As the aged Impala rumbled down the road, a funeral procession crossed their path. Dean decided to follow it to see if this could possibly be another case for them. The line of cars pulled into the parking lot of a small, but newer-looking church. Waiting for everyone to go inside, the two brothers argued over the possibility of this being their chance to swing back into action, saving people and killing demons. Sam just saw this a normal funeral, but Dean had a gut instinct that it was going to be their next case. Meanwhile, the great white doors swung shut behind the last person to enter the church. "I'm going inside" said Dean. "No! Dean, you don't know any of those people. They'll be suspicious of us! We can just wait outside until the service is over!" Sam demanded. "Whoa, Sam, what's the matter with you? Look...you can stay out here if you want, but hell, I'm going in. You know how much information you can get from a funeral! This could be our next gig, Sammy. I'm going in with or without you...it's really not a big deal." "Fine" said Sam.
As he entered the quiet church with only an organ playing softly in the background, Dean saw tears streaming from people's eyes. There were short bursts of weeping and sniffling. The deaths of these people were obviously unexpected to alot of people. As he found and empty pew towards the back of the church, he saw Sam slip in and come over to join him. "How did I know you were going to come in?" Dean whispered. Sam shot him an annoyed look and they both turned to pay attention to the service. Sitting before the altar were three caskets. Neither of the Winchester brothers had ever been to a funeral like this. By the end of the service, they had found out that the names of the people who died were Jessica Thomas, Leanne Sutter, and Tommy Kinko. It was evident that they weren't related, at least not closely, but they unquestionably were confidants. One thing that had been mentioned in the service was the fact that they all had died separately, but within the same time period. Also, the causes of their deaths were unknown, but it appeared they had died of the same thing. Each one of them only had suffered a couple of minor bumps and bruises. Sam knew right at that very second that this was their next case.
As Dean and Sam were waiting for the others to emerge from the darkness of the dimly lit church, they noticed a golden pendant sparkling in the sunlight. Dean walked over to it and picked it up. Sam, following behind him, quickly asked "what did you find?" "Our first clue" said Dean. They decided to talk to the friends and families of the victims after they found out what the symbol on the pendant meant.
On their way back to the hotel, Dean noticed a couple of cars he saw at the funeral parked a small, but very welcoming diner. "You hungry, Sam?" asked Dean. "Yeah, I guess I could go for a bite to eat" replied Sam, oblivious to Dean's intentions. As the shiny, black Impala pulled into the parking lot of the diner, Dean saw Sam staring questioningly at a couple of cars that were parked in the lot. "Hey, do those cars look familiar to you? I swear I've seen them somewhere recently." "No Sammy, you're just hungry." replied Dean. "Come on, Dean! I've told you so many times...my name is Sam, not Sammy! I'm not a little kid anymore!" "You are to me, little brother." Dean said with a smirk on his face. Walking into the diner, Dean noticed a familiar face glancing his way. "Dean!" shouted the girl with a smile stretching across her face. Renée went to school with Dean, although he was a couple of years ahead of her, they managed to stay friends from the beginning of middle school through the end of her senior year of high school. "Renée! I thought you'd stay back home forever!" "Yeah, I did too. Things change, I guess." she replied. "Who is she?" Sam whispered to his brother as the young woman walked away to take an order from another table. "Oh, Renée? She's just an old friend, not it's any of your business anyways, Sammy. Just decide what you're ordering." Dean hated being asked about his past relationships with girls. It didn't matter if they were just friends, some one night stand, or more. "Dean, you really gotta loosen up! I just asked you simple question." implied Sam. "Yeah, whatever, Sammy. You think..." Dean was interrupted as Renée came to take their orders. "So, boys, watcha having?" "I'll have a burger." said Dean. "And to drink?..." "Um, I'll take a beer." replied Dean. "And you, Dean's brother?" "I'll have the same, but with a water." Sam answered. When the food arrived at their tiny little table, the brothers devoured the burgers. They hadn't eaten since supper the night before. After the table had been cleared, Sam opened his laptop and began searching the web for information on the pendant. When he looked up, he saw Dean leaning over a table across the diner, talking the people who were sitting there. They were all dressed in black and Sam remembered them right away as the parents of the victims. Dean returned from his little interrogation and the two said goodbye to Renée and left for the motel.
