, because it won't scare us."
John bobbed his head from side to side, thinking over what she said.
"There's a video store down the street," she said, "the room actually has a VCR, and we don't have a case to run off to."
He stared at her as he grabbed his jacket.
"Just one movie," he said.
"Just one." She smiled at the little victory.
John came back and held up the box.
"The Ring," he said. "The kid at the rental place suggested it. Ever see it?"
"Nope. Not yet. I've heard it's scary."
He threw his jacket onto his bed and popped the video tape into the VCR. After he grabbed the remote, he sat next to her on her bed. He had one leg stretched out, and one leg off the bed with his foot on the floor. They both leaned back against the headboard.
"Ready?" he asked.
"Ready."
The two of them rolled their eyes and laughed here and there. John actually seemed to be enjoying himself, and she couldn't stop smiling... until the movie showed what was on the cursed video tape. It was a series of weird images. One thing in particular made her shift her gaze down, away from the screen.
"Are you scared?" John asked.
She heard humor in his voice, and she didn't like it.
"No."
"Then why won't you look at the screen?"
She didn't know how to answer. John paused the movie and lifted her chin. She risked a glance at the screen to find an image of a cliff. Nothing wrong with that. She let out a breath.
"What scared you about that?" he asked.
"Nothing."
"You're a horrible liar."
"Okay, sure. That's why I get all those people we interview to open up to me... and how I get into places you know damn well I shouldn't be in... because I'm a horrible liar."
"All right, so you're a great liar. I'm just really good at spotting lies."
She looked away from him and scratched at her jeans.
"It's the mirror," she said, barely audible.
"What?"
"I have a thing about mirrors, okay?"
"A thing?"
"I watched things when I was way too young to be watching them... different movies and things... the ones that always scared me the most had to do with mirrors. People getting pulled in, or things coming out, or things you can see in the mirror, but they aren't behind you when you look." She shuddered. "It freaks me out, okay?"
"The woman in the video was just brushing her hair."
"Yeah, but her image shifted! Did you see? Kind of like ghosts do, sometimes. And it wasn't her reflection, did you notice that? She was actually in the mirror. That shit's creepy!"
She could tell John wanted to laugh, but he knew her better than that. Laughing would only make her angry. He also knew that she rarely showed fear, so this must be something that really bothered her.
"Okay, okay." He put his arm around her and pulled her close to his side. "Just remember, we know how to kill everything."
"Mostly," she said, throwing his word back at him.
"Come on. You're a hunter. I've seen you face a werewolf with one bullet left."
"Are you asking me to explain a childhood fear that never went away?"
"You can watch this. I know you can."
He squeezed her shoulder, then started the movie again. She watched with a cringe as more images played. They grew more and more disturbing, but nothing that scared her. Then the woman in the mirror appeared again. This time she was standing in front of it looking at her reflection as she took her hair down. Then she slowly turned and looked straight into the camera.
"Turn it off." She turned her head into John's chest and covered her eyes.
She heard the tape stop and the tv power off, but she couldn't make herself pull away from the comfort of John's arms as they wrapped around her.
"It's just a movie, sweetheart."
"I know. That doesn't change the fact that every reflective surface I see is going to creep me out for the rest of the night."
John smoothed a hand over the back of her head and rested his cheek on top. He had never seen her scared this way. He pulled her arms from him as he stood, then he took her hand.
"Come with me."
"Where?"
"Come on."
He tugged her hand until she got up, then he pulled her toward the bathroom.
"No, John," she said as she pulled back. "The bathroom mirror is the worst."
John held tight to her wrist and urged her forward.
"You've got to face this."
He pulled her into the bathroom and faced her toward the mirror. He stood behind her with his hands on her shoulders.
"Now... what's so scary about this mirror?"
"Nothing, John. It's an irrational fear."
"All right, look away from the mirror."
"No."
"Why?"
"You know damn well why."
"Because something you don't like might be there when you look back into it, right?"
She nodded.
"You see something there right now that you don't like?"
She shook her head.
"Close your eyes."
Her eyes bore into his through the reflection in the mirror.
"You trust me?" he asked.
"Yes."
"Close your eyes."
She closed her eyes. John ran his hand down her arm until he reached her hip, then he wrapped his arm around her and splayed his hand out over the lower part of her stomach, pulling her back against him.
"Open your eyes."
She opened them, and watched as John leaned down and kissed her neck.
"You see anything you don't like?"
She lifted her hand to cup the back of John's head while the kisses continued, and she closed her eyes again. The image of John being disfigured or something like a monster when she opened her eyes flashed through her mind. Her entire body tensed and her eyes flew open.
John felt her stiffen and stopped kissing her.
"What's wrong?"
She just shook her head. "I thought, when I opened my eyes... your reflection might..."
John let out a breath. "That's a relief."
"What?"
"I thought maybe you didn't want me kissing you."
Those words caused her to fully register what was happening. She was suddenly aware of his hands, and how he held her.
John watched her eyes in the mirror as they traveled down his arm and stared at his hand on her stomach.
"You never answered my question," he said.
Her eyes found his in the mirror. "What question?"
"You see anything you don't like?"
She nodded.
"What is it?"
"You're not kissing me anymore."
John smiled and turned her to face him.
"What do you say we put off facing your fear for another night?"
She nodded. John lifted her and pulled her legs around him as he kissed her. He strode back to the bed and lowered her gently. She closed her eyes in anticipation as John lowered himself on top of her. She felt his hand on her face, then a soft kiss on her cheek with the slight scratch of stubble.
"Hey," he whispered. "You scared?"
She opened her eyes and stared deep into his.
"Not even a little."
This time he knew she was telling the truth. "Good."