"Dean, I thought we agreed on waiting before we spoke to those people!" "I know Sam, but they were right there! It was a good opportunity and I got the scoop on those three. We already knew about how they were all killed at the same time, they were friends, and there were only some bumps and bruises on the body, right?" "Yeah." replied Sam. "Well, little bro, using my stunning good looks and this thing up here you call a brain, I got the locations of the crime scenes. And guess what, I also found out that after the funeral, the bodies were removed from the caskets because they somehow had them mixed up. Now, all three of the bodies are missing! Oh, and one more thing, Mrs. Kinko, Tommy's mother, was wearing that same pendant around her neck!" "OK, fine. Maybe talking to them wasn't such a bad idea, but now they're probably suspicious of us." "Sam, my man, according to this here fake ID, I'm Bobby Barker, a CSI from across the country!" Dean said, smirking. Sam laughed and then opened up his laptop. "Well, here's what I found out. It's not as great as what you got, but it'll help." Sam scrolled through the pages of information he found out about the pendant. "Says here that this pendant holds the power to bring people back from the dead, basically in the form a regular member of society. They look and act like regular people, but their physical form only lasts for a month or so. This says that they can't stand living in modern society, so to return to being, well, dead, they must kill three friends who are the same age, at the same time. It doesn't make sense to me, but that's how the legend goes. It also says that if the awakened spirit came from Heaven, then they must go to Purgatory because they committed a major sin by killing the three people. If they come from Hell, well, they just go back there. And, if the spirit is completely faithful, they will live out their life like a normal person would in modern society because they just can't bring themselves to kill innocent souls." "Impressive." said Dean. "Thanks. Oh, and the whole coming back to life thing only happens when someone who is completely evil at heart. It also says that there is only one 'master' at a time. I'm thinking that Mrs. Kinko is that person." Sam said. "One question, Sammy boy, how did we find that pendant at the funeral when that evil 'master' lady has it on her neck?" questioned Dean. "Oh yeah, forgot about that...the pendant you found is just a replica. On the day of the funeral of the three victims, the spirit drops a fake pendant somewhere in the general area of the funeral. It's supposed to be a way of hinting people, like us, of why they died. The spirits are actually victims in their own way. It's not their choice to come back to life, so most of the spirits want it all to end." "I see, now. You know Sam, you're too damn smart!" "Um, I guess I'll take that as a compliment." said Sam.
Later that night, there was a knock on the door. Dean opened it up to see Renée smirking back at him. "You never told me you were such a big shot, Mr. CSI!" she said flirtatiously. "Um, yeah. We just came from...um...Oregon to um...check this case out." he said, stumbling on his words. "Real smooth, Dean! Like she's gonna actually believe you!" Dean thought to himself. "Well, OK. Look, I just want you to find out who killed by sister and her friends. They were all so close...and her and I were so close. I just wish I had a chance to say goodbye." Renée said softly with her eyes tearing up. Dean had no idea what to do in this situation. How do you console a girl who just had her sister and two friends mysteriously die? Sam stepped in, being the softy of the two. "Look," he said, "we're going to try our best to find out who did this to them. But in the meantime, can you do us a favor?" "Sure, I guess..." she replied. "Renée, I need you to get the pendant from your mother and bring it to us. Can you do that?" asked Sam. "Look, I can't just steal something from my own mother. She never takes it off, anyway." Renée replied sternly. "Renée, if I let you in a secret, will you at least try to help us?" probed Dean. "Fine." said Renée.
After explaining the whole thing to Renée and trying to convince her that it was the truth, Sam and Dean waited as she went to attempt taking the pendant from her mother. She still seemed like she wasn't completely convinced of the whole supernatural thing, but wanted to help a friend help her. As she crept into her parent's room, she saw her mother's pendant sitting on the small table beside the bed. With one sly move, Renée clutched the pendant in her hands and started back for the motel.
The next morning, Dean and Sam met Renée at the house in which Jessica Thomas was killed. The three snuck in and began looking over the scene. The markings on the floor indicated where she was found. The broken mirror made it obvious to the brothers that she had been thrown against it and fell to the ground. The next two houses were exactly the same. All three had been thrown against a wall or mirror and landed on the floor. The outlines showed that all three of the bodies ended up in the same position. Their arms and legs were spread out in the form of and X.
That afternoon, when they returned to the motel, Sam began doing more research about how exactly the spirit kills the person. It didn't seem like the one thrust they had against the wall would be enough to kill them. After two and a half hours of searching many sites, he finally found it. "Dean! I got it! It says here that the spirit knocks the victim out by throwing them, then it sucks the life out of them. And guess where it all goes...the 'master'! Mrs. Kinko must be hundreds of years old by now." "Good job, Sammy!" praised Dean. "Dammit, Dean! Stop calling me Sammy!" "OK, geez! Calm your roids and let's get ready to kick some demon ass!"
Renée went home to pick up her mother for "an evening out." Her, Dean, and Sam had a crazy night ahead of them. They were about to kill the demon inside of Mrs. Kinko. Once Renée and her mother arrived at their destination, the plan was to introduce Dean as her boyfriend and Sam as his friend. On their way to the restaurant, Dean and Sam picked up some sleeping pills and ground them into powder. Once they got there they were introduced and began their dinner. Mrs. Kinko got up to the bathroom, and while she was in there, Dean slipped the powder into her drink and stirred it until all of the powder dissolved, hoping she would drink some of it as soon as she got back. Luckily, she did. Within ten minutes, Mrs. Kinko passed out on the table. The three of them carried her outside, telling people that she was just very tired.
Once they got to a deserted area, they pulled over on the side of the road and tied Mrs. Kinko to a tree. "Sam, get that book out of the trunk, you know, that one with all the Latin crap that you studied." Dean ordered. In order to kill the 'master' spirit, they first had to exorcise it. As Sam began reading the words they all felt a sense of fear. What would they do if one of them got hurt, what would happen if the 'master' escaped? Sam kept on reading. Mrs. Kinko began shaking violently, she was sweating bullets. Then, the rope snapped and she fell to the ground, screeching. Her eyes glazed over and turned as black as night. Then it all stopped, there was dead silence. "Look out, Dean!" cried Renée. He turned around and saw a massive black shadow creeping toward him. Sam grabbed the colt revolver out of the trunk. Just then the shadow turned towards Sam and threw him to the ground. Another inhuman screech was heard as Dean snatched the gun off the ground and shot the demon.
A few hours later, Mrs. Kinko woke up in her bed, not remembering any of what happened, or who she used to be. Since the 'master' was killed, the dead stayed dead from then on. To Mrs. Kinko, it was just another day. Renée was thankful that her mother hadn't remembered being evil. The next morning, Dean and Sam stopped in to see how Renée's mother was doing. Renée thanked them for all of their help and as Dean began to pull away, she called out his name. "Hang on a minute, Sam." he said. When he stepped out of the car, she ran down the stairs and he embraced her in his arms. "Hey, was that thing about me being your boyfriend anywhere close to the truth?" Dean questioned. "Well, I shouldn't lie to my mother!" she replied with a smile. Dean pulled her in close to him, and their lips met for a long, beautiful kiss. "Dean, I didn't know you were such a softy." she whispered. "No, that's Sam." he said.
Renée packed up her things and climbed into the front seat of the Impala with Dean. "Let's go kick some more demon ass!" she said, and the old Impala took and rumbled down the road. "I'm glad you're here." Dean said. "Me too." Renée replied.